Kelvin puts ideas into words

A young writer, whose handwriting was unreadable a couple of years ago, has had the confidence to write to SwindonLink asking for help to get one of his short stories published.

Kelvin Snell, 14, from Toothill, said he started at Greendown three years ago needing help to make his writing legible. "My mum contacted a tutor to help me and I was shocked to see Mr Avery, my teacher from Oliver Tomkins School on my doorstep."

Martin Avery, now a supply teacher, said he had worked with Kelvin to improve his handwriting then moved on to broader literacy skills. "Before long I noticed Kelvin had the ability to create a good story, with an original turn of phrase and touches of humour. We've worked hard on grammar and punctuation, drafting and editing. I think he has a talent to express." Kelvin has sent his short horror story If she bends she breaks to several publishers without success. But you can read it here.




"If she bends she breaks"

A short story by
KELVIN SNELL


"I dare you to go on the ice," snarled the boy known as 'the kid'. The children were gathered next to the frozen pond, thinking of how thick this ice-rink had become and if it was safe.
"Well I guess I'd better do it," said Tommy, rising to the challenge, " because a girl like you would be too afraid."
Tommy was about to slide on the ice when Ben got in his way.
"Don't be a fool because if the ice bends, then it will break. And you will die," said Ben, Tommy's best friend.
Tommy pushed past him as if he wasn't even there. Ben desperately grabbed at Tommy, but only succeeded in taking his wooly hat off his head. Tommy, free of the crowd, skated half way across the pond and turned triumphantly to face his audience. At that moment, a terrifying thing happened . The ice, where he was standing, began to bend, then suddenly... it broke into a thousand pieces, just like Ben had predicted.
Tommy plunged into the ice cold water, gasping for breath as he fell. He disappeared into the ice-cold depths. All went silent for a second, then everybody heard a muffled bang, from below the ice. Tommy's body had risen but was now trapped beneath the layer of rock-solid ice.
"Do something, Ben! He's going to die if you don't help him!" cried Jenny, panicking. There were no more sounds. Ben watched Tommy's pale face drift nearer and nearer.
Ben was petrified; he couldn't take in what horror was going on below him. He thought it was all too much to cope with.

Meanwhile the kid, desperate to get away from the scene of the tragedy, began to run away, never stopping to look back. He was running flat out, hardly noticing that he was entering a bank of fog. Suddenly a boulder as high as his knees appeared out of the gloom. Not noticing the obstacle, the kid collided with it. He fell at great speed and didn't have the time to protect his head with his arms. Feeling dizzy, the kid had to lay still for a few moments while he absorbed the shock of what had hit him.
He slowly clambered to his feet, seeing stars. A warm, red substance trickled down his forehead and dribbled down the bridge of his nose. The kid watched in fascination as the drops of blood fell into the soft, flaky snow. At the sight of all this, the kid keeled over and fainted, hitting the ground for a second time.

Ben sat on the ice and watched Tommy's body fade from sight. He stumbled over to Jenny, shaking with fear. He was so scared that he couldn't even speak.
At that moment Ben and Jenny could see four shadows in the mist. As they grew closer, Ben identified them as police officers. The children were helped to a waiting car which took them home.

A week passed. After recovering from his ordeal, Ben returned to school. When he arrived, everyone was staring at him and whispering to friends. Ben ignored them and sat down. It was then that he noticed the kid. Ben hadn't seen him since before the tragedy. He also spotted a big red gash in the middle of the kid's forehead.

"Ooh ...look what the cat dragged in!"
"Did you hear what happened to Tommy on the ice? Ben just watched. I thought they were mates but I was soon proved wrong , don't you think?"
"No not quite. I reckon he's a murderer."
"Know what? I'd rather have Tommy sat in that chair...... than that murderer!"

Mrs Carter had been writing on the blackboard but now turned to face the class.
"Open your text book and turn to page 10. Copy out the first paragraph. Then read the rest quietly to yourselves, taking notes," she instructed. "Work silently until I come back," she added.
The class was silent until the door shut behind her. Then the murmurings and whispers began once more. Ben had reached boiling point; his face looked like a volcano that was about to erupt. He stamped his feet on the floor as he flounced to the front of the room.
"I'm sick and tired of you lot. If you have anything to say to me, say it to me now," said Ben.
"Shut up, you murderer!"
"I am not a murderer so back off. Some of you weren't even there. Look. If you let me explain myself, then you will know what really happened."
"Not that we want to listen ...... but carry on."
"Right. Well, I was watching mesmerised, just like some of you. Watching Tommy go down that slope was the worst thing that I ever......"

Suddenly, as Ben was in mid-sentence, a powerful gust hit the classroom windows from outside. A small pane at the top of the window frame fell open with a deafening BANG. Immediately everyone turned to face it and they felt the icy cold wind attack their cheeks.
"Could someone shut that window? The pole's over there. Well, as I was saying before I was interrupted, I didn't want Tommy to go near that ice. As a matter of fact, I was trying to save him! And you stirrers just want someone to blame for your cowardice!"
In his temper, Ben grabbed the blackboard rubber and flung it behind him. It dislodged a tin of chalk and sent multi-coloured pieces flying. Every single bit landed on the floor and rolled away with one exception: a brand new stick of white chalk hovered motionless above Ben's head.
The class gasped , as if the piece of chalk was a poltergeist. Ben, however, thought the class gasped because they had believed him. But he was sadly mistaken. Bewildered by the strange goings-on, a group of five girls ran out of the classroom, panicking. The rest just sat there motionless, apart from Ben. It was as if a spell had been cast on them.
"What are you all staring at? Is my hair all messed up? And why did those girls run out? Do I have a mole on my face? Somebody.....Anybody! Hello?! What's the problem? You all look petrified," Ben pleaded.

