tongue twister

“The sky was brightened by the rising sun and shone a beautiful blue shade. Birds cooed and crows cawed, magpies flew to sit on the branch of a tree. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Seven magpies. Our main character rose from his bed and got dressed, ready for a new day. Checking his phone, he read the news of another family going homeless - it seems to be happening more and more lately. This time, though, the family were his friends. Messages were sent to him, asking if he could open his home to them for the night. He made a ridiculous excuse each time and yet they ate it up..every single time. The days passed and he lost more of his friends; he refused to be seen with them if they were homeless. He claimed that it would ruin his reputation. He made new friends, showing off to them in different ways. His latest trick was tongue twisters. None of them could do it, that’s why he bragged so much - he loved the feeling of being better than them. 

One morning, he woke up to a blinding light - this time, though, it wasn’t the sun. The room he was in was padded and astonishingly pure white. There were no windows, no more people and no more sound. He opened his mouth, wanting to scream, but no sound came out. His tongue ached and he struggled to say anything. That’s when he realised that he indeed had no tongue. His fingers clawing the inside his mouth, there was an empty space where his fleshy tongue had once been. It had clearly been cut off. Standing up, he pounded his fists against the walls but all there was was a soft thud - nothing more, nothing less. He looked down at his clothes and didn’t see his usual outfit, instead there was a hospital gown draped around his shoulders and having been cut just above the knee. The ends were raggedy and had clearly been tailored very badly in order to fit him. 

This boy went mad from his own greed - the need to have the most expensive items, the need to be better than everyone else. He’s still kept in that padded case - some say that if you listen closely you can hear the soft thumps of him trying to escape. There’s no point; there’s no escape from there. No one can hear him scream anyways.” I read the story aloud to my students.

“Let this be a reminder, class, that if you are selfish or greedy nothing good comes from it.” I laughed loudly, kicking the wall behind me to try to drown out the boy. No one will ever know that he's in there. Perhaps it's for the best...