What would you do if you were invisible?
James was running through the damp street that was lit by several ruptured and fragmented lampposts. He rounded a corner; leading into a dark, dank alley. There was shouting following him and it grew louder as he hid behind a dustbin. His heart pounded and aside from the shouting, it was all he could hear. The footsteps closed in on him. Each footstep rang deafeningly in his head. He could see a foot…his heart raced. A bead of sweat dribbled down his face. He felt hot and clammy when the foot disappeared and the shouting ceased. James breathed a sigh of relief as he emerged from the bin.
“Everything would be so much easier if I just… disappeared,” thought James “at least that way these thugs wouldn’t be after my blood.” He was lost in fantasy when his watch started beeping; snapping him out of the daydream and making him dismiss the idea.
As he trudged home, he found a small coin on the floor. James decided to have a look at the queen on it, to do this he had to rub the coin. He was just about to when he received a text from his mum, questioning where he was, so he carried on and entered the crumbling apartment that belonged to him and his mother. He went to his room to find shattered glass all over his bedroom floor, and stone which had obviously been used and a note attached to it:
James=Dead
As well more intelligible lettering, this made James furious because he knew who had done it, the thugs, therefore yet again he wished he was invisible as he slumped into his bed, distressed.
The Essay on Imagery of Dark vs Light in James Joyce’s “Araby”
... In this darkness only the boy and his laughing and shouting companions “glow”. They are still too young to have succumbed ... “Araby” to buy her some gift and win her heart. James Joyce uses the lights of the bazaar to illustrate the ...
…The next morning he went through his routine until he exited the shower and looked at himself in the mirror. It took him a while to understand why he could see no flesh or bones. When he did realise, however, he screamed!
“Mum!” was the next thing that came to his mind as she walked up the stairs.
His mum looked for him and obviously couldn’t find him; she rang the police to report a missing child, shortly afterwards she began to cry and cry. The worst thing was… he was right there!
His mum then started believing he was dead or ran away from home and that it was all HER fault! Yet again…He was right there! He tried to figure out how to get back…
…then it hit him, the COIN! It had turned him invisible! “Surely, It can turn me back again!” thought James, he ran frantically to the coin, anxious but hopeful. He rubbed the coin again and wished he wasn’t invisible. It wouldn’t work; he tried again with no luck. He looked at his mum and spotted an open window. He paused and…
…he jumped through it only to land unharmed on the ground. He was cursed to be unseen and lonely for eternity. He learnt one lesson that day… “Be careful what you wish for……….”
By Jayant Singh 8BR- Age 12
Word Count- 500 words
