Whisper From The Soul ♡*

By Ruby Chan

Ages 11+

     'ANANNA! Come and clean your room this instant!' 

  Well there you have it, that’s my mum.

   'Yes coming!' I said as I walked up the soft carpet stairs. I live in the city, in an apartment to be exact and ever since I was little I had this part of me that just feels wrong, It's like a darkside. My dark soul is bigger than others. But with the same amount of my passion, I try not to interfere with it. But sometimes it’s just too hard, I walk to my room and start folding the blankets, my short Orange hair is messy. So I calmly reach out for the hairbrush. I brush my knotty hair as I put a red headband on.

  'Come on Ananna! You’re going to be late for school!' yelled my sister. 'Hurry up! My school starts 10 minutes before yours!'  She yelled.

   'DOES NOT!!!' I yelled back.

   'WOULD YOU GIRLS JUST STOP FIGHTING FOR ONCE!! DO YOU TWO NEED TIME OUT!!!? I’m so tired of you girls fighting all the time. You never stop!'

   'But muuum' I replied. My sister is in highschool so she doesn’t really ' remember' what it’s like to be in fourth grade. We walk to school and we don't talk to each other the entire way. 'BYE!!' I happily say.

  'Uhh bye..' she says.

  'umm well ok then.' I walk to school and I am so excited to be moving seats I say as I walk into the bright morning sun…..

School life

     I walked slowly in deep and dirty puddles and walked under clear blue skies. I got to school just in time, I sat down at my table. Today we are changing seats like I said earlier. NOTE TO SELF: We were changing seats but now since I was 2 minutes late I have to sit with Sydney and Mungo. I don't even know Mungo! But everyone knows Sydney. Not the state but the person, she's the teacher's pet and is a goodie 2 shoes.

     I used to live in the calm beaches of Fiji but now, I’m stuck in the city of Darwin. Mungo seems nice so I say hi, he smiles back, after class I walk outside. I sit on the bench as I watch the kids play happily jumping about. Then I hear someone sit beside me. I turned my head and I saw Mungo eating his lunch beside me. I looked at him and he smiled back.

   'So, what are you doing?' He asked.

   'Not much.'  I replied. 

  'So, what’s your name?' He asked politely. 

  'My name’s Ananna, you must be Mungo? We sit next to each other in class?' 

  'What a pretty name. Ananna,' he said with a smile. I stood up and walked to the library. He followed me,

   'Please just stop following me!' I said in frustration, Mungo shrugged, 

  ‘There seems to be something wrong. I can sense that there is something in you that keeps you away from passion.' I shook my head, that was a lot. Like he was meant to say it. I sat down at an old, wooden table and started writing. 

'I love being a writer,' I said quietly. 'But I have a bigger darkside, as well as a bigger passion for life. Living in the city keeps me from being free, and enjoying the time I have. The city has always haunted me. I hate it so much.' I said. Mungo stared at me in surprisement. I smiled 'it doesn’t matter anyways' I said gleefully. The boy nodded.   'Do you want to come to my place for dinner? We have roast chicken!' I nodded and smiled. At his house the floors creaked and they looked really dirty and muddy. 'I’m home father!' Said mungo. 

  'CLEAN THE BATHROOM! THEN CLEAN THE KITCHEN! AND WASH THE DISHES WHILE YOU'RE AT IT!!! AND DO IT QUICKLY WE HAVE A GUEST COMING OVER SOON!!' Said his dad in a harsh voice. I gasped in shock. 

  'Yes, father' said mungo quickly and obediently. 

  ‘And who might you be?' Said Mungo’s dad. 

  'I’m Ananna.' 

  'She’s here for dinner.' Said mungo from the kitchen. 

After Dinner

  ‘Dinner was delicious' I said as I walked out the door. 

  'Thanks for coming, Ananna. It’s really nice to have a friend like you.' I smiled and waved as I walked out the gates. 

