KIDS

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Page 1

--‘ This is most interesting…. ‘ Alice mused. She was observing her latest science project involving her pet white rabbit. Alice jotted down some notes on her pad. A tepid knock on the door frenzied her into activity. She threw a shawl over the rabbit hutch. ‘ Come in! ‘ She sighed with relief ‘ Oh, it’s you. ‘

George stared at the complex array of chemical apparatus. They were interlinked with lengths of clear tubing in a pyramidical arrangement. The stands held conical jars, large and small containing various liquid and semi-liquid substances, some of which were bubbling happily beneath bunsen burners whilst others were sulkily congealing. Alice stood in the centre of a lab table surveying operations. A narrow access cut into the table led to a small sink and basin. All around were shelves with bottled dry things, petrie dishes with slimy things, test tubes with gurgling things and boxes with flashing electronic things. Computerised fish swimming on the PC screen kept company with 4 mice, 3 rabbits, 2 guinea pigs and stick insects of an uncertain number. The lonely bed in the corner was the only indication that this room could be something other than a science laboratory.

--‘ Alice is definitely weird ‘ George thought to himself, these being his first thoughts every time he entered his sisters bedroom.

--‘ Do you want anything? ‘ Alice questioned. She was a gangly 14-year-old, her features sharp and pointed much like her intellect. Her awkward angles contrasted with George, who was all curves: a chubby, cherubic boy of 10. Their only similarities being a pair of watchful eyes peering through horn rimmed glasses.

--‘ Oh nothing….I just wanted to play with Virgil. ‘ Virgil the white rabbit was undercover.

--‘ Sorry but Virgil’s taking part in a light sensitive experiment ‘ Alice quickly added,

--‘ Why don’t you play with Homer and Plato? ‘ George sighed heavily. Alice had noticed a change in her brother over the last couple of weeks. He wasn’t his usual cheerful self. ‘ George is anything wrong? ‘

He avoided her gaze ‘ It’s nothing really…I suppose it…it..must happen to everybody…probably…’

--‘ What? ‘ Alice guessed ‘ Have you reached puberty already?’

--‘ What? George didn’t understand.

--‘ You know…body changes…hormones?…hair growing where it wasn’t before…’ Alice giggled helpfully. George’s confusion was allayed with the shout of ‘ Dinner! ‘ from downstairs.

George looked relieved ‘ Great! I’m starved! Race you! ‘ He bolted down the corridor, leaving Alice to wonder.

Breakfast the following morning was hectic. Father an eminent biochemist was off to a conference in New York and mother an eminent archaeologist was preparing a lecture to the Royal Geographic Society. Therefore briefcases, books, papers, slides, timetables and agendas mingled with cornflakes, milk, sugar, toast and tea.

--‘ How’s your latest experiments going Alice? ‘ Father asked munching muesli.

--‘ Excellent, thanks Dad. The bacteria samples you gave me are starting to grow cultures!

Father gave a satisfied grin ‘ Well don’t use them all at once. My Ph.D. students need something to work on! ‘

Mother began lifting things from the table, getting vexed ‘ Dear, have you seen that Parasaurolophus Pubis anywhere? ‘ Mother was forever misplacing fossils.

--‘ It’s on top of the fridge Mum! ‘ Mother smiled her thanks to Alice.

As the taxi drove away with their mother and father, Alice went upstairs to see George.

--‘ So what excuse did you give Mum and Dad this time? ‘ she went straight to the point.

--‘ What do you mean? ‘ George guiltily said ‘ I’ve got a stomach ache! ‘

--‘ It was an earache yesterday and a headache before that….are you trying to have a complete body breakdown part by part? ‘ Alice could be very unsympathetic and very sarcastic. George decided his best bet was to bury his head under the duvet. He mumbled from underneath ‘ What’s it to you?!’ ’ All you care about are those stupid experiments! ‘

--‘ That maybe. But I suggest you tell me what’s wrong, otherwise you could be drinking Granny’s sugared onion juice all day when she tries to cure you! ‘ George groaned miserably under the duvet.

