Dead Reckoning by Carys Cragg

Author:Carys Cragg
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781551526980
Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
Published: 2017-09-26T04:00:00+00:00

We’re going to move on from limericks today,” the English teacher instructs her class of grade seven students. “Does anyone know what a haiku is?” The class remains silent. “Well, this is my favourite type of poetry. These poems hold such wonderful meaning in their short passages.”

She watches her teacher.

“This is how these poems work. There are seventeen syllables, split into three lines.” She illustrates the structure of the haiku, writing on the board. “Does anyone have any questions?”

“Do you mean five words, seven words, five words?” a girl with a confused expression asks.

“No, not quite. Five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables,” the teacher corrects and reviews the sounds of words. She gives a few examples to further explain the concept. “Okay, now that we’ve gone over the basics, I want you to try to write one. You’ll have about twenty minutes.”

Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes pass.

I don’t know what to write, she thinks. She overhears the boy next to her whispering to his neighbour.

She refocuses on the blank page in front of her. Her heart beats faster. She notices herself taking fewer breaths.

“Okay, you have two more minutes, everyone, and then I’d like you to hand them in,” the teacher calls out.

A wave of calm rushes through her. Daddy. She positions her pencil, tunes out the chattering voices surrounding her, and writes.

We all had good times.

He was loving and was loved.

But he had to go.

Her eyes widen as she reads it over. It needs a title, she decides.

As the teacher calls out, “Okay, everyone, hand them forward,” she quickly scribbles on the top of the page, “Lost.”

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