Invisible

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Invisible

A tale of friendship between two girls

Amanda is relying on Katy to save her from her never-ending doom.

Have a look through the eyes of a girl whose world comes crashing down around her.

Published 2017

22 May

Chapter 1

Friendship was something I didn’t really understand. Until I met Katy. Sure it may sound a bit cliché but she was always there for me. She never left my side. Almost every weekend we would hang out together. We were always picked to be in the same group because Mr Hanson (our teacher) knew we worked well together, in fact almost every teacher knew that we did. I mean sure we’ve had our ups and downs, but it makes me feel like we’re just getting closer. Before Katy I felt like my life was missing something. I had no friends and no one really noticed me. Katy was the only one that knew what I was going through. I was always alone. Then Katy showed me how to have fun, since then we have never had one boring day together.

My name is Amanda and I’m 12 years old. Today is my first day of high school (I know I’m young for high-school), and my emotions are running wild, It’s a mixture of excited and nervous. High School isn’t the same as primary. You get more homework and the pressure to finish it can be unbearable.

Just like always Katy was waiting outside in our special hide-away place. It’s only known to Katy and me, it’s very difficult to find. The hide-away is right next to a steep rocky mountain and is covered in vines and other assortments of greenery. Every single day we would walk to school together. I would say we have the advantage of living so close to the school. Usually we discuss the latest gossip and what teacher you have this year etc. Katy was ecstatic where as I was a nervous wreck. Katy and I are quite the opposites actually. I have uncontrollable dark frizzy hair in which I can’t do anything with. I’m extremely short and the youngest in the entire school. Katy has perfect straight long blonde hair that she usually wears in two braids, she uses lots of pins. If I used pins they would get lost in my hair and you would never find them again.

It was a cold winter morning and the school field was painted white with specks of ice, but it wasn’t quiet, it never was. As soon as we arrived everyone scrambled to talk to Katy shoving me out the way and barely noticing that I existed. This wasn’t unusual, in fact it happened almost every day. Most of the time Katy would give me a ‘sorry’ smile, and I would just go to class. She knew I didn’t care. It used to bother me but I’ve learnt that there’s no point in trying to be visible, and that I should just stay invisible.

One time when Katy was home sick (probably pretending) I decided that today I would attempt to talk to some other girls but that didn’t turn out good at all. They just stared at me like I was some alien life form, and that I didn’t matter.

Katy’s face lit up I could tell she was as excited as a 5-year-old on Christmas. She rushed towards the class, and it looked like she could run her own race in the Olympic Games. Mr Hanson was slouching on his chair with his feet resting on his desk.

“What’s the rush” He asked Katy looking quite confused.

“NEW GIRL” She screeched

Mr Hanson wasn’t the youngest teacher in the school, he had a stern expression and neat styled grey hair. Although he looked pretty scary, I would say he’s the nicest teacher in the school, Mrs Hanson’s the one to look out for.

It was like a stampede of elephants they all rushed to the door, Mr Hanson’s hand flew up, signalling that we had to stay inside. Everyone skidded to a stop. To me every new kid was the same, not one different from the other. Just like always I stayed behind. Katy was at the head of the group peering through the small gap in the door. There were murmurs.

“what’s her name?”

“Ooh I love her hair”

“Where’d she get those shoes!”

She had long dark hair and she walked like she was in some kind of palace; I already don’t like her.

Katy was the first to introduce herself.

“I’m Caitlyn” Everyone ooohed and ahhhed like it was the most unusual (but amazing) name in the world. About now would be when Katy would finish her conversation with me. This happened every day, and she always felt guilty for how popular she was, she couldn’t help it. Katy never missed out on talking to me, this was when everyone left her alone. Instead she was talking to Caitlyn.

“Who’s that?” Caitlyn asked with a disgusted expression on her face. She was pointing at me.

I can understand why she was pointing at me. Everyone else was talking to someone, but I was at the back of the class, in the corner, alone.

“Oh that’s my friend Amanda” Replied Katy.

“She’s your friend? How are you friends with her? She’s so… boring looking” Caitlyn said clearly not amused.

Katy seemed to be contemplating what to say, as if it was a difficult decision (which it wasn’t).

“What? Did I say friend? Of course she’s not my friend, I thought you were pointing to someone else” Katy said looking partly ashamed and partly like she didn’t care about me.

“Thank goodness I thought you were boring like her for a second there” Caitlyn said with a look of relief on her face.

Apparently popularity was more important than friendship in her eyes, but that wasn’t the case with mine. Katy glanced over at me a sad look on her face, but she had up her mind. Was this the end of our friendship?