--‘ Come on, tell me! ‘ Alice was getting impatient ‘ Is it your homework assignments? Look, maths isn’t difficult and algebra’s really really easy once you get the hang of those x’s and y’s…’ Still no response from the duvet ‘ Okay..okay..I’ll even let you copy my stuff from my year 1…well. Actually I was doing year 3 in year 1…but I know I’ve got some basic maths stuff somewhere…probably in my preschool books….’

--‘ Thanks genius ‘ George muttered ‘ But my math’s fine…’

--‘ Well what is it? ‘ she reflected slyly ‘ Mum and Dad think you’re suffering from the pangs of first love…..namely Emily Bogglesby…’

This had a whirlwind effect on the duvet ‘ YUCCKK!!!’

--‘ I thought not.’ Alice smiled smugly ‘ So why are you avoiding school? ‘

The duvet started to creep back up again ‘ Well….’

A flash of insight hit Alice ‘ Are you being bullied? ‘ George kept quiet. Slowly it all came out: his pocket money being stolen, his packed lunches being trashed, the punching and the name-calling…George ended ‘ It’s horrible Al…I hate them. I hate school and I’m not going back ever!! ‘

Alice gave her brother a comforting hug ‘ It’ll be alright. I’ll be with you. Anyway Jif Jensen and his gang are just a bunch of big cowards really….if you stood up to them…’

--‘ I don’t want to stand up to them! And they don’t look like cowards when they’re ganging up on you…’

--‘ Don’t worry though. We’ll tell Mum and Dad and they’ll tell the Head. Those bullies will be sorted out. ‘

--‘ NO!! ‘ George got alarmed ‘ Promise you won’t tell anyone! Promise! Please!! ‘

--‘ Why not? It’ll be okay. Alice continued, --‘ They’ll probably be expelled.’

George had his doubts ‘ Great! I’ll just have to worry about them getting me after school instead! ‘

Alice became thoughtful ‘ There is something else we could try…’

--‘ What? ‘

--‘ Oh something I’ve been working on….get dressed. I’ll tell you later. We’re going to school.’

Page 2 by Jane Flynn

A short while later, on the way to school Alice outlined her plan to a doubtful George.– ‘So you see,’ she finished finally ‘It can’t fail. They’d never touch you again.’

–‘But how can you be so sure it would work?’ George asked plaintively. ‘It sounds too weird even for you, Al.’

Alice winked at her brother and left him in the playground. As she walked off she called over her shoulder, –‘If they bother you today, just keep thinking that it will be the last time they ever do!’

George shrugged, not entirely convinced, and trudged wearily towards the playground. He thought about Alice’s idea all that day, hiding in the boy’s toilet’s at play time, skulking at the farthest table from Jif Jensen and his gang during lunch and waiting in the classroom as long as possible after school, and gradually it dawned on him that his mad sister’s idea might very well be his only option. Finally, on the way home his mind was made up, he could not go on like this, hiding at school, or pretending to be ill each day to avoid going. Granny was in the kitchen when he got home, she appeared to be conducting one of Alice’s experiments on the cooker top, a foul smelling concoction was congealing stickily in a pan, while granny stirred another bubbling brew.

–‘Er Granny…’ George began.

–‘Ah George I was wondering where you were, I’m just getting your tea ready.’ –‘Oh.’ said George ‘I’m really not feeling too hungry right now, Granny. Is Alice back yet?’

–‘Yes, she came back early, said she had to finish an important experiment for her science project.’

George knocked on Alice’s bedroom door and listened to the tell tale rustling of her hiding the evidence of her illicit experiments.

–‘It’s only me,’ he called helpfully. A strange pungent odor drifted from the room as the door opened, making George cough, –‘It’s horrible, worse than the dinner Granny is cooking downstairs!’ he gasped.