Freedom

The next day at school we sat on the bench to eat our recess. 'The way you acted with your dad, yesterday. It was unbelievable to see, your dad is so harsh, you have no freedom at all..' I said.

   'I know sometimes I wish that he would let me be free. Just for once. But he’s my father, I can’t disobey him…' Mungo said. 

  'THIS ISN’T RIGHT!' I shouted with ANGER. 'THIS ISN’T GOOD!' After school I grabbed Mungo’s hand and ran away to a river and sat down. 

  'Why did you take me here?' Asked Mungo.

  'I just wanted you to enjoy your life a bit. Have a bit of freedom and fun for once!' I said calmly. 'I know, but it’s just such a hard decision.’ The grass on which we sat was still wet with dew. The sky was palest blue, faintly streaked with pink. A breeze brushed past our faces, fresh and sweet. I could see that Mungo had never seen such beauty in his life. He turned to me and smiled. 'Do you like this?' He asked. 'Because I definitely do…' 

  'I do too.. The sky is just so perfect today.'

  'So you really do EVERYTHING, your father tells you?' I asked quietly. Mungo nodded. 'I think you should follow your own path in life, not what your father wants you to do! You really don’t need to do everything your father tells you to do. Why be treated as a servant? When can you have all this? All of this freedom.' 

   'But I just dunno. It’s just such a hard decision.'  Mungo paused.

  'Is there something wrong?' I asked.

  'I just don’t think I actually can. I mean~

  'Well then you can keep on not being sure! I’m going home.' I said in frustration. I saw Mungo’s smile turn into a frown.

   'Well then. I am going to keep thinking!' Mungo said angrily. I scrunched up my face and walked home. 

Thinking

I lay in bed all morning. I sighed, I miss Mungo, my only friend. But no. I just don’t want to. He didn’t want freedom, he wanted to be a slave but, I’m not going to force him. He’s the one who DIDN’T want it. More or less need it. I said as I walked to school in the rain. Tears came running down my cheeks, I started running to school. Pushing my body to go faster every second. As I got to school I looked at Mungo from his desk. But he didn’t look back. At recess he sat alone near the fountain. I sat next to him. 

  'Look,' I said, 'I’m sorry.' I brushed my hands against the soft water. It was cold but relaxing, at the same time. 'I know I Was mean, and I’m sorry.' Mungo nodded.

  'I wasn’t exactly nice either, and  Ananna you made me realize something.' Mungo said. 'I don’t want to be my fathers slave any longer. I want to be free with you.'  I smiled, I stood up. 

 'I better go to class now.' I said to Mungo with a smile. 

  'Ananna, wait' I paused. 'Thank you.' said Mungo. I smiled…

The city

The next day, Mungo came to my house. 

  'Hello there! You must be Mungo!' Said my mum happily. Mungo smiled sheepishly. After dessert, Mungo and I went up to my room. We took our things, but I didn’t bring Bailey. My Chicken, and jumped out the window. But as we landed my parents blocked us. 'Where Do you think you’re going?' Said my mum creepily almost as if she were hypnotized! Suddenly she turned into a blob of dark oil and dust. Me and Mungo ran to the police. But he couldn’t see anything! Nobody could! Suddenly all of them turned into dark and scary monsters. The oil that formed them dripped slowly to the ground. Me and Mungo ran as fast as we could but they seemed to follow us. When we entered the outside of the city everyone turned back to normal. But we were still too frightened. So we kept on running as the people stayed in the city wondering about what just happened. 

Blurs

The sun started to rise, and Mungo and I were laying painfully in the grass. 'I had this strange dream where I was attacked by black oil and gas.' Mungo said.

  'I'm not dreaming,' I said as me and Mungo sat under a tree to eat some bread. The trunk of the tree fell and we fell into a dirty hut under the ground. We walked through them as we came to a half bear half man, sitting on a stone stool. 