Chapter 2

It couldn’t be. It seemed so real, but I wasn’t letting the truth sink in until I was completely and utterly sure. Hope wasn’t something I was particularly fond of, it never seemed to be around when I needed it.

The classroom gleamed with creativity, and sparked with imagination and idea’s, most of them Katy’s. It was spring, but still cold, the field was wrapped tightly in a blanket of daisy’s and dandelions.

Katy was my only friend and I wasn’t letting go of her this easily. Katy had never been this self-centred before, and had always valued our friendship over popularity. I didn’t think it would ever come to this. Caitlyn and Katy were whispering to each other and I could hear my name mention every once and a while. I felt betrayed and worthless. My eyes welled up with tears, even though I tried to tell them to retreat.

“Mr Hanson may I be excused to the bathroom” I asked hiding my face with my dark curly red hair.

“Sure” He replied not noticing the tears in my eyes.

Desperate to be alone I rushed to the Bathroom. Maybe they didn’t notice how my face was almost as red as my hair. It was unlikely. My imagination was thinking up all the horrible things they said about me as I left the room.

Mr Hanson knew that no one would want to be excused to the bathrooms, considering how grotty and disgusting they were. It was like if a humungous rubbish bin had thrown up all its insides, and it had landed in our school bathrooms. The boy’s bathroom was worse, it seemed that they didn’t care if it was dirty or clean.

As soon as I arrived in the girl’s bathroom, I locked myself in one of the disgusting stalls. Graffiti appeared to be living on the walls, the bin was exploding rubbish everywhere. This certainly was no princess castle. I had nowhere else to go. It was worse than living in an alley way. Wiping my eyes carefully with the unsanitary toilet paper, my face began to calm down.

My only mission now was to make it back to class without being suspected as ‘weird’. Somehow I had to make my arrival normal, but that’s not the easiest thing to do when everyone saw how you sprinted out of class just to use the bathroom.

I knew I couldn’t stay here forever, so I left confidently (sort of). Arriving back in class normally should be tricky, but considering I’m so invisible it wasn’t that hard. Everyone seemed to focused in their own ongoing drama’s that they didn’t even notice me enter the class. Trying desperately to gain back my friendship, I smiled at Katy. In return I only got a sour expression served on my dinner plate.

I managed to make it through the rest of the day without another incident, but as soon as I got home I was cornered with questions from my mum.

My excuse for not being able to speak was…

“Can’t talk too much homework”

Mum just nodded and I snuck out the back door into my safe place, what was once mine and Katy but now just remains mine.

The safe place, was somewhere Katy and me could talk and hang out. We used to play by the river when we were little. It was shallow and coursed straight through the little opening in the forest. There was a willow tree cascading over the entrance, to ensure no one but us could find it. The grass was long with dandelions scattered all throughout. Best of all it had a mountain, a tall rocky mountain. Dents in the rocky fortress gave us a place to sit and butterflies made it a calm feeling environment.

However, there were no butterflies of any sort today. This only made my loneliness exceed its welcome.

Should I go to school tomorrow?

Maybe I’ll fake being sick?

What if mum doesn’t believe me?

Our friendship was over for sure. I sat there contemplating my next move on the chessboard of life, when suddenly out of the blue a deafening rumble interrupted my thoughts. I look up and see a boulder sprinting down the mountain and heading straight for me. Avalanche.

Chapter 3

I tried to run, but it was useless. There was nowhere to go, and nothing I could do. The boulder glared at me expecting my eminent doom, it already knew it would reign champion.

Everything went black. My body thrown against the ground on impact. I couldn’t feel my legs, and my head felt like it had been stung by one million wasps all at the same time. My hand touched the side of my head, I used all my strength to open my eyes and see blood dripping from my fingertips. Nearly fainting I had to pull myself together. Flesh ripped to shreds on my pale face. My legs were broken, both of them. A raging boulder monster resting just near my ankles.

I only had one choice. To sit, and wait for help. Over time I would either bleed to death, starve, or die of dehydration. Remember when I told you hope wasn’t fond of me, well now you have proof. The chance of someone finding me had the same chances as if I repaired my friendship with Katy. Unlikely.

There was no hope for me.

Night came quickly, as I was dreading it. Shorts and a t-shirt were most definitely not going to keep me warm. My fingers had already gone numb. Not a good sign. Mum must have noticed my absence by now. I know because I could hear the search party calling my name, but due to the lack of water my throat was dry and it was a real mission to be able to speak.