Alice laughed gleefully, –‘Yes, it is bad isn’t it, I’ve been feeding him on Biobunny, it’s the highest quality, but it seems to make their pee smell really bad. Don’t worry, I’m just about to neutralise the smell with a few grains of these crystalised bats droppings. They should do the trick,’ she added, taking a pinch of the curious silvery grey crystals and dropping them into the test tube of still, colourless liquid in the rack on the desk. They both leant forward and watched entranced as the liquid fizzled briefly and became still once more.

–‘Is that it?’ asked George, ‘It just looks like water.’

–‘Of course it just looks like water, that’s the whole point! Hopefully it just tastes like water too.’ Sometimes Alice couldn’t believe the stupidity of her little brother. She just hoped he would managed to get it right tomorrow.

–‘Right, let’s just run through the plan one more time before we face the dinner Granny’s cooked for us.’ she said.

The next morning George woke early and for the first time in months he was almost looking forward to going to school. Both children were quiet during breakfast, making granny ask more than once if there was anything wrong. On the way to school Alice walked beside George in silence, but when they reached the playground where they always parted, she squeezed his hand and smiled encouragingly.

–‘Go for it Kid!’ she whispered. In reply George patted his blazer pocket, where they had stashed the small bottle of colourless, odorless, and hopefully tasteless liquid. There was no sign of Jif Jenson at registration, nor in French, their first lesson and George was just beginning to think he must be absent when he barged noisily into Physics.

–‘Ah Jenson, to what do we owe the pleasure of your tardiness?’ Old Mac, the physics teacher always had a note of sarcasm in his voice.

Jenson slouched in his seat, –‘I ‘ad to go to the shop for me mam. She needed some fags.’ At break time George took the unusual step of deliberately leaving the room at the same time as Jif Jenson. The bully immediately took the cue and he and his friends soon surrounded George as he stopped at the drinks machine. George’s hands trembled as he pushed the button for a Coke.

–'Is that for me?’ asked Jif.

–‘No, its mine.’ Said George. He pulled the ring pull and held his other hand tightly around the bottle, open ready in his pocket. Turning his back on the group of bullies for a second he sloshed as much of the liquid into the can as possible. He was only just in time. Before he had the chance to turn back, he was grabbed from behind by strong arms. Jenson swung him round and grabbed the can from his hand.
– ‘Hey that’s mine!’ George shouted as convincingly as he could. Jenson needed no encouragement, he lifted the can to his mouth and took several huge gulps of the fizzy liquid. George held his breath and waited. He knew it wouldn’t take very long for the potion to take effect.

