THE DREADED DAY

Dan is distraught. His dad has left home. His mum has to move to a flat on the other side of town. He has to change schools and the school he must go to has been in the news - a boy died there!
I hope the story is funny, sad and optimistic.

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THE DREADED DAY 

The dreaded day had come, the day when 'they' were due.  Mum had warned him it would when dad had left them. Dan watched the removal van swaying as it pulled in by the house. Two big, tattooed, men got out.
      'Smiling and joking, bit by bit they pulled his home apart.. They turned the chairs as they passed him, showing him empty seats. Dan looked on, his stomach aching. He felt more alone than he had ever been.
             When his dad left, his mum had said, 'Your dad won't stop loving you. In fact, you'll probably see him more than you did before!'
      He saw his dad much less than before. They sometimes had a pizza on a Sunday - ham and pineapple - their all-time favourite. It was great, but it wasn't the same.
       Once they had moved, he had to go to a different school. Everything was changing around him. He felt like he might wake up one morning and find himself in prison or abandoned, crying, in a ruined town where bombs fell in the night.
      They were sending him to that school - the one where they killed people! It had been on the telly, so he knew it was true. There was a group of kids who had surrounded this small boy outside the school gates. Someone threw a punch -  and the boy died! A shiver ran through Dan's whole body.
      'So you decided to just stand there and watch,' his mum's voice brought him back, 'I thought you might want to carry some of your own things perhaps, but no, never mind. They have nearly finished, so go and get in the car,'
      Dan shrugged. He was always missing things these days. She hadn't asked him to help, had she? He slouched over to their car and got in, pulling the door firmly shut. They had finished already!  Since his dad left, the time in his head was different from outside time.
       In outside time, two whole days went by before the morning his mum woke him early in their tiny flat.
      'School,' she announced, 'Here's a cup of tea for you,'
      But they'd only just moved! Perhaps time went faster in smaller places.
      He moaned, took the cup, put it on his bedside table and closed his eyes again.
      He dozed.
      'Dan!' His mum's voice clanged in his head. He jumped awake and sat up. 'Hurry up for goodness sake. You'll make me late for work.'
      He quickly dressed then shovelled down some cereal.
       'Mum,' he said as they were going out, 'Can I have pizza for tea, the one dad and I like with the pineapple bits?'
      A little chokey sound came from her throat, then she coughed it away. Now what had he missed? He looked at her for an answer.
      'Sure,' she said, 'fine. We can walk together most of the way to the school. It won't kill us.' Dan's stomach clenched. 'It's near where I work and the exercise will be good for us.'
      She was making sure he got there! It was like he had handcuffs on his wrists. His legs wobbled as he walked. Houses, then shops slid by.
      'There!' She said suddenly, 'Down the end of that street. There will be a teacher waiting to meet you. I've arranged it. Now cheer up and get going. You can tell me all about it when you come home. Right, I must dash.'
       He watched her back till it disappeared. He was all hollow inside like the empty house. He put up the hood on his coat and headed for the shopping centre. It wasn't all that far. He'd just look round before he did that slow, slow, walk to school...
      'Is your name Dan?' A friendly female voice enquired as he trudged through the gate.
      He mumbled, 'Yea,'
      'Good, we're expecting you. You're a bit late though. Your mum said you'd be here a good half hour ago. Did you get lost?'
      He shrugged then shook his head.
      'I see,' she said, 'Well, never mind. Come and meet Harry, he's going to look after you for the first week, till you get used to things.'
      He felt a firm arm guiding him towards the buildings. The teacher looked a bit like his Auntie, dark shoulder length hair, a kind face. Still, what did that mean? Kind faces had sent him here to be killed. They pushed their way through a swing door and started down a corridor. A boy popped out of a classroom.
      'Here's Harry,' She announced, 'Oh, and I'm Mrs Kennedy by the way.  You'll be seeing me later on. Right, I'll leave you boys to get on..'
      She patted them both on the shoulder and made for a room farther down.
      Dan looked dully at the boy opposite him. He saw a dark blue school uniform with a face on top. The face grinned under the dark curly hair.
