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NOTES:

YOUNG WRITERS: SPRING 2008 - SECOND PLACE WINNER

Except that this entry was scanned and then text recognition applied (which sometimes creates small errors), the text appears exactly as sent in by the writer. No changes or corrections have been made; however, all stories to be included in the published Anthology will be edited for grammar and punctuation before printing.

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"Girl of the Street"

by Alexandra Lindsay-Smith - Dulwich, London, UK

SECOND PLACE IN THE "YOUNG WRITERS" CATEGORY, SPRING 2008

"Eliza, stay with Vicky and John. They will take care of you Liz, good care. God bless you." Elizabeth could remember it all too well, her mother's last words and the end to her own wealth. Wealth that meant that she had lived in one of the best addresses in town. Wealth that meant that she had dressed in the finest clothes and hadn't had a worry in the world. On she trudged through the dirty streets of Victorian London. Perhaps some kind soul would let her live in their house, maybe...but her thoughts were only in vain, she fell down onto the pavement, exhausted.

"Hello, what we 'ave 'ere" Lizzie opened her eyes and saw a group of ragged boys standing around her. They surveyed her taking in all her features, her dull, matted golden hair, her pale sickly face, and the faded grey rags that she wore. "Are you'right?" one of them asked but Lizzie was too tired to reply. "There's only one place for 'er an' that's the work'ouse" one of them said and all of the boys nodded in agreement. Then they carried her off to that dreadful place.

The workhouse was a gigantic brick building, the entrance guarded by cold iron gates. A tall stone wall surrounded it making sure that no child could ever escape unless some lucky coincidence occurred. Lizzie felt like the world was ending, she could never survive in this horrendous place. The once wealthy Elizabeth was now poor orphan Lizzie, living in the workhouse. Lizzie put her head in her hands and began to cry.

Lizzie was led into a huge stone room full of orphans and street children, beggars and thieves. Elizabeth wrinkled her nose in disgust and then, remembering that she was Lizzie, took to staring at them. All the children were clothed in a rough grey uniform .The children had shorn heads and there were so many of them that looking at them it seemed like a vast, colourless sea. Then, Lizzie was led outside to see Mrs Bourons .Mrs Bourons was a tall and thin woman. She had a stiff face and very set features. Lizzie was scared of Mrs Bourons from the moment she first set eyes on her. She was accompanied by a small, hunched man. "Come here Birge" shouted Mrs Bourons and the small man shuffled towards her accordingly."Take her to the infirmary" ordered Mrs Bourons, but this time the man answered in a small whispery voice "Sorry Ma'm but the infirmary's full". "Put her to work with the rest of them then" she ordered in an angry voice and so the tiny ,bent man took Lizzie's hand and led her away.

The little man (Mr Birge) shuffled down a flight of cold stone steps and then led Lizzie into a room full of loud, noisy and ugly metal machines, all of them sewing cotton around the edges of white sheets. Lizzie was led through this room to a stone flagged area outside. There her head was torn at with blunt scissors until there was nothing but a few wisps of golden hair on top of her head then her old rags were taken off her and she was dressed in a grey, itchy uniform. After being led back into the room of machines by Mr Birge, she was given the job of crawling underneath the machines and picking up tiny puffs of cotton, and then putting them in a little basket so that they might be woven into a new string of cotton for the other girls to replace the machines with.

Lizzie's day was ordered, and every night she slept on a hard wooden floor in the attic with nothing to cover her but a thin ragged sheet. One night when she lay there waiting for Mr Birge to come and blowout the candle that was placed on the window sill, she had an idea. She would sneak out of the attic when Mr Birge was blowing on the candle and then she would wait for him to leave the attic. After that she would follow him outside and just before he locked the gates she would slip out of the gates and then, freedom, she would be free at last!! She heard the sound of footsteps and turned over, pretending to sleep. Mr Birge shuffled into the room. As he crossed the room to the candle Lizzie was almost shaking with fear. He blew. Lizzie crept to the door and out of the room, then she climbed down the ladder and hid. Thud, thud, thud, THUD. Lizzie could hear Mr Birge climbing down the ladder. He walked past her and she followed, her bare feet stepping with his. They walked down the corridor then Lizzie ran lightly and nimbly as a hare, just a shadow in the dark, at least that was what Mr Birge thought. Leaping out of the gate, her heart gave a jump of joy. Lizzie Lacaya was finally FREE!!! She hurried to the nearest alleyway and climbed up the wall of the house and onto the rooftop and there she slept amongst the stars and dust smoke.

When she woke up she wasn't quite sure where she was, her neck ached and her feet hurt. At first she thought that she was in the workhouse but as she gradually woke up she remembered that she was free, she had escaped, she was free from work, and free to play, she was free to do as she liked. Nobody but the Bobbies (policemen) could stop her, and she'd keep well away from them anyway! Lizzie ran towards the market and stole a few apples then she danced and juggled for the crowd, they threw a few coins at her and Lizzie tried to give the apples back to the stall owner but she said to keep them. Lizzie did this every day and every day the stall owner (a pleasantly plump woman called Mrs Brown) told her to keep the apples. Then one day, Mrs Brown said that Lizzie could stay with her as long as Lizzie would dance for the crowd and persuade them to buy apples. Lizzie accepted this offer and for a month she lived with Mrs Brown until Mrs Brown's husband threw her out of the little house that she had been living in and onto the street.

