Student Shortlisted Entry
Abigail King
I got onto the bus, taking my usual seat at the back of the bus. A woman followed me on, and sat down next to me, taking off her hat to reveal 2 horns. At the next stop, we were joined by a man with a tail, and a woman with the ears of a hare. At the next stop, a woman with blue skin gets onto the bus. Everyone stops taking to look at her. The driver tells her she can’t get on the bus, and she looks confused.
“I have blue skin,” she says, peering at each passenger in turn, her eyes landing on my yellow eyes.
“But you have no wings. If you want to get on the bus, you must explain why you are without wings,” replies the bus driver.
“My mother cut them off when I was born,” was the woman’s excuse. “It was in her annoyance at me be being born with blue skin and wings.”
“Our wings start grow when we reach 12, so you must be lying, and my guess is you’ve painted your skin. Sit right behind me, and don’t think of doing anything stupid” commanded the bus driver.
As she sat down on the seat as instructed, she disappeared from the bus, immediately transported to the cells, at the centre of our secret city. She already knew too much, and we must find out how. She could have told other humans about us, and we need to keep our secrecy.
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