      'I'll show you where the loos are,' Harry said, 'People nearly always need to go when they first get here. I don't know why.'
      Dan nearly shrugged, but the boy's eyes were friendly so he just followed and said nothing.
      'Where do you come from?' Harry asked.
      'Other side of town,' Dan said, 'Beacon Street.'
      'What's wrong with the school near there?'
      'Nothing, it's brilliant.'
      They reached the toilets, then after a few moments moved on towards the gym.
      'So why leave?' Harry asked, 'Why leave a brilliant school and come to a killer school like this?
      'We had to move,'
       Small hot tears glistened suddenly in Dan's eyes. He brushed them away angrily, then more came. 'Hey,' Harry said, 'Look, don't worry. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to.' He looked concerned and embarrassed. 'I mean, you know, if you've got problems….. I was only talking, you know, like you do…'
      Dan wrenched his body round so his face was hidden. He tried to stop the tears, to steady himself. Harry waited.
      Eventually, Dan was ready. He turned back: 'I didn't want to come to a killer school,' he said.
      'What?' Harry looked puzzled.
       'They really kill people here.  I saw it on the telly,' Dan's voice shook.
      Harry looked at him thoughtfully, then his expression lightened. 'Right,' he said, 'There was a boy who died here, yea, but he wasn't killed, not really. Some lads were teasing him, pushing him and that, then he dropped dead. It was his heart, could have happened at any time.'
      Dan considered this. 'But they started it, punching him and all that.'
      Harry gave him a playful punch. Dan jumped in surprise. 'That was a punch,' he said, 'but you're not dead are you?'
      Dan shook his head.
      'It's not the kids that kill yer here,' Harry said seriously, 'it's the teachers!'
      'What?'
      'If you're five minutes late, they kill you. If you lose a book, they kill you. If you forget your homework, they kill you.'
      Dan felt his face relaxing.
      'If your spelling's wrong, they kill you. If your sums are wrong, they kill you. If your writing's a mess…know what?'
      'They kill you!' Dan snuffled.
      'Right! And if you get sent to the Head teacher, he really kills you!'
      'How?'
      'He takes you out on to games field. He makes you stand in the sand-pit, then he gets this enormous mallet. It's so big, it's as tall as he is and the head is as big as a suitcase.  He swings it right up and then down on your head. He keeps on hammering till you're bashed into the sand like a tent peg. Only your head is left showing.'
      'Then what?'
      'Well, then your parents have to come and dig you up.'
      Dan grinned despite himself, 'There's only my mum..
      'Me too,' said Harry.'
      'Really?
      'Yea, what's the big deal?'
      Mrs Kennedy was suddenly beside them. 'All done?' she asked.
      The two boys said nothing, then burst into half stifled giggles.
      'Right,' she said, 'Come along the pair of you, time to meet the class.'
      The day went so quickly!  Neither of them got killed even once. As Dan walked back home, his mouth was watering - pizza, ham and pineapple. He could almost taste it.
      'I'm home!' He shouted as he opened their front door. He went through to the kitchen.
       Something was bubbling on the cooker.
      'Mum!' He moaned, 'You said I could have my pizza. You know how…'
      She turned to look at him. His words dried up.  She had been crying. 'I'm so sorry, love,' she said, 'There's been so much horrid stuff recently, you just don't know….'
      And suddenly, he knew what he kept missing, kept not noticing. It was how his mum was hurting. He blushed, stepped forward awkwardly, then hugged her.
      'It doesn't matter, mum,' he whispered, 'They don't kill you for that.'
      'What darling?' She said, 'What do you mean?'
      'Nothing, mum, just a joke.'
      'How was school?'
      'Alright,'
      'Did you make any friends?'
      'Harry. He told me how strict it is.  He told me all the things the teachers kill you for....'
      'You'd better make sure you work hard then, eh?'
      'Yea, and the Headmaster is the worst. He takes you out on to games field, makes you stand in the sand-pit, then he gets this enormous mallet. It's so big, it's as tall as he is and the head is as big as a suitcase.  He swings it right up and then down on your head. He keeps on hammering till you're bashed into the sand like a tent peg. Only your head is left showing.'
      'At least you can breathe, then...'
       'Yea, but it gets worse. Even the parents get a hard time because they have to come and dig you up.
      'Silly,' she said - and her face lit up like it hadn't for months. 'I'll order a pizza, We can have the mince tomorrow.'