Lizzie longed for her older brother and sister, Jonathan and Victoria, they would know what to do. She decided to try and find them. First she looked in all the stalls in the market, Lizzie knew it was foolish and she knew that they wouldn't be there but at least she was doing something. Then her real search began. Victoria could cook, Lizzie knew that. Victoria had had to cook for herself, Lizzie and Jonathan when Ma was ill. Lizzie searched all the Grand houses. At one of the houses the maid said "Yes, we know Victoria, got a house out in the country, earns money as a cook." Lizzie's heart stopped beating. Yes, it was a long walk, but to see Victoria and maybe to live with her, life was perfect, Lizzie felt as though she was living in happy dream. She ran and ran and when she had finally reached the house she could hardly breathe. Lizzie knocked on the door and then she asked to the woman who opened it. "Please can I see Victoria, I'm her sister you see." The woman cried "Get OUT of my house you meddling child. I am Victoria, and I am NOT your sister. Get OUT at ONCE or I'll beat you. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE THIS MINUTE!!!" and with that she slammed the door, obviously not worried if she happened to shut Lizzie in it. Fortunately Lizzie ran away before the other Victoria had the chance. Lizzie was heart-broken and almost fit to burst with weariness. She could hardly believe that she ran all this way to find a Victoria that wasn't her sister. Lizzie ran a few feet away from the house and then lay down on the ground and cried herself to sleep.

When Lizzie woke up the first thing that she did was to try and find the nearest town or village. She looked up at the rose sunrise, trying to detect the faintest hint of grey in the sky, the faintest puff of smoke. Then she heard it, a rumble of wheels and the galloping of horses, a stage coach. Lizzie hid in some bushes and waited. Just as the coach was passing, she ran out from the bushes and jumped onto the seat between the two back wheels of the coach. She stayed on the seat until the coach reached a circus. She jumped off the seat and onto the grassy field surrounding the circus. Then Lizzie walked slowly towards all the caravans and the big top, afraid of what she might find.

She entered the circle of caravans and saw a girl standing at the window of one of them. The girl smiled and waved and then gestured to Lizzie to some over to the caravan. Without hesitating she ran over to her. The girl said that her name was Emily and that she had a brother called Jim. Then she led Lizzie inside and gave her a bowl of hot, meaty stew. That night Lizzie slept on white cotton sheets, and that night she wore a white cotton nightgown. In the morning she helped clean the stables and she enjoyed helping sew her circus costume. Lizzie was going to lead the horses into the ring that night, she could hardly wait. Lunch was a slice of bread with ham and cheese on it. Lizzie hadn't tasted anything like that since she had been rich. Lizzie thought that the circus was much better than the market. The rest of the afternoon was spent getting ready for the performance. Lizzie and Emily sprinkled sawdust onto the floor of the big top so that the horses could walk and gallop there without slipping and Mrs Bright (Emily's mother) sewed silver stars onto Lizzie's dress. Jim checked that the ropes that held the tent down were secure and the groom brushed the horses' coats until they shone. That night just before her performance Lizzie was breath-takingly excited. She could hardly believe that the circus was her home now. Lizzie led all of the horses into the ring on a giant harness and Emily jumped from horse to horse, both of them earning the biggest clap of anybody that performed. As they were eating their dinner of sausages, Lizzie was perfectly happy. She knew that the circus was her home.

Copyright (c) 2008 by Alexandra Lindsay-Black.
Do not reproduce without the author's written permission!
 

COMMENTS FROM OUR COMMISSIONING EDITOR, Jo Holloway:
An excellent exposition of how a child would view the workhouse. Could have been further improved by more explanation of how she came to go from wealth to poverty. It's always a good policy, if you make a statement, to ensure the reader understands why - eg "The children had shorn heads" could have been expanded to include something like, "...to stop the spread of the dreaded lice". Another question you raised was in saying that Mr Brown threw her out of the house - the reader immediately asks: why? Did he accuse her of stealing? Did she break something precious to him? - Remember that actions should always make some kind of sense, and people have reasons for doing anything they do. Why would Lizzie gesture to her, out of all the other people, and give her a place to stay? Did her last helper leave, and she needed a new one? ... Unfortunately this very quick wrap-up of the ending was a little disappointing; otherwise, a nicely researched story!

COMMENTS FROM OUR GUEST JUDGE, Lucy McCarraher:
Long, detailed and well thought through story of a Victorian girl reduced to the workhouse who eventually joins the circus. Very high standard, just the ending a slight disappointment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
 

Hello, my name is Alexandra Lindsay-Black.  I’m 10 years old and I attend Alleyn’s Junior School in Dulwich, London.  My interests include music (cello and piano), netball, running and swimming.  The things that inspire me to write are books themselves.  I spend lots of time reading and I like historical novels.  If you read a book that you really like, use something from it.  For example, Street Child by Berlie Doherty inspired me to write Girl of the Street:  the descriptions that Berlie gives are so fantastic that I can ‘see’ what Victorian life was like.  Therefore, I tried hard to use words that would make pictures in the reader’s mind.  I love to write because I can use my imagination to create new people, places and events.  My aspiration is to make every story I write enjoyable to read!

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