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Shorts
The Suits
By silentkiller
29 July 2006
This is a story about a bad home, told through the best eyes, the child. as he remembers it.

You couldn’t get to the door under the stairs when the men in suits came.  Daddy got angry with them, they asked him where I was, he said I was out with my friends; but I wasn’t, I had no friends, I was under the stairs, but the men in suits couldn’t get me out.  I wanted to shout and bang on the door, but I didn’t because I knew mummy and daddy would be very angry if I did; and that belt hurts.

Daddy was angry when the men in suits left, he got me from under the stairs, he took me upstairs and threw me into my bedroom.
‘Your not to do gym again,’ He said, then he started hitting me with the belt, it hurt worse this time because he used the sharp end, my mummy slapped me and punched me; then she took of her slipper and started hitting me with it.
‘Stay here, you go to bed without any tea,’ She slammed my bedroom door shut.
I lay on my bed crying with my eyes shut trying to get to sleep, but I couldn’t because my back hurt me so much.

The next day, in gym, my teacher said that I had to do it because I didn’t have a note.  While I was getting changed the teacher saw the marks and wanted to know where I got them from, but I didn’t tell her because I knew mummy and daddy would get angry.
She took me to the headmasters office, he wanted to know where I got the marks from as well, but I wouldn’t tell him, so he called the men in suits, they came and took me away, they said nothing bad would happen to me if I told the truth about where I got the marks from, so I told them, my mummy and daddy hit me.  The asked how often.  So I said, ‘All the time.’

I got to go on television, I told a man in a red gown behind a big table what my mummy and daddy did.  But I wasn’t in the same room.  I was in a small room with a camera, and I talked to the camera, and the man in the red gown could hear and see me.  He asked me what my mummy and daddy hit me with, so I told him that they hit me with the slipper and the belt, and hit me with hair hands; I told him that they locked me in the cupboard under the stairs and they sent me to bed with no tea.

They took my mummy and daddy away, and I went to a big building with lots of other girls and boys; but not for long.

I have a new mummy and daddy now, they don’t hit me or lock me under the stairs; I am happy now.
I ask my new mummy and daddy, where my old mummy and daddy have gone, they just say that they have gone away and will not hurt me any more; I am glad.
I have real friends now; I don’t tell them what happened because I know that, that was wrong, I am happy now, I know that this is right, so why, why do I cry at night when I think about my old mummy and daddy? I don’t tell anyone because I am embarrassed, my friends would laugh and call me a baby, so I don’t tell anyone, I am happy, I love my new mummy and daddy.  I hope they don’t go away like my old mummy and daddy.

Reviews
Sweet and simple
Written by Gill21 (566 comments posted) 29th July 2006
A simple and sweet story that almost made my cry. The constant use of 'mummy and daddy' really helped in placing you in the shoes of a very young child, which was important in a story so short. 
The best line - 'why do i cry at night when i think about my old mummy and daddy?' 
I am not sure how you meant it and maybe it is just my eternal optimism but i felt it was the child expressing that he/she still had a love for the parents, even though they were evil and cruel; that a child so severly beaten physically and emotional, can at least still feel. 
A very sweet (and maybe hopeful) story. :)
By novice
Written by Doublevision (11 comments posted) 7th August 2006
I like the story. I agree mummy and daddy appears to be over used. I would have used it instead of that (maybe its me). In rush to publish your story have you forgotten put k in front of now.  
 
I don’t tell them what happened because I know that (that) was wrong, I am happy now, I (now) that this is right, so why, why do I cry at night when I think about my old mummy and daddy?
From the heart
Written by Doublevision (11 comments posted) 9th August 2006
Please accept my apologies. The title By Novice was referring to me. I meant the review is by novice. Genuinely I like the story. I have even made a mistake by omitting to after forgotten. Let me redeem my self – your story is from the heart. You could sell your story to children's charity. I can see your story printed as an insert to be included in the brochure by adoption/fostering agency.

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