“ All Summer In A Day ” - Continued
Erin Baskind
Grade Seven
(In Ray Bradbury ’ s open - ended story, an Earth born girl cannot handle life on Venus; she endures physical and emotional problems, the least of which is being locked in a closet at school.)
The closet opens. Margot ’ s eyes take a minute to adjust to the dim, flickering light faintly illuminating the room from the lights in the ceiling. Her pale, lifeless face nearly blending with the cold, gray metal closet. She steps out of the closet, her legs shaking as she stumbles into the classroom. At first, Margot has no intention to run. She walks to a desk and sits down on the chair, staring straight ahead, saying nothing. “ Hey, Charcoal! ” William yells. “ You ’ re looking a bit washed out! ” Sad that you didn ’ t see the sun?! ” Margot keeps staring at the blank wall in front of her, seemingly deaf to his taunts, only hearing the deafening sound of the rain, pounding its never ending drum on the roof. The class goes silent, waiting for an answer … It never comes. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Margot gets up. No one tries to stop her. She slowly walks out of the classroom, and, once she is out of sight, breaks into a run. As fast as she can, she runs through the torrential rain until she gets to her front yard. An overwhelming sense of giving up washes over her, and it feels like everything is too much. Her legs can ’ t hold her up anymore, and her heart is filled with despair. Then everything goes black. She lies there, victim to the pelting rain. When Margot opens her eyes again, she is lying in her bed, tucked in under blankets. She looks down for a second and notices that she has been changed into fresh, warm clothes. She rolls over, facing the wall. Nothing can entice her to get up. Not even the smell of fresh cookies baking in the oven. The only thing she can think of is the inside of that cold, gray closet. Pitch black inside, with no room to move, it ’ s hard to breathe, as though the darkness were suffocating her. The walls are closing in and she struggles for air. “ Margot? Are you okay? ” her mother asks softly, standing by the door.
“ I ’ m fine. ” Margot whispers back.
“ I ’ ll bring you some cookies, ” says her mother, as she walks away, back to the kitchen. Margot rolls over, facing the window this time, and gets up. She walks past her dresser, to the window, and looks out. Still the driving rain does not stop. Sighing, Margot starts to turn away from the window until she catches sight of a faint, colorful glow on the horizon. A rainbow. Slowly, Margot smiles, feeling something that she can ’ t quite place. A warm, cozy feeling inside. Hope. Hope that life will lead to a better future.
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