 

Writing For Kids: The Cat In The Close

Writing For Kids: The Cat In The Close: "Hello and welcome to my story The Cat In The Close Here is my Siamese cat Amelie telling me what she thinks of my story. THE CAT IN THE C..."

The next story is about a boy who has to change schools when his dad leaves home and his mum has to move to the other side of town. I hope you enjoy it.

Writing For Kids: The Cat In The Close

Writing For Kids: The Cat In The Close: "Hello and welcome to my story The Cat In The Close Here is my Siamese cat Amelie telling me what she thinks of my story."

The Cat In The Close

Hello and welcome to my story The Cat In The Close

Here is my Siamese cat Amelie telling me what she thinks of my story.

THE CAT IN THE CLOSE 

It was a calm Summer's night in the close.  On the ridge of a gently sloping garage roof sat Maddy, the white Cathedral cat. She could see the oval green with benches all around it, where people liked to sit, the peaceful little houses behind that and of course the fine cathedral with its soaring spire.
The air was warm and stars twinkled in the midnight sky. On the green, a bearded young man slept and was snoring.  He had a stuffed-full, plastic bag beneath his head as a pillow. The rubbish he'd left from his chips and beer lay by his side.  In the morning, a uniformed groundsman would clear all the mess away as he did every morning. 
But for Maddy this night was the beginning of her great idea. She had it in the afternoon, dreaming amongst the flowers in the choirmaster's garden, where she lived. Now she was going to make it come true. She was going to have her very own choir.  A cats' choir!
How can a cat create a choir? Well, most cats couldn't, but Maddy was a special cat. She had watched the real choir practise in their stalls in the Cathedral. She watched the choirmaster wave his arms and heard the lovely singing. 
Of course, she wasn't meant to be inside.  If one of the priests or guides saw her, they would chase her out with a 'shoo!' and she would have to run. But the Cathedral was very large. There were many doors, many shady corners that a cat could hide in and Maddy knew them all.  From small dark places, her bright green eyes watched everything that happened.