  'I was expecting you.' He said in a wise voice. 

  'Who are you!?' Said Mungo in fear. 

  'He’s a rare half human species! Respect him!' I said quietly.

   'No need to respect me,' he said 'I am just as normal as you to me. My name is Tahiti. And I know about the people who attacked you last night.'

  'What can you tell us!?' I said eagerly. 

  'They are called Blurs. They tend to want to attack most people with the rare ability, where they have a bigger darkside than others but a lighter one than others too.'

  'I have that rare ability.' I said, Tahiti nodded curiously. He continued.

  'They want to capture the people who are close friends, the people with the ability. And that rare person. They are formed by the darkness of the city. If you don’t watch out you could become one quite easily. You see, only 1 person in every lifetime has this ability. Then once that person is gone, a new one with the ability is born. Whoever possesses this ability needs to be careful. If they are turned into a Blur there will be no more people with this ability. Unless they are strong enough to fight it off… Mungo, Ananna. You are both in grave danger.' Me and Mungo thanked Tahiti and walked outside. 

Decisions

'Mungo, you heard what Tahiti said. Blurs attack people like you and me' I said quietly. 'Please Mungo. Forget about me, our friendship. Go home. Please I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.'

  'Ananna, don’t worry. We will be fine.' Said Mungo.

  'No, we are not safe.' I said. As I ran away. Wet tears came rolling down my eyes. I could see Mungo in the distance. Sadly looking down to his feet. But that is the last time I ever looked back…

Ananna Alone…

Once again, I am alone. The sound of Mungo’s desperate voice trailed from behind. I felt like a piece of me was gone. But with this special 'Ability' no one near me, including Mungo, is safe. I don’t want to be the cause of his disappearance. He means too much to me. He is the only friend I have. I think I have made the right decision. 'Trust me Mungo, this is for your own good.' I said in my mind. I walked for days, my body was desperate for food and water. I traveled the woods for 1 more day. Without food, or water. Suddenly, out of nowhere came a hut. I saw smoke coming out of the chimney. I quickly hurried towards the door. In Front of the door there was a sign. It said, 'Please  do    enter.' I wonder why there are double spaces? I said in my head. I knocked on the door. But no one answered, then I heard talking inside the hut.

  'Som eonei sat hedoo r goopen ityoula zybum!!' What a strange language they spoke. Then the door creaked open, in front of me I could see 2 beautiful and young people. One was a boy, the other was a girl. The girl was by far the prettiest. She had silky brown hair down to her shoulders, pretty bluebell eyes, and a happy and caring smile.

  'Hi, my name is Tiffany, and this is my brother James.' She said with a smile. 'You look so tired! Please come in!' She pulled my arm and took me inside. Her pretty white dress swung in the wind.

  'You see, we don’t speak English much. We usually speak in our own language.' James said.

  'Oh no, both of your English is really quite good.' I said. Tiffany blushed.

  'Oh! Let me serve Lunch.' Said Tiffany. 'Just wait for a bit. Come on James! Could you help me with lunch?' James nodded.

'Yip eeyum myhuma ntoturn intoablur! Andnot justthatitis thespecialonewi ththespec ialabilityt oomaste rwillb equi tehap py!' I heard James singing from the kitchen. Wait a minute. I can translate their language! 'Yippee! Yummy human to turn into a Blur! And not just that, the one with the special ability too! Master will be quite happy!'  I gasped in shock. Those two are BLURS! As I quietly tried to leave. At the door Tiffany was standing there.

  'Where do you think you’re going!?' As she formed herself into the dark hideous beast. I screamed in terror. But then she fell to the ground. I looked at her in surprisement. And there standing behind her was Mungo.   

  'Mungo! I’m so glad you’re here!' I said as I hugged him tightly. I stood up, I looked at the sign at the front. I looked at it. And the empty spaces meant that letters were missing! It reads out, please don’t enter. Me and Mungo ran away as fast as we could. 'It seems that they can turn themselves into their normal selves. But still hypnotised to be a Blur.' I said to Mungo, as I gasped for relief. 

