"Tomorrow" - A Short Story of my own creation
This is a short story I wrote as a GCSE English Assignment. I wrote it in a weekend as my original idea had petered out. This was a work of two late nights, and I ended up quite proud of the result. I thought i would publish it here, and see if people like it. I may even ask Rex if we can have a Short Story competition (NOT FanFiction), as it could make for some interesting reads...
Without further ado, On With the Show!
"Tomorrow"
It was a bitterly cold November evening and the freezing wind cut like a knife. From a nearby playground, children played in the fresh snow, their voices clear and sharp in the otherwise silent air. Melissa hugged her violin to her chest and began the miserable walk home.
As she heard the crunch of feet on ice, Melissa began to walk faster and faster, hoping against hope that it was all in her imagination. As she turned the corner, she wished she’d gone home the long way today. Wished she’d decided to have ten extra minutes in the cold. Wished that Lisa and her gang weren’t waiting for her. But wishing never did any good. She should know that by now.
Lisa strode up to her and grabbed a handful of Melissa’s beautiful honey-coloured hair in her fist. She yanked Melissa’s head back and looked into the terrified blue-grey eyes.
“Look. Miss Goody-Two-Shoes has been having fiddle lessons again.” Lisa jerked the violin-case out of Melissa’s hands and threw it into the road. Melissa winced as she heard it crunch onto the ice. The violin was her pride and joy, the music the only thing that kept her living.
“Aww, poor baby. Hurts you to see your fiddle spoiled, don’t it?” snarled Lisa. She kicked the violin-case, savagely, and Melissa heard a twang! as one of the strings broke.
“We’re finished with the fiddle,” growled Lisa. “We’re gonna have some fun with you instead.”
Afterwards, when Lisa and her cronies had sauntered off, Melissa sat in the snow with tears of pain and despair rolling down her cheeks. She reached for her violin and cradled it, as one would a frightened child. Melissa wondered of this was the most miserable moment of all her twelve years. She tried to think of one time she had been happy since she came to secondary school. She searched her memory, but came up at a loss.
Melissa opened the case to examine the damage. It was not as bad as she had expected. The violin had suffered no damage, except the one broken string. The violin-case was battered, scratched and covered in dirt.
Melissa struggled to her feet and picked up various books that had been strewn around the pavement. She gathered her belongings and limped home. Her mother wouldn’t be home for hours yet, Janie was at ballet and Daniel was probably out with his friends. She had complete privacy for about an hour to clean her cuts and scrapes and think up another excuse for her appearance.
After the usual lecture from her mother about clumsiness, Melissa hauled herself up to her room and tried to concentrate on her homework. After fifteen minutes had gone passed and she still hadn’t done anything, Melissa decided to practice on her violin. She had replaced the string while she was alone, and now she wished to make absolutely certain that there was nothing wrong with her precious violin. After a few minutes of tuning, she managed to bring out one, solid, beautiful note. Melissa rummaged through her music and selected her favourite song. It was a beautiful melody, composed by someone who knew what it was like to be truly deserted. It always managed to give her hope; it made her hold on for another day. There were no lyrics to the song, but Melissa had made her own. She ran them through her mind as she played, and the sense of hopelessness that had been with her all day began to ebb away. Her lyrics ran like this;
No matter what they do to you,
No matter what they say,
Just keep your head up high,
And wait for one more day.
Tomorrow will bring the sun,
Tomorrow will bring you peace,
Tomorrow all the pain they cause,
All the sorrow you feel will cease.
You’re better than they’ll ever be,
Though they’re the center of your fears,
They’ll never be as great as you,
Not in a million years.
No matter how they hurt you,
You’re emotions laid out bare,
Don’t turn your face away,
Don’t show them that you care.
Feeling better than she had all day, Melissa got into bed and slept until morning.
Melissa fled, fearing for her life. They’d never dared attack her at school before. She blundered through corridors, sobs slowing her escape. Eyes blurred, she looked wildly around, searching for a way out, any way out. There was none. She whirled at a sound and found herself face to face with Lisa.
“We heard you’re thinking of telling a teacher,” snapped Lisa. “We thought we’d better teach you a lesson.”
They circled Melissa, slowly closing in. Melissa tried to run but Jason, a huge boy who towered over her, blocked her way. He pushed her back towards Lisa who missed. Melissa tottered at the top of the stairs, fighting to regain her balance. She lost the battle.
Time slowed. Melissa, rolling over and over, screamed and kept screaming. Maybe if she screamed long enough this nightmare would stop and she would wake up safe in bed. It didn’t stop.