She had a simple plan to get things started. Tonight was Monday.  Each night she would visit one of the cats in the close.  She would explain her idea and ask the cat to sing. They would sing some scales and then a song. If the sound was good, the cat could join her choir. This was how the choirmaster worked, so she knew it must be right. Each cat accepted had to test another cat as well and so the choir would be formed. 
Maddy stretched herself first into an arch on tip-toe and then the other way, so that her back was hollow, her face between her paws.  She was ready to go. Carefully she got down from the roof and walked a little way to where the brown and long haired Becky lived. As soon as she arrived, the other cat looked up from where she'd been dozing under a bush. Her fur bristled.
'Please don't worry,' Maddy purred. 'It's only me,'
'I was just nicely asleep,' the other hissed, 'What do you want?'
'I want to hear you sing,'
'Why?'
'We're going to have a choir. It'll be the best thing ever. 'The Choir of the Cathedral Close.' We'll probably be famous.' Don't you want to be in it?'
Becky thought and while she was thinking, Maddy explained the rest of her idea.
'Well, I might,' the brown cat said.
'But first,' maddy insisted, 'I must hear your voice. A good choir must have cats with good voices.'
'Oh very well then, what shall I sing?'
'First we do scales. Listen, it's like this.'
Maddy demonstrated making her voice go up eight notes and then down again. Becky was impressed. 'I'll do it with you,' she said, so the two cats sang together.
From inside the house, came sounds of someone moving clumsily about.
'that's lovely, now for a song.  What shall we sing?'
'The cats' duet,' said Becky straight away, 'If you know it?'
'Of course I do,' snapped Maddy, 'Here we go then,'  
The two cats began their song, their voices wailing in the air. Sometimes they sang together, sometimes to each other. They got louder and louder, but just as they got to the end of their song, a window in the house flew open and a great, cold splosh of water landed on their heads. They squealed and ran.
'Get out of it!' An angry man's voice yelled, but they were already out of sight.
'Perhaps we'll have to practise more,' said Maddy, when they were safe again, 'or sing where people like good music. Anyway, remember the plan and when it's time I'll tell you where to come.' With that she said goodbye and set off home. Despite the nasty water, it had been a good night's work. Now she needed a nap.
On Tuesday night, Maddy set out again.  This time she found Tiger, the clerk's stripy tabby. He wasn't very keen, saying hunting was more fun than singing, but he agreed to try.  This time when they sang their song, a woman chased them with a broom.
'Remember the plan,' said Maddy when they stopped running, 'and when its time I'll tell you where to come.'
On Wednesday, it was phoebie's turn. She was the tortoise shell cat owned by the lady who ran the bookshop. She was the most beautiful cat in the close and took care to let everyone know it. Of course she wanted to join the choir, so that everyone would see her. She wanted to sing the duet on a high wall just in case there was anyone to show off to. As they finished their song, two large dogs started barking, so they ran. 'Remember the plan,' said Maggy, 'and when it's time I'll tell you where to come.'
Thursday was a difficult night. She had to talk to Samantha, the bishop's Siamese, who could be scratchy if you caught her on a bad day.  Samantha had a deep, growly voice, which Maddy knew was needed for the choir. Luckily, the cat was in her garden and was prepared to listen to the plan. They sat in a flower bad and sang their song and just for once they got to the end without being chased away. 'Remember the plan,' began Maddy,
'I know!' Snapped the Siamese, 'I'm not stupid!'
'When it's time, I'll tell you where to come.' 
The job was done. Now all Maddy had to do was to wait for the other cats to do what they had promised. As she lay in the sun the next morning and watched the groundsman grumbling to himself as he cleared away chip paper and beer cans from the green, she felt very pleased with her work.  The close was going to have a famous choir and she would be their leader.
The choirmaster came home at lunchtime and Maddy followed him in. While he ate his lunch, she lay on her back in a pool of sunlight and practised conducting with her front paws.  'Come and look at Maddy,' he called to his wife, 'I think she wants my job. Look!' They both laughed. Maddy ignored them and carried on. She must be ready for her big night.
Early Sunday morning, she told Becky, the brown, long haired cat, that tonight was the big night: 'Meet on the wall next to the Cathedral. Pass it on.' Maddy planned to take them inside by a secret way and then up to the stalls where the human choir sat. She was so excited she could almost see them in their places, sitting up ready to begin.
As the day went on, she tried to sleep. She mustn't be tired at their first rehearsal. She tried indoors: on a comfy chair, on a windowsill, on a bed. She tried outdoors: on the green, in her garden, on a car. It was no good.  She would settle down for a minute or two, but before long she was uncomfortable again and had to move. The truth was she was far too excited to sleep.
Finally, however, the time did come.  It was nearly midnight and at last she could make her way to the Cathedral. Not too fast, she told herself. If she was too early, there might be no one there. Besides, it would be better for her to be last to arrive, so  they'd all be ready to listen to her. She forced herself to go slowly, though her heart was racing. 
As she turned the corner towards the Cathedral, she gasped with shock.  What a sight met her eyes! There seemed to be hundreds of cats all sitting and waiting. Some were on the wall like she'd said, but there were so many that they'd had to go on the road, in flower beds, on window sills, dustbins, anywhere, in fact, where a space could be found. Whatever had happened? 
Then it dawned on her.  SHE HADN'T SAID HOW MANY CATS SHE NEEDED. Each cat had found another cat, like she'd said. That cat had found another cat, who had found another cat and so on. Well, she couldn't take all those cats into the choir stalls, they'd never fit in. She would have to take them somewhere else.
'Follow me,' She called and led the way.
On one side of the green, there was a long office building used by the Cathedral staff.  Its roof would be ideal.  The cats could sit in four rows and she would sit on the stone gate-post in front, so all the cats could see her. she told them to climb up and make four lines one behind the other, so they would look like a human choir. 
With a lot of fussing and hissing, the cats got in their lines. The moon was bright now behind them and in its light another surprise awaited Maddy. 'My goodness!' she exclaimed. She could hardly believe her eyes. Each cat had found another like itself! So there was a long line of brown, long-haired cats, a long line of tabby cats, a long line of tortoise shell cats and a long line of Siamese cats. 


