OWL’s Story Contest: The Pressure
Here’s another winning entry from OWL’s Story Writing Contest. This entry was written by Paige.
The Pressure
The pressure pushing down on me was unbearable. Dozens of dependent eyes, pained eyes and murderous eyes were all fixed on me. I had waited patiently, but it was difficult to keep myself from wailing.
“Miss Carrow, would you please come to the stand,” said an unfamiliar voice. I walked forward slowly, thinking back to what had transformed my life into this reality. It all went back to 7 am this morning…
I had just walked into the classroom, when my eyes swept the blackboard. The black message hit me full force, enough to knock me over. Research project due today. Worth 80% of your mark! Mrs. Allen’s lovely script didn’t look so perfect anymore. I had completely dismissed that task, pushed it to the back of my mind. Now, the day the project that would determine my mark was due, I didn’t have it. I gulped. Right before I could begin to find a solution, a mature voice broke into my head.
“Laura, would you mind handing in your project,” Mrs. Allen asked innocently. “Because if you don’t, detention is really fun,” she finished.
I groaned. Not a day in my life had I been simply sent to the office! That’s when I knew today would be long, and certainly different.
At the end of the day, I packed up my book bag and went down to the detention room. I hesitated before grabbing the doorknob. After all, the only people who touched the handle were bad kids, and I’m not a bad kid, right? When I opened the door and stepped into the beige, small room, the teacher on duty welcomed me and gave me a seat. I was completely alone. I sighed, and put my head on the desk.
It felt like it had been an hour, but it had only been 10 minutes. I was about to put my head back on the table in front of me when the supervisor spoke.
“Speech competitions are a waste of time. They teach nothing and no one likes them,” she grumbled. Normally, other people’s business doesn’t interest me but she couldn’t have been more wrong.
“Not true. I love speech competitions, and they teach confidence, language skills, and they help develop passion for things that matter,” I contradicted her.
“Is that so?” she questioned me. Our conversation continued for a while until she stopped me.
“You know, we could use you on the debate team.” She mulled it over in her head, scanning me. Finally she continued.
“Tell you what. I’ll let you off, if you come to the debate tonight.”
And that is how I got to the stage with the lights shining down on me. All I know is that I want to win.
And I’m going to win.
What happens next is obvious.
Nice work, Paige!
Check out the last winning story in the coming week. Don’t forget to check out our latest contests here.
-Kim, owlblog@owlkids.com
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