Young authors bloom at Frenchville School

Manaia Faiumu Malone and Annelise Kinnear win first place and honourable mention for the national My Place short story competition

Manaia Faiumu Malone and Annelise Kinnear from Frenchville State School with their winning stories

Manaia Faiumu Malone from Frenchville State School secured first prize in a national short story competition with her piece on memory and friendship.

The 12-year-old said she was surprised and excited to win the My Place contest, which is named for a children’s book and TV series.

Her story, In the Blink of an Eye, is about best friends who have to mend their relationship after one is injured in a car crash.

She said she was inspired by her own best friend.

“She helps me with my learning and supports me with everything I do,” she said.

Her classmate, Annelise Kinnear, earnt an honourable mention for her story, It Must be Stopped.

Her piece is about a boy who wants world leaders to make protecting the climate a priority.

“Just lately we’ve seen the Amazon on fire and it’s one of the biggest sources of oxygen,” she said.

Both girls are members of the school’s Bloom club, run by teacher Wendy Goldston, which extends and enriches students’ literacy.

They have read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and A Long Walk to Water as part of their studies into today’s society.

They listed David Walliams, Roald Dahl and Christopher Pilemi among their favourite authors.

Excerpt from In the Blink of an Eye by Manaia Faiumu Malone:

There, in front of the fig tree I stared at her for a while hoping her eyes would light up. Hoping she would look at me, and remember who I was. But minutes passed by and still not a spark of recognition lit her eyes.

I slowly turned around and started to cry because my only hope had failed.

Evie’s next action, her touching on the branches caught my attention though, and I heard a faint voice ­saying “Olivia”.

I quickly turned around with a shocked smile on my face as I realised my best friend Evie had remembered me.

It was unbelievable, a miracle.

I couldn’t believe what had happened. I started to jump around, tears of joy rolling down my face.

I felt so grateful.

The fig tree Evie and I spent most our time together in had saved our friendship and had lifted so much weight off my shoulders.