  'I'm really sorry I ran away.'  Mungo smiled. 

  'Don’t worry, I cherish your friendship more than anything.' Mungo said. We started walking, then Mungo paused. 'Wait, where are we going?' Said Mungo. 

  'Well, we started North in Darwin. We walked for 5 days, then headed East, the sun pointed that way when it rose. So then we walked towards the South, but we are still going there so we are around the South East heading towards Melbourne.' I said. Mungo looked at me with a surprised face but with a hint of a smile.

  'Smart,' he said. I smiled.

  'Something's pulling my hair into the river!' I said as a piece of my pretty orange hair fell deep into the bottom of the river. 'What pulled my hair?'

  'Wanna go find out!?' Said Mungo with excitement. 

  'I don’t know…' 

  'Come ooon! I thought you were teaching me of ADVENTURE!'

   'Well, alright.' I said worryingly. 

Going Home

A few hours later, me and Mungo decided to sit around a campfire and eat something. I collected firewood, and made the fire. While Mungo made a woodland salad. 'Uh, what’s in this salad Mungo?' I said as I put my food down.

   'Well, it’s my mothers recipe. But instead of nuts, I used Saffron Milk cap mushrooms. But they aren’t poisonous.' 

  'Well, it’s delicious.' I said while trying to keep a straight face. I put down my leaf full of salad and crossed my legs. 

  'Why aren’t you eating? Aren’t you hungry Ananna?' Said Mungo while stuffing his face with salad. 

  'I’m ok, I’m not too hungry actually.' Mungo shrugged. When Mungo finished his salad, I put out the campfire and we lay on some rocks. We looked up at the sky admiring its beauty. 

  'You know Ananna, if we want to free the city from Blurs. Then we might need to return to Darwin. But it’s really dangerous for you. And who knows what might happen if they gain control over you.' 

  'I know, but I want to free the poor souls that have been trapped within the hands of a blur. But it’s also a risk in both ways. But I want this to be over with, I don’t want anyone hunting me anymore…' I said quietly. 'Well, what do you want to do then?' Said Mungo, I sat up. 'We’re going home,' I tumbled and turned for the rest of the night. I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking of the journey ahead. Mungo didn’t seem too worried. He was sleeping like a baby. I decided to think about it tomorrow, and went to sleep. 

The journey ahead…

The next day me and Mungo woke up at dawn. We started walking back to the city, we walked past all the people and things we saw on the way. When we saw the Hut with Tiffany and James, we walked faster. We saw them peeking out their windows with their squany faces. As we hurried away, we found Tahiti’s hut. We walked inside and had a nice chat, and Tahiti invited us to stay for the night. We accepted his invitation. But in return Mungo had to cook dinner and I had to get the fire starting. I dug up some flint and used it with steel to make a fire. And Mungo came back with Jungle stew. It looked like snake skin, Morels, and all sorts of nuts. Floating above a thick and sticky stew.

  'Mmmmmm, what recipe do you use!?' Said Tahiti while stuffing his face with the food. 'I have neer tasted anything so good!' 

  'Well, it’s my mothers recipe.' Said Mungo proudly. I picked up my wooden bowl, and put it up to my mouth. I leaded the bowl backwards. And took a big gulp of the liquid, I quickly spat it out onto the dirty floor. 'Is something wrong Ananna?' Asked Mungo. I put my thumbs up to tell them I was OK. I quickly tucked myself under a blanket made of leaves. And went to sleep. I woke up at 5:00 am. I pulled Mungo out of bed and waved goodbye to Tahiti. We kept on walking and walking for days unend. And finally together we saw Darwin in the distance. It was overrun with blurs, leaving gas and oil everywhere they walked. We slowly walked into Darwin's borders in disguise. I wore a cloth over my head and Mungo wore some brown leaves as a beard. 