Tears rolled down my face, and that night I cried myself to sleep, wishing and hoping that somebody will find me.

As soon as I woke up I noticed the grass was icy. The way it gets when it’s been so cold overnight. My fingers had turned blue. It was misty and the river seemed to have vanished. The sun had barely risen over the mountain. I was still stuck. This wasn’t a dream; in fact, it was a nightmare. No prince could save me now.

Mum would be worried sick. Katy on the other hand probably wouldn’t have even noticed I was gone. School would have just started, surely mum would have notified the principle, and my teacher of my absence, and that I wasn’t having a sick day.

The blood on the side of my head had dried but the flesh still hung there. They were still calling out for me by lunch-time. I tried so hard to yell for help, But I couldn’t do it.

It felt like each day got colder and colder, which made it even more difficult to stay alive. I don’t know why I didn’t give up, but I felt like I had to try.

Katy is the only one that can save me now…

Chapter 4

It had almost been a week since I was trapped. I had no food or water, and the search party was nowhere near close to finding me. The huge wound on my head had started to puke puss. It was infected. I needed help and fast. My death was inevitable and ready to pounce on me when I least expected it.

Suddenly I could hear a voice the distance, it was soft and sounded familiar. I had known this voice for years. It was Katy’s! Great now I’m imagining things, well that’s just fantastic.

It wasn’t my imagination; it was real life! What’s Katy doing here. Our friendship was over, she made it clear to me. Katy doesn’t care about me. No one does.

It was useless to keep fighting, death was unforgiving, but I still had one thing on my mind… I didn’t want to be forgotten by Katy.

Then like magic she appeared from through the willow tree, pushing the long strings of leaves out of the way. A look of concern was planted on her face. Maybe she did care.

“Amanda!” Katy cried.

“I was so worried about you! I should have come sooner!”

She rushed over to my side and knelt down, propping me up with her ice cold arms. Tears welled in her eyes and her hands were shaking like an earthquake.

“I’m so sorry it’s all my fault” Katy raved on about how she made this happen. She continuously apologized.

Now I could barely open my eyes, let alone speak, eat, or drink. But I knew that my end was near, and I only had one final question for Katy.

I was silent, struggling to stay alive, and then… with my last breath I whispered…

“Did our friendship mean nothing to you?”

My life was fading, just like my faith in Katy. Our friendship could never be the same ever again.

My heartbeat grew fast and so did my breathing, then it slowed and my final resting place was with the person who caused all of this… Katy…

About the author

Born on 21st March 2005, 12-year-old Meredith Cree lives in Kaukapakapa village.

Writing hasn’t always been a dream of hers but she does enjoy writing and producing ideas onto paper.

Her dream is to become a primary school teacher. She currently goes to Kaukapakapa school, and has been for 7 years.

She enjoys walking to school (most days). She absolutely hates swimming in the school pool, as it is extremely cold, and I’m pretty sure she has almost died once.

She is planning to move to Australia 22nd June with her family.

My name is Amanda, and I’m invisible…

No not actually invisible, it’s just no one notices me

Katy is the only one that notices me and she’s my best friend.

Today is my first day of high-school, and I suspect that we will have lots of new people, but none of them notice me so it’s the same as every other day

Katy seems to like the new girl better than me. Am I just

Philippa Werry

A writer from the start. Philippa Werry. A New Zealand writer with a dream. Her experience with writing goes way back to when she was 5 years’ old when she wrote the ‘Daschund who ran away’ and it was published in the newspaper. She continuously wrote for the newspaper until she was thirteen. To this day she has written 70 plus poems and stories.

When Philippa Werry was only a little girl she still enjoyed reading as much as she does now. She loved writing for the newspaper, but she wasn’t the only one submitting her stories, a vast amount of other kids also wanted their story to make its way into the paper. Philippa Werry was one on the first children at such a young age to publish a 100-point story. To get 100 points was actually quite the big deal. You could submit a story (which had to be original of course) and the owners of the newspaper company would decide how many points your story deserved. Considering she was only eight at the time I would say it was quite the accomplishment. It’s no wonder she became an author today. That wasn’t the only story she wrote. When she was ten she wrote a 90-page book with one of her friends. The book was classified as an adventure book. When she was in high-school she entered The Bank of New Zealand Writers awards, and not surprisingly came in first place with her book called creation.