Page 3 by Katie Haines

– ' What are you looking at?' Jensen demanded. He was still swigging from the coke can he'd swiped from George.
He stammered – 'Er ....er ... nothing Jif ... nothing .... '
– ' 'Ere give some willya!' Ricky Crick boldly snatched the can from Jensen's hands. Ricky Crick, otherwise unaffectionedly known as "Rick The Brick" by his victims, provided the muscle side of things in Jif Jensen's gang. Marko Wheen or
"Wheener The Whiner" so-called because of his high-pitched voice and his ability to complain constantly about everything, also piped up – ' Give me some! ' he lunged for the can. Jensen was momentarily distracted by his cohorts.
– ' Why don't you just buy your own? ' George muttered under his breath.
– ' Didya hear that? ' Jensen's sharp ears had picked up the criticism. – ' George thinks we should buy our own drinks! ' The whole gang turned their attention back onto George. George blanched. But Jensen became thoughtful – ' Hold on a minute, I think Georgie's got a good point ..... '
– ' Eh? '
– ' Wha? '
The two cohorts were confused.
– ' I have? ' George was suspicious.
– ' Definitely ... ' Jensen edged nearer to George, – ' We'll buy our own ... as soon as you give us all your pocket money! '
– ' Yeah right! ' The Brick said in relief.
– ' Yeah right! ' The Whiner echoed.
They too began closing in on George. – ' It should've happened by now ... ' George thought helplessly, as he rummaged in his satchel. – ' I knew I shouldn't have trusted Alice! ' he cursed her silently.
– ' Come on ... come on... we ain't got all day! ' Jensen snapped, ' We got other kids to see as well .... ' His cohorts sniggered on cue. George panicked. He couldn't stall much longer. Suddenly Jensen grabbed his satchel – 'Give me it! ' and emptied all the contents. His gang swooped like vultures on dead meat. The Brick kicked his textbooks and The Whiner trampled on his homework assignments. Jif Jensen looked on like a proud parent. – ' You can't hide it Georgie! .... Hand it over! ' He sighed and folded his arms and in a reasonable voice, continued, – ' You know our rules Georgie ... You have to give us what we want or else pay the forfeit ... ' He looked over at Ricky. The Brick began punching his fist into his palm.
– ' Forfeit! forfeit! ' The Whiner chanted. The Brick cackled. Fear gripped George. He couldn't move. Jensen motioned The Brick to search him.
George yelped, – ' Okay! ... okay ... you can have it! ' He held out his wallet.
– ' JENSEN!! ' the yell interrupted the exchange. Relief swept over George. It was Mr Mackie, the Physics teacher. He came up to George, asking swiftly, – ' Is everything alright Ashcroft? ' He glanced at the gang and then at the scattered items – ' Are they bothering you? ' Crick and Wheen studiously studied the floor.
Jensen calmly explained, – ' Oh no sir, we sorta bumped into him ... by accident. '
– 'Did I ask you? ' Mr Mackie barked the question, keeping his eyes on George. He said softly, – ' If there's anything wrong boy, you can tell me ... you won't get into trouble. ' George espied Crick over the teacher's shoulder. He was grinning and miming the punching fist. George mumbled, – ' Nothing's wrong sir ... '
Mr Mackie sighed. He rounded on the gang, – ' Pick up those books! '
– 'But sir, we never ... ' Wheen started to whine.
Mr Mackie cut him short, – ' Pick them up or get detention. Your choice. ' Jensen inclined his head slightly and the others began tidying up the mess. – ' You too Jensen. '
Jensen forced a polite, – ' Of course sir. '
Afterwards Mr Mackie warned, – ' Next time be careful who you bump into Jensen. I'll be watching you. ' He finished, – ' Go on. Get to class. '
The gang departed dutifully but not before Jensen had whispered, – ' We'll see you later ... Georgie ... '
Mr Mackie asked hopefully, – ' Now is there anything you want to tell me George? '
But Jensen's threat had left its mark. – ' No sir, ' George replied lamely.
Mr Mackie took pity, – ' Okay George, another time ... '

