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Speaking With No Words

By Isabel Kershaw

*Wildcard entry*

Speaking With No Words by Isabel Kershaw

Read by Catherine Cusack from the 成人论坛 Radio Drama Company.

My pen still jitters around the page but it still remains empty, empty and as plain as a page could be. Each hour ticks by or what feels like hours, my teacher looms over me expecting a full story. Write faster faster faster! Words whirl around in my head creating a Word-Nado, the strong floods of words disturb all carefully filed sentences turning my head office block into a mess of words and punctuation swirling. My mind becomes cluttered with useless junk and my story ideas get washed away by the tide in my head. Each word runs through my throat and is stuck in the gateway from the voice box to the world as my teacher calls, "Why is your page still blank after all this time?" I couldn't find the words in my voice box to reply, the class was getting increasingly impatient with me and sweat began to drop onto the desk. "Well I'm waiting!" she snarls, I felt her fiery breath down my neck. I'd angered a dragon and now I'd pay the price. Although I wanted to, there was no way I could reply. The flood of words continued to attempt to break out of its box but still there was a huge lump preventing their escape. I could feel the lump in my throat growing and growing. Still no words. But suddenly it hit me, the words had been there the whole time I just had to let them out. As the key turned in the lock where my story lived, my mind began to whir again but this time the stream of words flowed down my pen and onto the page. Within seconds I had my story, I no longer needed to explain the lack of words to my teachers still my voice was hidden yes but this time I had my best friend to speak for me. A pen and paper. It began to tell my teacher of my struggle of the unorganised office block in my brain and the block in my throat and even the Word-Nado. Her eyes lit up as if a new point of view turned a light on and opened doors in her own office block in her head. I suppose you now know of my messy office block in my head and hopefully you, much like my teacher, have a new door opened and new workers in your head. A new department if you wish, with new drawers filled with hopefully well organised drawers of ideas and maybe a pair of flood gates on either side.

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