Metamorphosis
Legends Come to Life . . .
by
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THE DECEPTIVELY DREARY DAY “It never failed to amaze me how the most ordinary day could be catapulted into the extraordinary in the blink of an eye.” ― Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care Have you ever had one of those days? That day when you had everything-including the number of times you blink-planned. The day that was going to be perfect. Even your most hated foe couldn’t spoil that day. I was having that kind of day. Obviously, the universe couldn’t help but mess up my day. The stars have become habituated at predicting a future where my day goes horribly wrong. So something (or someone) did ruin the day. Unfortunately, two someone rather than one did ruin my day. Who else? But the troublesome twins. I was walking towards my dorm, minding my own business when I heard a scream coming in the opposite direction. I ran towards the voice. It sounded suspiciously like Nandini’s… 4hours later to what was felt like the end of the world: Oh.My.God! I am going to kill Ragini once she comes out of the infirmary...and her own brother. Let me begin at the beginning...it started with the burning of the books… 4hours previous to the incident: When I reached all the screaming it wasn’t Nandini who was screaming but Ragini was hysterically shouting. I smelt something burning. Then I saw the pile. That wretched girl was burning all my belongings in the middle of the auditorium. Then something stranger than all this happened Ranvir forcibly made her drink some liquid which made her convulse into fits and finally become unconscious. A book which wasn’t burning hit Ranvir exactly on his head. I was marvelling at the throw until I realised it was me. We all froze. Maybe it was shock at seeing a person fall unconscious on the floor, maybe hitting the Avasthi siblings had become a habit. Who knows? Back to the present: Thankfully no one complained. Dr.S had continuously requested then tried to force me in the infirmary with Ragini. She thought I was “traumatised”. But I didn’t want to go. I couldn’t face her after everything. NOT THE … TESTS!! Do not rely completely on any other human being, however dear. We meet all life's greatest tests alone. -Agnes Macphail The one thing that makes homework look easy .The one thing that makes grown men cry for their mommies. Well, you guessed it! One point to you. It is … tests. I am not talking about class tests or even exams but the mere idea of proving yourself against worthy competitors. Apparently once this school starts, it doesn’t rest. Because even with all that was happening you have to give the … test! The test schedule was sent to us in our dormitory room. That horrible piece of paper read something like that: TEST SCHEDULE FOR STANDARD IX AND X: MONDAY (21ST AUGUST):LITERATURE TUESDAY (22ND AUGUST): LANGUAGE WEDNESDAY (23RD AUGUST): MATHEMATICS THURSDAY (24TH AUGUST): INDOOR SPORTS FRIDAY (25TH AUGUST): PHYSICAL EDUCATION MONDAY (28TH AUGUST): ETIQUETTES AND MANNERS TUESDAY (29TH AUGUST): SCIENCE WEDNESDAY (30TH AUGUST): GEOGRAPHY THURSDAY (31st AUGUST): HISTORY FRIDAY (1st SEPTEMBER): HINDI We had thirty days for ten examinations with an undecided portion, odd teachers, no preparation and a mysterious school. We were lost .Life was hopeless. RENDEVOUS WITH THE RIVAL “I embrace my rival, but only to strangle him. -Jean Racine” The Avasthi twins never fail to surprise me .While one burn my books, the other lurks around in shadows trying to hide… but from whom? He certainly looked scared, stripped of his air of confidence and poise by Dr.S. He looked like he had committed a heinous crime. I prayed that whatever he had done had nothing to do with me this time. Due to some extraordinary reasons I felt personally threatened and targeted by those troublesome twins from the moment I met them. He had started perspiring with terror. Why was he so terrified? Let me rephrase my question… What made him so scared? I know that Ragini was still being treated by the school nurse with the assistance of Dr.S(who after having several Ph. Ds also was a medical practitioner).The now pale boy was stuttering something illegible until we finally decided to follow him. He rushed towards the infirmary. Ragini was the only one in there and she was having some sort of fits. She was pointing accusingly in my direction. Finally Ranvir literally pushed me out of the room screaming that I was “affecting” Ragini, whatever that means. Granted that they were one of the earliest students in the school and belonged to the senior-most batch, they had no right to throw temper-tantrums because of no apparent reason. All of a sudden, an announcement rang throughout the school by Dr.S. It said, “All teachers report to my office, its time”. THE STUNNING SECRET “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware”. -Martin Buber W e were told to assemble in the auditorium. “What next?” Was the question in all our minds. For once all two thousand brains in the hall were thinking together. All of a sudden the lights dimmed and a huge projector materialised out of thin air. Chairs appeared beneath us and the speaker boomed. The chairs really did help as we stumbled due to shock after hearing the song which played on the microphone. The phrase “IT’S A SECRET!” and the song went something like this,
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About the Book
Every story has a hero and a villian.There is always an evil stepmother,the power-hungry chief or a cunning friend. I had always wondered what had happened to the villains after the great battle. The heroes got their happily ever after but the villains who had actually put in similar effort in the fight were left to rot. Two people fighting each other can never be that different. They just believe in different things. I thought it to be unfair that they weren’t given a second chance because at the end of the day they did not lose because they were entirely bad but because they had that one bad trait which led to their downfall. Be it pride, obsession, insecurity or hate, they too had a life before it was uprooted and made into pulp. So I sincerely hope you enjoy this story about villains, enemies and hate which teach us about heroes, friendship and love.
About the Author
Sankalpita Mullick is a girl of fourteen years who’s studying in the tenth standard and is the captain of her house in her school, Maneckji Cooper Education Trust School, Mumbai, India. She has won the first position in the Nationwide Creative Writing Competition in 2015 and got an annual contract of one lakh rupees for writing with LaughGuru. From a tender age, Sankalpita has been inclined towards writing and has won the Hindustan Times Award in 2012 when she was just ten years old. She was selected as one of the fifty brightest minds of Mumbai from 42,547 students of 275 schools and awarded a sum of 50,000 rupees and a trophy. Sankalpita has proved her mettle by being a state-level champion (Maharashtra State) in the Marrs International Spelling Bee Competition in 2012 and was a finalist in 2013. The renowned newspaper Hindustan Times again felicitated Sankalpita for being a winner in the “Make a Difference” contest in 2013. Her talents are not only limited to writing as she also has received a chain of awards in interschool science quizzes, wildlife quizzes, debates, computer quizzes, computer talks, extempore speeches, elocutions, declamations, ad masters (a competition about creating a product and advertising it). She had made a part of an animation film in the Vienna Film Festival in 2012. She has also written and directed a play on World Environment Day with a team of about twenty children for two consecutive years when she was just eleven and twelve years old. She is a voracious reader and a prolific writer, and her writings have often been published in newspapers and magazines. Along with her accolades, Sankalpita has the gift of compassion, kindness, and a good sense of humour, which makes her a beautiful person. She lives in Mumbai, India, with her parents and what she describes as the cutest pet ever.