George exited his favourite art class still feeling depressed. His mood didn't improve when Alice rushed up to puffing, – ' What happened then? ' George ignored her and carried on walking. – ' George! Wait! ' Alice caught up again,
– ' What's wrong? '
George clarified, – ' I'm not talking to you! '
Alice queried sharply, – ' Did you spike the can? '
George stopped and fumed, – ' Yee-ss! ' adding accusingly, – ' But nothing happened! '
Alice got indignant, – ' It must have! My experiments always work! '
George retrieved his homework book with the boot print over it. – ' Would this have happened if it had? ' he asked reasonably and then continued unreasonably,
– ' I knew I shouldn't have listened to a girl ... Girls are crap! '
Alice angrily pulled George back, – ' I am not a girl! ' then considering the statement, added, – ' I am your sister! '
George failed to see the distinction, – ' So? '
– ' So ... we'll discuss the obvious superiority of girls later. First tell me exactly what happened. '
He sighed, – ' I did what you said and put the stuff in the coke ... and waited ... and waited.... '
– ' And ? ' Alice prompted.
– ' And nothing. ' George said with a certain guilty pleasure.
Alice mused aloud, – ' I'm sure I made it the right strength ... ' she corrected,
– ' although I did only test the dosage on Virgil .... and rabbits aren't exactly similar to humans .... '
– ' You don't say ... ' George reverted to his earlier conclusion that Girls really were rubbish.
Alice ignored him and questioned, – ' Did Jensen drink all of it? '
– ' Well no ... They all drank it ... '
Alice brightened, – ' Yes, that certainly could've played a factor ... '
– ' How? ' George became less sulky.
– ' It could've diluted the strength considerably ... ' Alice theorised, – ' and delayed the reactions or even reduced the reaction time ... '
It sounded like excuses to George. He was resigned, – ' Well, anyway, it didn't work. Now I'm going to have find some more hiding places.... '
Alice clucked, – ' Nonsense. We'll just try again. I'll double the dosage. '
George started complaining about this new plan as much as younger siblings were allowed to complain. However as they crossed the lower playground, George's protests were drowned out by a wave of giggling coming from a group of young pupils gathered in a circle. They were chattering, laughing and pointing at something. – ' What's happening there? ' George wondered.
– ' Probably somebody showing off their latest gameboy ... ' Alice dismissed.
– ' Oh let's see! ' George cheered up instantly. They pushed themselves into the group. Finally they were through the circle. Alice and George froze. In the middle stood Jif Jensen, Ricky Crick and Marko Wheen. Crick and Wheen looked very very nervous. Jensen looked very very agitated. They all looked very very ill ... decidedly off-colour .... the colour in question, being a deep, deep burgundy .....