Philippa Werry’s dream to become an author never faded, and when she grew up she wrote for a school newsletter. At first her stories weren’t accepted but the staff were extremely encouraging, and eventually her stories were accepted. Just like many other authors she has visited a number of schools and has shared her adventures as a writer. She has met many students who have read her book (creation). They said it really had an impact on them when they listened to it. She loves visiting schools and loves to talk about her books and how far she has come with her journey as a writer. When she was younger she loved when writers would come and talk at her school, hence why she enjoys it so much now. Over the years she collected old newspaper clippings as they were very sentimental to her. “It reminds me that even when I was young I wanted to be a writer”.

After she finished university she travelled around the world. Then she got married and travelled with her partner. Philippa Werry has three daughters and she influences them to read a lot, as well as reading to them herself. Philippa Werry has attended many writer’s events although it’s unclear whether she won any awards for her books or as a writer herself. When she was in high school she met Noel Hilliard and he was the first writer she had ever met or even had any contact with. Since then she has written over 70 stories, poems, plays, and school journal articles. Writing wasn’t her only job though, Philippa went on a cruise and while she was there she became a librarian for the ship. During her time as a librarian she mostly wrote letters, and journal articles, as well as poems.

Overall while I was researching I have now realised how far Philippa Werry has come on her journey to become a famous writer. She has a certain way that she writes books which almost make you feel as if you are the character in the book and that you’re experiencing exactly what they are. Sometimes I would get so immersed in reading her books that I don’t notice anything around me, because I’m in the book. So in conclusion Philippa Werry is by far one of my favourite authors and I would most definitely recommend her to other children looking for good books to read.

Bibliography

Bhttp://www.philippawerry.co.nz/writersjourney.html

Review

Losing something so meaningful to you is difficult. In this case it’s loss of friendship. Harry is not the average 12-year-old; she has an imagination that could run in the Olympic games. Is that necessarily a good thing though? Her imagination is known for getting her into trouble. Her life is all crashing down around her and she must learn how to control her imagination and how to find new friends.

Harriet Jasmine Emerald Florence Maybey McDonald-Harry for short, has a best friend called Jessica and they are complete opposites. Everything is turning topsy-turvy when a new girl Mallory switches to Harry’s school and snatches her best friend away from her. Mallory continues to torment Harry all throughout the book, calling her names, making fun of her, until eventually she snaps and has to leave her friends once and for all.

Harry needs to find her place in the school. You follow her throughout her crazy adventures of odd things that take place in the book. I found that I was sucked in and couldn’t put the book down, there was no boring part in the book. Along the way there was a lot of giggles and best of all you get to be Harry you experience what she has, you feel the feelings she did, and you feel sympathy for what she has to go through. This book carry’s so many emotions and is written beautifully.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book it had the perfect mix of emotions. I felt like I understood what Harry was going through. Losing a friend can be tough. The way she wrote this book was amazing you feel like you are seeing everything through Harry’s point of view. I would rate this book 8/10. The only reason I didn’t give it a higher rating was because I felt like some of the sentences didn’t connect to what she was trying to say. Still I would most definitely recommend you read this book.

By Meredith Cree

William Gilbert

William Gilbert and his magnetic beliefs

Have you ever wondered how exactly you stick your 5th grade art onto the fridge? What about why different magnets are either attracted or repelled by each other? Well without William Gilbert we wouldn’t have ever figured out how to create things like doorbells, soda machines, fridges, etc. They all use magnetism which we wouldn’t have ever known existed today if it weren’t for him.

William gilbert’s family was middle class and rising quickly. This meant that Gilbert was able to go to a good school and was able to learn. He gained an interest in the way the world worked and how people on the other side of the world weren’t falling off the face of the earth and floating off into space. It was not clear what Gilbert wanted to be considering he had so many degrees’ such as Bachelors, Masters, Doctoral. He was a physician and a natural philosopher. He practised medicine in London and later that year was elected president of the college he went to St Johns college Cambridge. William Gilbert began to research magnets in 1600, and then became the Queens personal doctor. Gilbert was born in Colchester 1544 24 May. His interest in Magnetism brought us many of the things we have today and if he was born into a poor family I’d fear he would have never been able to gather this interest, as he wouldn’t have been sent to a school. That’s not to say People with less money in those times couldn’t think up inventions, but it’s just William Gilbert would have never learned to write and then so would have never written his famous book De Magnete.

