oopp i think i actually love FPS lol
Anyways, after the actual competition Saturday morning, we had lunch and then we went to the FPS Writing Workshop, which was kinda boring but at least the collaboration part was good.
The prompt was Tokyo Disaster Relief (?) I think, and there were some (ChatGPT generated) character ideas you had to choose from. So basically, we all started writing on our own, then we had to group up and combine them. Our group didn’t finish grouping it, but within our groups, we seperated because some of us were writing on the same character. And I was with Jasmine (Lee), this girl from Kilvington Grammar, and I LOVE YOU GURL, she is actually talented af, and funny, and honestly wanted to ask for her social (uhh I have her gmail does that count) or something bc she is SO NICE.
ANYWAYYYS we wrote this story together after combining our stories, and I AM OBSESSED like I ACTUALLY LOVE YOUR WRITING STYLE JASMINE!!
(The prompt was a single mother during a flood with two children trapped at school, and her baby daughter with her.)
She stood in her dingy apartment, waist deep in water. She kicked around the sludge at her feet, a sticky, grimy mess. The smell of greasy water clung to her clothes, the air filled with the smell of diesel and sewage and waste.
She looked outside the window, where landslides had buried several homes, buildings had collapsed, power shut down and water pumps failed.
Her youngest child, Nora, held onto her leg, the bottom of her pink dress slightly wet with water. She was crying and making incoherent sounds and words, probably wondering where her older brother and sister were. They were trapped at Tama Daiichi Elementary.
Although Mayor Nonomura was trying to reach them, a responder told Kayo, “We’re doing everything we can”, But everything wasn’t enough. Not yet. She hadn’t heard from them in 6 hours and the school phone lines were dead. She had tried calling the mayor, but with no avail.
She pulled her phone out again, reaching it out high, searching for signal, but her efforts were unsuccessful. Her phone battery was at 12%. She would try again, but she was unable to because of the substation that exploded close by. It knocked out the power as well as the mobile network, which now flickered in and out.
Kayo reached into her pocket and drew out a photo. Her daughter drew it last night. She had called it ‘Rainy Day Superhero Mom.’ Tears filled her eyes and overflowed, blurring her vision. Everything became spots and blurs of grey, black, and brown.
Everything but her daughter, who was a bright spot of pink.
She was the only thing grounding Kayo. If not for her, she might’ve already given up hope on the fact that her sons might come home. Yesterday, she asked her mum if she was going to save everyone. If her mum would stop the rain and become a ‘superhero mom.’
I am not a superhero, nor a good mom, because I have failed my sons. They are not safe, because of me. Maybe if I had listened to their pleas and agreed to let them stay home today, maybe if I had used my phone less today, maybe if I had bought an apartment elsewhere, on higher ground. Then, we wouldn’t be in this situation. And my sons would be safe. And we wouldn’t be trapped in floods. This is what Kayo thought. Nora asked Kayo where her brothers were. If they were coming home soon.
Kayo said yes. What she thought, however, was no. They were not coming home soon.
Then, she looked back at the photo her daughter drew. ‘Superhero mom’. Tama Daiichi Elementary was not too far from here. About a thirty-minute walk. In water, maybe forty. She made a quick decision.
She was going to rescue her children. She was not waiting anymore.
She stepped out of the apartment, dirty water slowly rising, flashing emergency lights flickering, alarms blaring around her. Cars are submerged deep under the water, and Kayo heard faint voices from rooftops telling her to turn back.
Rain continued to fall endlessly.
Each step was agony, the monstrous winds and currents pushing against her. More and more water was rushing down the alleys. She was surrounded by neck-deep, swiftly moving floodwaters. The murky water was flying into her eyes, her mouth.
She could almost see the brick walls, the red paint peeling off the roofs, but it seemed so far, so distant.
Kayo stumbled forwards, her foot missing a step, and she tumbled into the water. Murky water surrounded her, clouding her vision and filling up her lungs. She choked, the dangerous mixture of water and diesel burning her throat, and she began to sink.
Down. Down. Down.
Kayo tried to swim up, thrashing her hands and groping the air for anything. A branch, a hand, a pole. There seemed to be nothing. Just an empty space above her, with nothing but water and dirt.
Her legs hit the bottom. Her lungs were ablaze, and she was running out of air.
My children. I have got to save them.
In a sudden surge of adrenaline, she kicked up desperately. Churning her arms, she rose to the top of the water, heart pounding.
She continued her journey towards the school and finally, after nearly an hour of wading through thick, muddy water, she saw the sign. Tama Daiichi Elementary. And then it hit her.
Where were the firemen? The emergency rescuers? How long had they been abandoned, left to die?
Kayo swam towards the open school gates and saw her children waving at her through the window. Other children were sobbing, sitting on the cold, wet floor.
She shoved on the doors of the school. As they …. (blah blah this is not finished lmao)
She quickly went into the school and searched the room, which reeked of sewage and soggy sandwiches. She grabbed (insert name) ___ and __(insert name)_hands and rushed out. Faced with water again, which continued to rise, Kayo was unsure of how to get them home safe.
She arrived back at the platform on which she had left Nora on. She wasn’t there. She saw a flash of pink from the corner of her eye, swimming and laughing in the water.
“Nora!” she screamed, frantically searching for her child.
“Nora!” she repeated. She heard a small giggle from far away. “Nora, come here!” She placed her eldest children on the platform and went to search for Nora. Another flash of pink. She was near. And then she heard a scream. An ear-splitting, screeching endless scream. “Nora? Where are you? Nora? Are you okay?” Kayo yelled. Then she felt a heavy weight on her back. “Gotcha!” a voice shouted.
There is another story an year 11 wrote in our group HONESTLY SHE DESERVES THE PRIZE OKAY it was sooo good, and i’m gonna publish it next post (hopefully she doesn’t mind)