South Circular
crops. Desperate, Mr Wells made his way back into town, stumbling and tripping several times. His whole body was trembling, and his mind was racing; he had nothing. He noticed that the victorious hen from earlier was gone and the other lying facedown in a puddle dead. When he reached the town square it was crowded, and everyone seemed to be shouting in confusion. Even Mr Graves, the town mayor, struggled make everyone settle down, but in the end, when he did, he said one thing. ‘There is no food.’
The Hospital
Joe Williams Year 9
he thick foggy smog of London briefly parted to make way for the horse drawn carriage steering down Cooky Lane, before quickly seeping back into the empty space. Inside were Silas Taye and his mother, odd as usually the housekeeper Edith would take Silas to the hospital should he need to go, yet the previous night he had heard Arabella herself insist that she go with her son. Nevertheless, he had been assured it would be a normal visit. He tapped away repeatedly at his thigh, staring at his finger, replaying the conversation of last night over and over and over and over in his brain, almost entranced by the words. Then, he stared out of the window. Silas had overheard other things too. He thought he had heard his mother mention to the housekeeper something about Mary in Bethlehem, and assumed, as any young Christian would, that they were talking of the birth of Christ, like he had read about a few fortnights before. The thought hadn’t appeared in his mind, up until he remembered that the driver too had mentioned a Mary and a word sounding like Bethlehem. His gaze then fell. He looked over his right shoulder and saw what looked like a packed bag under his mother’s legs. He imagined that he would take something similar to this bag if were to ever go to boarding school. For years he had yearned to go, to escape fromhis home, however he had never been allowed. He didn’t knowwhy. He suspected that it was because he wouldn’t get along with the other children, but he didn’t know for sure. In his mind he recalled his last encounter with another child and grinned eerily. The pain…. Moments later the carriage pulled over, and Silas and his mother left the vehicle. She was carrying the bag. They stood in front of a grand building, grotesque in size, and then started to walk towards the long, bricked structure with its towering mass of tall windows. As they edged nearer, Silas heard what he thought sounded like century old screeches, wailing for him to enter, and they intensified the closer he got to the entrance. It was a large room with many desks, all with important looking men sat behind. Most appeared to be working, however some seemed to be talking to members of the public; Silas thought that they couldn’t be patients as they had no visible injuries. Once inside, his mother ushered him in front of one of the desks, on which a name card stating ‘Victor Franks’ was placed. A man behind the desk T
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