  ‘Do you really have to wear that!?' I said under my breath. Mungo shrugged and we continued to walk. 

The Blurs Return…

We walked and walked, and walked. And nobody seemed concerned, all of the people transformed back into people! But with their souls trapped as a blur. Suddenly, as the day struck night. All the people became blurs, at their full power. Especially in a full moon, like tonight. They walked around, and then instantaneously realized who we were. They jumped up to grab us, as they jumped we hid. As they scratched our bodies with their sharp bodiless claws. They yelled and they screamed as they attacked. Mungo got out his boomerang, and threw it at them. But only doing little damage as they healed themselves immediately. It only pushed them back as they helped themselves. We were outnumbered and didn’t know what to do, but we fought and fought. The people who weren’t blurs before became blurs right in front of our eyes. And before long, they were all blurs. 

  'Mungo! We can’t defeat them all… We need to go after their master!' Mungo nodded. We looked around cluelessly, looking for the master. But he was nowhere to be found... 

Captured souls...

We fought harder and harder by the minute. But then, we were surrounded. And we had nowhere to go… Then a blur walked to me and lightly touched my heart. As it did that, it signaled its master. My soul flew right out of my body and into the hands of the master… I fell to the ground for a minute, and stood up. As a blur… I was confused, and something was controlling my mind… I tried to fight it off, but I wasn’t strong enough. The saddest times blurred in my mind as they came back to me striking me in the heart. I couldn’t see my body, someone else was controlling me. By the soul…

   All I could see were the times I regret, the times I felt saddest… Wrapped in a gold circle of horror. I could see myself being scared, and feeding on my sadness. But the last one I saw was one right now. I wasn’t strong enough to push back the feeling, I was scared, confused, and angry. To myself… Mungo was out there all alone, with no one left… I could hear Mungo’s voice from the world. I could no longer see visions… But Mungo in front of me, 

  'Ananna! Wake up! Fight it off! You are strong enough…' I heard Mungo speak before me. I couldn’t, I had absolutely no control. Then Mungo climbed through the window to my bedroom. And grabbed Bailey my chicken… And put her in front of me, hoping that I would snap out of it. I stood still, trying as hard as I could to leave the body of a blur. I sat down, trying to gain control. Bailey sat in my lap, and clucked her clucks when she wanted me there… Sad tears rolled down my eyes down to my chin. My head lowered, and I focused all my energy to fight off the evil. It was extremely hard, but looking at baily snuggling up to me made me stronger… Then I became myself again. Tears still continuously rolled down my chin. I held Bailey in my lap, and softly hugged her. Like the way I always do…

Free Souls

Mungo and I pushed all of the blurs away from us, clearing a path. We ran as fast as we could go, until we reached the master. His big hands tried to gain control over us once again. He was like one giant blur of oil and dirt and big as a mountain. I was confident and brave, and I knew we would make it. The master tried to grab us with his hands and we quickly ducked away. Then we hid for a moment under a tree, as he was looking around for us, Me and Mungo quietly sat under the tree staring at him.

   'What do we do to defeat him!?' Said Mungo. 

  'Well, you could try hitting him with your boomerang.

 ‘And since to become a blur you need to touch their hearts…-’

   ‘Then all the trapped souls he carried would fly away!' Said Mungo as he finished my sentence. So as we walked out from the bottom of the tree, his body was turned. So Mungo hit him with his boomerang. 

  ‘Aim aim aim aim! Come ooon! Yes!’ I said as the boomerang hit him and the Master fell to the ground. He turned out to be a person, a middle aged man. He told us he realized his mistakes. And that he was sorry. I nodded, and we took him to the court. Souls came raining down, returning to their own bodies. Everyone got their souls back. To be, a Free Souls…

The end… 

Made on the 25/10/2021

Published 31/10/2021