For this edition our creative writing brief was: Write a story or a poem in a genre of your choice to go with the title “The Missing Person”. This is one of our entries from Welland Park Academy.
“Jake?”
“Here miss.”
“Jess?”
“Here miss!”
“Ali?”
Silence. She was here first period, wasn’t she?
“Is Ali here?”
I definitely saw her. She was outside at break.
“Where is she? It says she’s in school today.” Miss Marley’s voice sounds shaky…nervous almost. She rushes out of the room suddenly and heads towards the office. It’s silent for a while, then conversations of confusion and worry begin to erupt. She’s here. She might’ve gone to the wrong classroom or home sick? Right that’s probably it. I stare at the clock, watching intently as the minute hand points to the seven, then the eight, then the nine. Sirens. They echo throughout the classroom. Blue and red lights flash rapidly at us through the blinds of the classroom window. A panicked voice begins to stutter through the speakers
“Attention students,” it stammers “the school is going into lockdown, stay in your classroom, do not interfere with the officer’s work and stay quiet.”
Maybe Ali didn’t go home sick after all.
“What if it’s him?” a girl next to me whispers
“Who?” another replies.
“You haven’t heard? It’s all over the news. There’s been multiple reports of teen girls going missing from schools. One minute they would be in class and then poof,” she snaps her fingers to emphasise her point, “they’d disappear. As if into thin air.” A bead of sweat trickles down my face. No, that can’t be it…it’s impossible. Think about something else…anything. A voice begins to speak to me “Hey.” I turn my head to see the familiar hazel eyes staring back at me. Thank god. “Molly! I’m so glad you found me, what the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know,” She replies, her voice slow and wobbly. It never sounds like that. This has to be bad, “Let’s get our minds off it”
“How?” I ask her-how could we get our minds off something like this? The sirens are still shrieking outside, the noise almost deafening me, I don’t think I can take my mind off that.
“Let’s play a game! I’ll say a name of somebody in school, and you say the first word that comes to mind.”
“Okay…let’s try”
“Alright!” She chirps. I wonder how she’s always so cheery, even at a time like this. “First name…Jess.”
“Smart.” I reply with no hesitation. Jess has top grades in the class and I’ve never seen her get anything below a 90% on a test.
“Okay…Miss Jordan!”
“Crazy,” I respond with a laugh, “She’s always mad about something.” Molly grins at me, she knows just as well as I do that Miss Jordan is the worst teacher in the school. Somehow, I start to feel a sense of security. Only Molly could do that at a time like this.
“Okay…one more, Mr Davis.”
“You mean that random sub?” Molly nods her head in response. “I’m not sure. I’ve only had him twice.”
“I think he’s weird, like, he gives me weird vibes” She says, scrunching up her nose. I try to think back to my history class he covered last month. He was pretty boring, talked a lot about his life as if we’d care. Oh, and he was always talking to Ali. Ali… I quickly turn to Molly, my eyes wide like those of a mad woman’s. I open my mouth to tell her my realisation when a sudden yell sounds from outside. Instantly, the class doors swing open, teachers rushing us outside. And then I see her. Ali is there, crying with and officer and behind her is Mr Davis in handcuffs…
