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50p

Mantas, Monsters, and Mutiny

2 December 2014
Jaclyn C
I sit curled up in my rolley chair staring intently at my laptop screen. Bits of too-sweet sugar fall in between the cracks of my keyboard as I munch on my roommate’s Cinnamon Toast Crunch absentmindedly. Giggling at YouTube video of my favourite band, I pull my designated ugly-grandma-prep-cardigan closer around me. My much needed relaxing prep is interrupted when a stray thought floats into my consciousness. The thought is so terrifying that my hands begin to tremor. I start to panic. My breathing becomes rapid and my eyes widen so much that they threaten to pop out of my head and garnish my bowl of burgled cereal. I have known for some time that this beastly monster is coming for me. I know I cannot hide. I know I cannot run. I have prepared for battle the best I can. I have put forth my utmost effort in training, but I fear it still. This fiend that I dread facing comes around once every year and it goes by the name of Fabrications. One would think that composing a persuasive speech between two and four minutes would be effortless, but one is wrong. It is a complex process that takes weeks of preparation and is not aided whatsoever by the nonsensically vague prompt “That ain’t right”. Every year I am plagued with indecision over what to write. Last year I managed to warn my class about the very real danger that is manta rays. I believed it to be common knowledge, but apparently most students were not aware that manta rays are Godless killing machines planning to take over the world. I assumed it would be obvious seeing as it is scientifically proven that they have a whole section of their brains devoted purely to malice. There seems to only be two categories of topics: serious and hilarious. Emily L, Mack ‘16, last year’s Grade 10 winner, chose to address the very serious topic of animal cruelty due to animal testing. At the other end of the spectrum is Alex R, Privett ‘16 who this year spoke about why we shouldn’t use alarm clocks, calling for a world-wide mutiny against the household devices in his hilarious speech. Those who are brave, prepared, and lucky, prosper and slay Fabrications, earning a good mark and perhaps even going on to perform their speech in front of the whole school. Those, however, who are scared, unprepared and more than a little unlucky, fail and are slayed by Fabrications, earning a poor mark and become the outcasts of English class. Though I fear Fabrications with every particle in my body, I am brave, and I am prepared. With any luck, I will make it through this year’s Fabrications and live on to do it again next year. Jaclyn C, Alex ‘16

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