Page 4

– ' I don't believe it ... it ... worked, ' George stammered.
– ' I told you it would, ' Alice remarked feeling somewhat vindicated. The giggling got louder. – ' Shut up! ' Jensen screamed at the Juniors but the threat lacked impact coming from someone who looked like a beetroot. Infact the bullies' faces were going through some colour changes constantly shifting from orange, red and purple. Crick looked at Jensen, – ' Eh ... eh... you feeling alright Jif? Only your face is purple... I mean red... I mean purple... '
– ' Actually it's more bluey red... ' Wheen added helpfully.
– ' Shut up!! ' Jensen shouted at his companions, – ' Incase you haven't noticed, you're a bit off-colour yourselves... '
Crick and Wheen watched their purple faces go orange. They panicked,
– ' What's happening to us?! ' They appealed to their leader, – ' What we gonna do?! '
Jensen muttered, – ' First of all, get out of here... ' He glared at the Juniors who gazed at them like trapped gazelles. He gave the nearest an aggressive shove. The circle broke and began dispersing, especially when Mrs Bagley and Mr Crane appeared around a corner. Alice and George carefully retreated but kept within earshot of the proceedings. The teachers were shocked and alittle disgusted by three puce pupils.
Mrs Bagley exclaimed, – ' What's going on?... My goodness! Jensen! Crick! Wheen! What's happened to you?! ' Crick and Wheen whimpered.
Jensen mumbled belligerently, – ' Something bit us Miss... '
All the teachers knew about Jensen but their numerous detention slips had little affect on Jensen's extracurricular playground activities; so it was with a certain amount of satisfaction that Mr Crane pronounced, – ' If you will dip your fingers into other kids' bags, you're bound to get bitten eventually... '
Jensen wasn't afraid of his teachers. – ' Are you saying we're thieves Mr Crane? ' he looked slyly at Crane, – ' Cause if you are... I'll tell my uncle... He knows the law... he's got connections... he'll slap a lawsuit on this school so fast... ' Crick and Wheen marveled at Jensen's audacity. To them this was why he was the leader; He could scare the kids, he could scare the adults... They glanced at the teachers to see if they were scared; They were certainly something... because they'd turned a colour resembling the purple shade of their own faces.
Mrs Bagley countered tightly, – ' Nobody's making any accusations Jensen.' In the present climate, political correctness held sway and often the rights the children superceded the rights of the educators. Jensen was trouble but he wasn't stupid. Mrs Bagley looked pointedly at Crane, – ' Mr Crane was just joking. '
Crane seemed ready to stand his ground, but the sheer hassle of such an act, made him sigh instead, – ' Of course I was Jensen... ' Jensen smirked.
Mrs Bagley advised, – ' Go to the Nurse. I don't want whatever you've got spreading through the School.... '
As they left, Wheen chimed, – ' Does your uncle really work for the cops?'
Jensen blurted, – ' 'Course he doesn't, moron! '
Crick was confused, –' But you said he knew the law... '
Jensen clarified, – ' Oh he knows the Law alright...' he smiled, – ' My uncle Len's been in and out of the Nick so many times, he knows the Judiciary system inside out. '
– ' The judy... what? ' Crick hated long words.
– ' The judges, the courts ... how the Law works... ' Jensen explained.
Crick was curious, – ' What's he been done for ? '
Jensen replied with a hint of pride, – ' Oh... fraud, burglary, car theft, GBH... He's a pretty talented guy... '
Crick and Wheen nodded their appreciation, – ' That's wicked! '
Jensen eyed his two companions threateningly, – ' Infact the only times he got caught was when his partners messed up... ' Crick and Wheen studied the floor.
The confrontation with the teachers seemed to have calmed Jif Jensen's colour confusion, with the purple already receding into a pale lilac. Crick and Wheen's features had calmed from a canary yellow to merely a jaundiced yellow. Suddenly they were reminded of their pigmentation problems. Crick and Wheen began edging away.
– ' Where are you going? ' Jensen snapped at them.
– ' Ah... well, Mrs Bagley told us to go to the Nurse, so... '
– ' No! ' Jensen barked, – ' We're not going to see any Nurse... '
Crick and Wheen looked at his face which abruptly flared up again to its original burgundy.
– ' But what if we've got something really 'orrible... '
– ' Yeah ... like a disease...' Wheen continued, – ' Maybe we should see the Nurse.... '
But Jensen's calm was deteriorating, – ' Nobody's seeing the Nurse!! ' His friends looked at him blankly, Jensen hated all things medical. His older brother and sister had gone through a Doctor Menegle phase when he was really young: They had attempted operations with kitchen utensils, bandaged him until he could hardly breathe and poured foul smelling liquids down his throat, with the insistent chant, that it would do him good. If his mother hadn't intervened at every eleventh hour, Jensen doubted he would've survived any of his siblings' medical ministrations. Consequently, anything that reeked, looked or tasted like medicine, immediately put Jensen on an alert.

Jensen sweated, – ' It'll be pointless.... she'll stick us in a lab and do so many tests, we'll be lucky to get out before Christmas... '

– ' What? Tests with needles? ' Wheen queried nervously.

– ' Yeah! Big needles!! ' Jensen added with relish.

– ' I think I'm gonna be sick! ' And indeed, Marko Wheen's yellow pallor was going a very sickly lime-green...

– ' Oh don't be such a wuss! ' Jensen dismissed, – ' It'll be sorted... It's probably some allergic reaction... a hot flush maybe... Anyway, it's already gone down a lot... ' He lied confidently. Crick and Wheen's faces convulsed between puke yellow and puke green. Jensen added, – ' We should lie low.'

Crick asked sullenly, – ' Why? '

– ' Because we can't do the business if kids just laugh and stare at us like we're freakazoids... Freakazoid! ' Jensen's menacing stance implied that he wanted no arguments from his lackeys. They both nodded. Then all three put their collars up, tightly wound their scarfs around their heads and slunk away through the main school gates. Alice and George emerged from their hiding place behind the large recycling bin. Alice looked at George, her eyes shinning, – ' Next stage! '

TO BE CONTINUED......

Page 4 Winner: H.C Jones from London UK

Page 5 Deadline: 4th June 2005