Tower and Town, August 2026 (view the full edition)Soundtrack your Story: PapercutArabella has won a place in an anthology of young writers based off the National Literacy Trust’s ‘Soundtrack your Story’ competition. This was inspired by her listening to the song ‘Papercut’ by Linkin’ Park. My footsteps pounded drums into the crunching gravel as the pelting rain hammered into the soaking ground. The icy wind whirled past my pallid, gaunt face, sparking salty water to my stinging eyes. My sweaty palms clutched my dripping back-pack, gripping it tight to my sodden body, as if it would be snatched from my shaking grasp at any moment. Nervously glancing sideways, I saw the ugly, worn misshapen houses that seemed to loom over me like lions, ruthlessly hunting their prey. I quickened my already fast pace until I was breathless running through the twisting alleyways, trying to escape this mental nightmare consuming my mind. Cautiously I wiped my eyes, clearing my blurry vision, but an itching voice seemed to come alive at the back of my brain, it was back. That horrible voice, ringing in my ears. Staring me out like I wasn’t meant to exist. Laughing at me when I tentatively I lifted my bony fingers up to the back of my head, stroking it gently, trying to feel what was causing me much pain. Yet it was invisible, just a feeling, just another agony in my pitiful life. Letting the feeling of defeat wash over me like a river removing its marks. Disconnected. I fell to the floor with an unearthly crash, it sounded even greater in the silence of the sleeping streets. A mocking laughter filled my brain as I shakily began to pick myself up, nearly dropping back down obeying the laws of science. Gravity. Still striding forwards all I could hear was the short, rattling, grasping breaths thundering in my weak, little chest. Anxiously glancing over my shoulder, just to check that the whisper in my head was wrong. A muffled cry escaped my lips I could have sworn there was a shadowy figure creeping, advancing, stalking me. But when I finally plucked up the courage to turn my trembling head. There was nothing. Not a single creature, not a single sound. I began to mutter under my breath, as if hearing my own voice would stop me feeling alone. "This isn’t real, you will be fine, there is nobody behind you.” Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling. Couldn’t stop the hunch from flowing into my veins, intoxicating me. It felt like eyes were boring into me. Nervously I peered around my hunched shoulders, I hoped I didn’t see anything, wished I hadn’t seen anything But. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glint of white. Just a flash in the darkness but enough for my arms to become lined in goosebumps and for my face to turn ghostly white. The feeling crept over me again, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and my skin prickled with unescapable fear. And that’s when I ran. I sprinted through the darkness, straining my ears to hear footsteps. And I heard them pounding behind me, getting closer every second. It was over. Arabella Broomham (Year 7) |