Congratulations to Emily Cooper of Stratford for winning second prize for Quiet and Silent in the 2024 Rise Up! Regional Writers Rise Short Story Competition.
Emily Cooper is a Bachelor of Arts student at Federation University from Gippsland. Passionate about storytelling, she aspires to become an accomplished author, crafting narratives that inspire and captivate readers. Emily’s dedication to her studies and love for literature drive her ambition and creativity.'What… what is that?’ The secretary asked, pointing at Skyee’s fingers.
—
Skyee had entered the school building with ease, yet it did nothing to ease her absolute anxiousness. It had been just one week ago that she and her mother had been called in for a meeting just before school started, and she knew exactly what it had been about. Her suspension the year prior.
“Many of the parents still feel very apprehensive of you still being here,” he had said to her in his office. “That’s why you’ll be serving in school detention during your recess periods.”
She had wanted to say many things to him that day about that, one of them being for him to go fuck himself. But she couldn’t say anything even if she wanted do. She had gone mute. It had happened the same day she had gotten suspended.
It had all happened so fast. Harriet Moody had cornered her in the bathroom like they always had. They had pinched her. She remembered Harriet saying something about “carving the fat off her” and the next moment, she had taken the pocketknife in her shorts and stabbed Harriet with it. She didn’t remember much after that, other than the reputed kicking of Harriet’s friends as one of them tried to call the teacher. She’d been mute ever since. Harriet moved schools shortly after and ever since that day Skyee hadn’t even stepped foot in there.
And now she was back here again, and she clenched and cracked her knuckles with her fingers. Skyee went straight up to the administration with the paper work she was supposed to give them about her special needs. There was a bit of a line, but sure enough it soon came her turn.
The secretary looked at her up and down. “How can I help you?” She asked drearily.
Skyee gestured to the papers as she signed with her hands, “This is my special needs form. I’m supposed to give this to you.” She had learnt how to do sign language in the time she had been suspended, and it was a good enough tool for communication. It was either that or she simply write it down on pen and paper.
“What… what is that?’ The secretary asked, pointing at Skyee’s fingers.
Skyee blinked. She doesn’t know what I’m saying. She shakes her head a bit as she starts to write down what she’s saying.
As she’s writing, the secretary suddenly speaks very loudly and slowly right in her ear. “ARE YOU ONE OF THOSE DEAF KIDS?”
Skyee recoiled at the sudden noise, and quickly passed the papers to the secretary.
She looked at it briefly, then up and down at Skyee again, a scowl on her face. “Alright, alright, you can go,” she said shooing her off.
Skyee rolled her eyes as she walked away. As she did, she could hear the secretary saying under her breath, “Another pretendee.” Skyee had wished that that was the only dissatisfactory interaction she had. But there had been plenty more.
It didn’t take long for the other students to begin to point her out, whisper to each other. Some of the boys would yell as she passed by, “Psycho Bitch.” And that was only before class. It had been somewhat relatively easy to explain that she couldn't exactly speak, but much like before, the students kept their whispering, kept their jabbing and kept their pestering, even asking for her pens and not giving them back. It meant that when recess finally came and she made her way into the detention centre, there was none of the same crowd that had harassed her.
Here were some of the kids that we’re here all year round, the sort of kids that in all honesty should have been in juvie or much worse, and yet somehow, they managed to stay in school. A few of them noticed her, as she quickly found a table far away from everyone where she took out her laptop and her little tupperware container of sultanas.
She had been eating away, watching one of the classic episodes of Doctor Who, when she felt a slight tug on her shoulder. She immediately flinched up and recoiled as her body spun around. Standing above her was a boy with curly dark brown hair who wore it in a mullet.
“Woah, sorry there… Jesus, you scare pretty quickly huh.” The boy almost chuckled.
Skyee looked at him annoyed as she glanced over at the pen and paper she had left next to her laptop. She had kept it there in case someone needed to talk to her. “What do you want?” Skyee signed vigorously.
The boy looked confused, and then glanced at the notepad. “What are you…” He trailed off, and seemed to have reached his answer mid-thought, “Oh you’ can’t speak..”
Skyee looked over at him questioningly, not sure exactly what sort of game she was playing with right now, whether this was simply a chitchat or whether she was about to get thrown across the table.
“Cool cool, so are you like, deaf or something?”
Skyee rolled her eyes and simply turned away, putting her earbuds back in.
“Alright, alright you’re not deaf. Sorry,” the boy said earnestly, pulling a seat next to Skyee.
She glanced at him, and pulled her notepad and wrote something. What do you want?
The boy read it over a bit. “Ok, yeah, so I saw you're watching Doctor Who on your Laptop, what season are you on?" he asked.
Second Doctor, Tomb of the Cyberman.
“Ah cool, is it alright if I watch?” he asked.
Skyee stared at him for a moment, confused as she blinked. A moment went by before she took one of her earbuds and put it in his ear.
“Thanks,” He whispered, “I’m Danney Boyd.”
Skyee Reeves, she wrote on the notepad.
As they sat and watched the episode, Skyee thought something to herself, something she never thought she’d say. Maybe this year won’t be so bad.
—
It was an absolute treat being involved with the inaugural Regional Writers Rise Festival, held June 22–
23, 2024. The festival united the Federation University Professional and Creative Writing Internship Program (interns, you were amazing), mentors, festival supporters, industry partners, and passionate local writers and readers in a vibrant, supportive and creative atmosphere, encouraging the community to join a wonderful collection of diverse events.
NEXT YEAR'S COMPETITION — We've just heard from the Regional Writers Rise Festival Organisers that this wonderful event will be on again mid-next year, and that it's best to keep an eye on the festival website for the short story competition launch in early-ish 2025.