This summer Radical Radishes challenged young writers to write their own story. Armed with only pencil paper, and a great imagination, they created stories stemming from the classic kid’s archetype ~ the orphan. Here is one young writer’s creative spin on this classic theme.
The Life of Lyra
by Ms. Isabel
Once upon a time there was a girl named Lyra. Her full name was Lyra Stormheart. She had a reddish orange hair and she was the quiet mysterious type. She lived in an orphanage and some of the other kids in the orphanage bullied her. Her life was strange. It was full of evil enemies and secret admirers.
Her parents died one day while Lyra was at the park. She was quietly reading one of her books when a messenger came with some news. He gave Lyra an envelope from her uncle in London. It read:
My dear Niece Lyra,
I came to visit you and your family and arrived just an hour ago and unfortunately someone set fire to the house. I was able to escape in time but your parents didn’t. You will be sent to an orphanage. I will be going back to London tomorrow. I have spoken to the orphanage manager and her assistant. You will be heading to the orphanage tomorrow at 8:00 am and if you ever need anything contact your Uncle. Toodles!
Sincerely,
Your Uncle
She started crying and cried and cried and cried. Then she got mad. “Ugh! What a poshy puddle of mud my Uncle is!” said Lyra. “Why couldn’t he bring my parents out of the fire? And I don’t need his help. I’m not a baby. I can do things on my own!” said Lyra angrily. Suddenly a chubby girl with caramel hair walked up to her and said “Who is this weirdo talking to?” Then a bunch of girls behind the chubby girl laughed. The rest of Lyra’s day didn’t go very well except when a girl came up to her and said comforting words to her. Then they became besties. What Lyra didn’t know is that all the people at the park were from the orphanage.
The next day at 8:00 am sharp Lyra knocked on the door of the orphanage. When a fat grumpy-looking lady opened the door Lyra saw a big room with tons of dirty, cluttered beds. The room could have been mistaken for a sewer if it weren’t for the beds. On one side of the room there was a cracked wooden staircase leading to a second floor. And on the second floor there was the dining room. The tables were wood with a ripped bed sheet for a tablecloth. It looked like the tablecloth had never been cleaned because there was a bunch of food stains on it. On the second floor were the bathrooms, which I do not want to explain how they looked.
Lyra stood frozen for a bit but she looked around at the orphans sitting on their beds. She recognized some of them from the park like the chubby girl who had called her a weirdo and her friends. Next to an empty bed was her best friend she met at the park. Lyra ran over to the empty bed next to her bestie and smiled. Her friend smiled, too.
The fat orphanage lady said “Alright orphans, we have a new orphan today. Lyra, why don’t you introduce yourself?”
Lyra got up from her new bed and walked to the front of the room, looking at the kids sitting on their beds. When Lyra got to the front of the room she said in a loud voice, “Uh, hi everyone. My name is Lyra, Lyra Stormheart.” The chubby girl snickered. When Lyra was done introducing herself she talked to her new bestie.
“Your name is so beautiful!” her new friend said.
“Oh, thanks. What is your name?” Lyra asked.
“Oh, my name is Ellie,” Ellie said.
“Nice name. I like it!” said Lyra.
"Thanks, but yours is nicer,” said Ellie.
Then the bully came up to them and said “Pfft! What are you guys talking about? None of your names are pretty! They’re both ugly!” For the next six months Lyra and Ellie’s lives were terrible.
One day after the bully had called Lyra “stormfart,” Lyra said to Ellie, “Ellie, I’m sorry that I attracted these bullies to you.”
“Oh, that’s all right. At least we still have each other,” said Ellie.
“Oh, thank you so much Ellie,” said Lyra. They hugged.
“Hey, do you know what’s in that hallway?” asked Lyra, pointing down a dark space away from the bedroom.
“I don’t know and I don’t want to find out. That hallway looks pretty dark,” said Ellie.
“Oh come on, you scaredy cat!” Lyra said while elbowing Ellie.
“Ugh! Fine, BUT IF WE GET KILLED IT’S YOUR FAULT!” said Ellie angrily and loudly.
“Ok, ok, I think the whole orphanage heard that,” Lyra said.
Then they slowly walked into the dark hallway.
“I can barely see anything in here!” said Ellie.
Suddenly, CLICK! A trap door in the floor opened right under Lyra and Lyra fell downward screaming.
Ellie stood frozen, her feet two inches or more into the ground than they were a second ago. Ellie shook her head and jumped down the hole after Lyra. Suddenly Ellie and Lyra were falling down a hole, screaming. Lyra fell on her butt on a dusty carpet.
“Oww!” said Lyra.
The Ellie fell on Lyra’s head flattening Lyra with Ellie on her head.
“Double ow,” said Lyra.
Ellie got off Lyra’s head and wiped off the dust.
“Hey, this hallway has torches,” said Ellie.
“Yea, so what?” said Lyra.
“So what? So I can see now,” said Ellie.
They started walking off down the hall.
“Do you see that flashing light?” asked Lyra pointing down the hallway.
Ellie squinted. “Yea, I do. It’s a different color each time it flashes.”
Lyra slowly walked towards the light.
“What are you doing?” Ellie whisper shouted.
Lyra ignored her and kept on walking.
“That could be dangerous!” Ellie continued.
But Lyra kept on walking. Lyra finally got to the light. She saw a door just like any other door. She could see behind the door and it looked as if the light was coming from a stick. Lyra slowly cracked open the door and Lyra and Ellie could not believe their eyes.
In front of them was a massive room with all these people wearing witch hats and black cloaks. And not too far from the door was a person who looked as if she was holding a stick and the flashing light was coming out of it.
Lyra and Ellie slowly walked into the room. Ellie looked behind her and the door was gone. It had turned into a brick wall. Ellie panicked and went with Lyra further into the room. When they got to the girl making the flashing light the light immediately disappeared as the girl had bumped into another witch. The other witch started laughing. Lyra picked up the stick. Mad that the witch was so rude, Lyra moved closer to the witch with the stick. Suddenly the witch’s mouth was glued together.
“Oh my gosh!” said the girl. “You just got here and you already did the mouth binding spell! You’re a natural!”
“Uh, oh. Thanks,” Lyra replied, a little confused.
“You have entered this place because you have magic powers and you just didn’t know it. My name is Emily,” the girl said. “And that person you just put the mouth binding spell on is Matilda. She runs this place,” she explained. “Here, you’ll need these,” Emily said as she handed Lyra a cloak, a witch hat, and wand. “And you,” looking at Ellie, “you’re her new assistant!” as she handed Ellie a cloak, a witch hat, and wand.
“OH COME ON!” Ellie moaned.
Then Emily handed Ellie a sticker that said “#1 Assistant.”
~to be continued~
Ms. Isabel is a writer based in Los Angeles who loves dogs. Her favorite characters are girls who have powers. Her hobbies include horseback riding, piano, sewing, and cooking. She hopes one day to run with wolves (we are confident she will).