Ben sighed in resignation.The class was so lively before; now they were just in shock. At the first desk, he tried to get the kid's attention; he began to wave his hand in front of his face. The kid did not even flinch.
Suddenly the chalk began to move towards the blackboard. Then it started to scratch against the dusty surface. Ben whirled round and realised why everybody had taken the form of a statue.

Moving briskly, the mysterious white stick began to spell out a message:

Those people in this class who wish harm on Ben...

Prepare to...

DIE
The children were entranced by the sight of the chalk mystically writing all by itself. There was a tense silence as the half-used piece lay against the slated panel. Nobody moved or spoke, except Ben who turned to face his fellow pupils.
"What in......" murmured Ben, who felt as astounded as any of the children. The chalk slowly moved into a position in mid-air, right above Ben's head. It crumbled into tiny particles, as if some invisible hand had crushed it. The thick white dust was thrust up into the air, creating a thick cloud. The dust quickly settled; a layer formed on every available surface including children's hair and eye lashes.

As people struggled to breathe, they still couldn't help but notice a blurry image of a person at the front of the classroom.
"Is that Mrs Carter? She looks as if she's seen a ghost," said Jenny to the rest of the chalk-covered class.
"No," said someone from the back of the room. " That's not Mrs Carter, otherwise we would've heard the door open. It's probably nothing. It's that or she's gone bald."
One or two of the boys started to giggle, until, presented before them, the object moved. Its shadow began to distort; from a folded arms position, the hands moved above the head. To the already frightened children, the apparition looked terrifying. Outstretched fingers pointed accusingly at a select few of the petrified classmates: first, Ben......then Jenny......last of all......the kid.

At that moment the creaky classroom door opened. A rather flustered Mrs Carter entered the room. First seeing the traumatised children, then feeling a slight breeze on the back of her neck, she twisted round and saw a ghostly figure hovering above her pile of unmarked exercise books. The transparent object turned fiercely to her with its mad, red eyes. The thing shouted "AWAY!" and in a milli-second, she flew backwards out of the door, as if she had been shot. All this happened in silence; Mrs Carter lay in a crumpled heap at the end of the corridor. She was bruised but fortunately, unbloodied.

"What! Oh my.....it's you. It's really you. Hey, it's Tom..."
"Yes, you know who I am. I'm here to set things straight," croaked Tommy creepily. "So shut up and listen to me. I have recently died, as you all know, but I have some unfinished business to take care of."
"What business?" said somebody from the back of the room. "With whom? And why are you here? You're supposed to be dead."
"Duh! Didn't I just explain that? Now let me speak. I have come back....."

At that moment, Tommy stopped speaking as he and the rest of the class heard footsteps approaching the open door. There appeared a tall, bald man, of about six feet five inches. He had a grey moustache and was wearing the ugliest pinstriped suit in the universe. Instinctively everyone began to stand up. Tommy's ghost hid behind the kid. Poking the kid in the back violently, Tommy started smiling. The headteacher began to speak.
"I would like your attention NOW! I've just had a really good teacher quit the job. She came into my office in the most dreadful state and it's all because of the shenanigans that YOU CHILDREN are responsible for! I would not like to get any angrier than I am already. So SOMEBODY had better tell me what happened before I exclude the lot of you. And I want that SOMEBODY to own up immediately...Well I am waiting for an answer!!!"
Tommy began to speak in a very high-pitched, baby-like voice:
"Yes sir, I can explain."
Not seeing where the voice had come from, the head teacher answered crossly:
"Speak up boy, I'm glad you have decided to come clean."
Ben and Jenny both turned around and noticed it was Tommy speaking.
"Umm...... she started dancing about and she managed to hit her head on the door. And then she was acting really strangely; she mentioned something about being a turkey," mocked Tommy.
"Really? Do you have any evidence to back up that statement?" asked the head master.
"YES. The kid will explain," said Tommy.
Shoving the kid through the crowd of terrified children, Tommy poked him once more. The kid's face was red and sweaty; Tommy could tell he was feeling under stress but the only effect it had on Tommy was to make him laugh. While Tommy was giggling, the kid stuttered his explanation:
"Umm...yes...er...Tommy was right...ow...Miss Carter had...a fascination with turkeys...hit her...h.h.head and..."
"What's your problem, boy? Can't you speak properly? You have just repeated what the other boy said. Do you know anymore about what happened to your teacher?" roared the headmaster.
"...What happened to your teacher," mimicked Tommy.
"Stop mimicking me, boy, or I'll have you expelled," threatened the headmaster.
"...I'll have you expelled," teased Tommy once more.
"Show yourself, you evil little rat!"
"I wouldn't have said that in your position."
Tommy's voice echoed around the room but of Tommy, there was no sign.

There was a moment's silence. Then suddenly, as if by magic, all of the classroom blinds shut. The room was plunged into sudden darkness, where nobody could see. The headteacher stormed over to the blind and pulled on a long white cord. The blind flew up, revealing a cool shadow of light throughout the classroom.

Without a moment's hesitation, Tommy picked up the kid and raised him above his head whereupon the kid began to struggle and shout. He need not have bothered. Tommy effortlessly hurtled him towards the window where the headteacher stood. Diving out of the way of the flying child, the headteacher hit his head on Miss Carter's desk. The kid went straight through the window with a loud smash.

Everyone in the room ran towards the window to see what horror lay outside. A grisly sight greeted them. The kid lay face down, impaled on the school railings that were fixed just below the level of the window. Several of the spikes had pierced his body from one side to the other. The headteacher looked on in disgust. The children gazed in horror, realising the kid was dead.
In a panic, the children pushed their headteacher over and trampled over him to escape from this terrifying scene of nightmares.