'Oh dear,' Maddy thought. That would never do. She would have to re-arrange them all, mix them up according to their voices.   She thought for a few moments deciding what to say.
'Well,' she announced finally, 'it's wonderful to see you all. Thank you for coming to our first choir practice. One day we will be a famous choir.'
The cats all smiled politely.
'Now before we start, I'm afraid we'll have to move again,'
A bit of grumbling started up and someone hissed quite loudly.
'It'll be the last time, I promise,' she said hastily, 'but you see, in a choir you sit in lines depending on your voice, not on how you look.  Very high voices sit in the front, slightly lower ones come next, then lower ones still and then the lowest. Each voice has its own part to sing.'
The cats weren't all sure what sort of voice they had, but they moved all the same and then sat still. Now they were a choir and the colours were all mixed up.
'Lovely, thank you,' said Maddy. 'Now it's time to sing.'
She had decided on a piece of music she had heard in the Cathedral. She knew it off by heart. It was called the 'MAGNIFICAT' - she liked it because it sounded like 'magnificent cats' and the tune was good. The cats from the close would all have heard it and those who hadn't would quickly pick it up.
Down below on the green, the bearded young man was fast asleep, surrounded by his papers and his beer cans. He knew nothing of the amazing scene so close to his grassy bed.
Maddy climbed onto the gate-post, so that all the cats could see her. She sang the first line and made the choir copy her in time with her waving paw.  They sang quietly at first, while they were learning. Before too long, they knew the tune.
'Now,' said Maddy, 'We're going to sing it all. Watch my paw and keep in time.'
She sang the first note for them again and then they started.
It was a magnificent sound. As they heard themselves, the cats were thrilled. They really were a great choir! The noise increased till it was a mighty wailing in the night and lights around the close, from house to house, flashed on. 
Their singing woke the young man down below.  He opened up one eye, than closed it, quickly.  Was he dreaming?  The sound wailed on, rising and falling in the night. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and saw that it was true.  Cats like angels sang in the shining night, in front of a dazzling moon.  Somehow, he felt his life was changed for ever with this sight.  He wanted to run and tell the whole town what he'd seen, but he couldn't.  He could only sit and watch and wonder, while they sang.
When they had finished, the cats sat still, waiting anxiously to hear what Maddy would say.
'My friends,' she said with tears in her eyes. 'Thank you. Thank you all so much. I think you're going to be the best cats' choir the close has ever seen. We will meet again next week to learn another song.' Tired, The cats all smiled and began to clamber down. With her heart full of joy, Maddy yawned and stretched set off for her home. What a night it had been!

She slept late the next morning, curled up in contentment on the end of the choirmaster's bed.  In her dreams she saw her choir again and mewed with pleasure. When finally she woke, she wandered to the window. She sat, yawning, then washed and gazed towards the green.  Something had changed and at first she was puzzled.  Then suddenly it came to her.  This morning there were two uniformed men tidying up the green.  One of them was young and had a beard. She watched him stop work for a moment and point  at the roof where the choir had been.  He waved his arms like a conductor.  The other groundsman laughed and shook his head, 'You're mad!' He said. 
From her window sill, Maddy looked down and smiled a very secret smile, then stretched and went downstairs. It must be breakfast time.