Half-Empty

I love the way Mizz Hannah and Little Miss La La (check out their blogs, c'est trés bien) write little stories on their blogs. I thought I'd do that too, 'coz it looks fun!

Half-Empty

Emily trudged through the damp, deserted park. Back to a world of anger and tears. 

She shivered as she took out her mobile. 4 new messages flashed up on the screen. Emily knew she wouldn't want to open them. She knew it would only make her more upset, and scared. But she couldn't just put the phone back in her pocket. She had to know what they said.

'get lost freak! we don't want u here.'

'u think ur so great. how come no-one likes u then?'

'go back to where u came from'

'bitch.'

The last message created a lump in her throat. Her eyes welled up. Her hands went stiff. The phone dropped onto the wet ground, skidded, and landed beside an old, gnarled tree. They really didn't like her here. They hated her.

What had she done? 

The only thing that set her apart from the other students at St. Mary's College was her chocolate brown face. Her skin colour.

The girls at her last school never did anything like that. There were at least 5 coloured kids in her class. Emily wasn't the most popular girl in the class, no way, but she had friends. Lots of friends. People thought she was nice. She was never bullied.

Bullied. That's what those nasty, mean girls were doing. Bullying her. You'd think she'd know that. Since Emily was five years old it had been drilled into her head by teachers and her parents that bullying was wrong, a bad thing. She knew that if someone does anything you don't like to you, you have to tell someone. Why hadn't she realised before? 

Emily knew what she had to do. She sprinted out of the park, her feet pounding as hard as the rain that had just burst from the sky. Pushed open her house gate, turned the key in the lock and ran up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door. 

She took out her phone and dialled 0800 1111. Childline.

Note: This is not a true story, but thousands of children have, are or will be bullied at sometime in their lives. You don't have to suffer. Talk to a parent, close friend or trusted teacher, or call Childline on 0800 1111. Whatever your problem, you can tell them and they will offer you advice. Plus it's completely confidential, and it won't come up on your phone bill.