William Gilbert began to research and gather information about magnetism. His book De magnete has vague notions of what the earth’s axis is. His paper also explains about a compass needle and how the magnetic force pulls it towards the different poles North and South, thus creating a compass. He also mentions some things about the different types of magnetic forces such as lodestone (magnetic iron ore, magnetised iron) and the amber effect (static electricity). Also mentioning things about the magnetic field like it can pass through nonmagnetic objects such as if you wanted to pin up something on the refrigerator you would stick it up with something magnetic and it would pass through the paper or what have you. William Gilbert stated that the earth is magnetic and it spins on its axis for 24 hours. Although it was unclear what William Gilbert thought about whether the earth rotates around the sun or if it didn’t. He still managed to find many life changing things about the earth and its magnetism

In conclusion William Gilbert was a great man and very intelligent towards the working of magnets. Some people don’t realise how much we actually use magnets today. The strongest magnets are used in hospitals and in recycling centres. Some magnets that are not as strong as the ones in the hospitals but we do use them at home in objects such as a refrigerator, soda machines, doorbells, and some shower curtains (to keep it inside the shower/bath). William Gilbert is one of the best inventors from the Elizabethan Era and was extremely lucky to grow up in a middle class family because it gave him so many more opportunities for learning rather than if he was born to a poor and couldn’t afford to go to school. He was very lucky man.

By Meredith Cree

Bibliography

Wikipedia contributors, 'William Gilbert (astronomer)', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 February 2017, 13:30 UTC,

<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Gilbert_(astronomer)&oldid=767015071> [accessed 30 March 2017]

http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/gilbert.html 30 March

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/gilbert_william.shtml 30 March

Binky

Warm summer afternoon, peaceful and silent. The crusty moss covered swing seat hugging me tight as I lay comfortably, covered by s crimson blanket. Not a sound, no honk of a horn no screams of laughter, only silence eating up the world and swallowing it whole.

Sun glowing onto my rosy red cheeks, while a soft breeze drifted through the pine trees. Half asleep seeking excitement and adventure my wish was granted and a low bellow rose up from in the bush followed by a high pitched blood curdling scream. Swiftly sitting up from the comforting swing seat, I gaze around carefully assuming the worst. A young lion emerged from in the bushes and in it’s mouth was a tiny miniscule wild baby bunny.

Gasping at the horrific sight inside my cat’s mouth, I silently crept over to her like a stealthy ninja read to attack. “drop it” my command shatters the silence and echo’s through the garden.

Her ears prick up and she knows she’s done wrong. Briskly dropping the shivering frightened bunny, as the young lion retreats back into the wilderness defeated.

Chocolate biscuits

1. My birthday, a fun filled adventure, or at least it was supposed to be…

2. The storm had a whistling echo that bounced off the walls in the empty hallway.

3. The sun slowly descended into the pale green hills, that are filled with loving family’s, and farm animals that will soon be retiring to their beds of hay.

4. Awoken by the sound of a dog barking at an unfamiliar tree. A giant spider web stretched out across the plant holding many creature’s hostage.

5. I’ll be leaving my home behind, leaving my friends, leaving my life and starting fresh. So who do I want to be?

6. Suddenly a deathly scream echoed through the neighborhood and a shriek of pain danced through my innocent ears. I watch in horror at my brother lying in pain on the ground.

Witches brew

Double double toil and trouble

Fire burn and cauldron bubble

Fillet of a torrent fish

That’s been presented on a dish

Eye of dried out eel, and toe of archeys frog

Wool of bat, and tongue of sheep dog

Rusty cake fork, and blind wasps sting

Tuatara’s scaly leg, and kiwis broken wing

Double double toil and trouble

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

hot Summer Day

Clear cool water caresses the sand textured pool edge. My skin wrinkly from staying in the water too long. The perfect day to relax and enjoy the summer sun. Crowds of people scattered around like flowers in grassy terrain. Determined to do the entire park all in one day. My voracious appetite was getting the best of me. I was a hungry lion on the hunt and seeking prey. Wafting smells of pizza, chips, and all the food you could ever dream of all floated into my nose at the same time only making my appetite worse.

Screams, laughter, excitement! Sounds dance around my ears like ballerina. Adrenaline rushed through my body as I Splashing into the sun heated pool. Continually diving down to the bottom of the pool as my brother desperately tried to avoid getting hit in the face with powerful splashes of water. Suddenly I heard the loud screams of the sirens.

“Here come the waves” I screeched, as I dove down to the bottom.

My hands pushed off the pool and my fists collided with my face leaving bleeding patches of skin as I float to the surface. I was such a spas I had punched myself in the face multiple times. Embarrassment wipes over my entire body and my cheeks burned bright red like tomatoes. I looked like I had been in a fight with an angry cat. We still had a billion rides to go and at every one people stared at me like I was an alien from outer space!

.