At Beyond the Box, we are constantly thinking of ideas to give something unique, refreshing as well as challenging to our community of writers. Two to Tango is one such endeavour to encourage the participants to work along with another writer as a team and bring about a creative synergy. 60 teams participated in Season 2 of this one-of-its-kind contest and the winners were chosen by best-selling author MV Kasi. Below prompt was given to the writers and they were asked to narrate the same story from two different points of view.
Prompt – Write a fictional story in which a viral video plays a key role. Feel free to creatively interpret this concept in any genre of your choice.
The winners in the kids’ category were Akshita Sundeep Singh & Harshita Sundeep Singh (Team 39). Enjoy their story!
Story Title: A FLICKER OF HOPE
Point of View #1
By Harshita Sundeep Singh
“Kids, this recent video has been viral all over the world. At least 1 in 3 kids are bullied in school. Who’ll stop the bullying? What’d you do if you saw someone get bullied?”
The bell interrupts Miss Jaz as she pauses the video, “It’s the end of the day, but this is an important topic, so we’ll go over it tomorrow, okay? Have a good day everyone, see you tomorrow!”
I stuff my books into my bag, and mutter, “Bye Miss Jaz”. Rushing out of class, I can feel their eyes pierce into my back, but I don’t stop.
My fingers swell as I tighten my grip around my school bag and race towards the bus stop. Just when I sit down, I realize I wasn’t fast enough.
“Hey long time no see!” She sits next to me.
I fidget, but stay silent.
“It’s rude to not reply when someone says hi, you know? You saw the video, didn’t you? Did you snitch on us?” She snatches my bag out of my grip, and her minions surround me.
“N-No… I didn’t.” I sink further into the bench.
She stands up, swings my bag around in front of me, then unzips it. “We should totally give you a makeover. Your fashion sucks, this is why no one likes you!”
My vision gets blurry as I watch all my books and pencil case land on the pavement.
She sneers, “Come on, can’t you take a joke?”
Just as my bag falls to the floor, one of her friends steps forward, “Melissa, stop!”
Melissa scoffs and turns towards the other girl. I grab my pencil case, my books and other papers that flew out, stuff them into my bag, and dust my pants as I stand up.
“God, we’re just having fun. Don’t be such a killjoy, Chloe!”
Chloe shoves her airpods into her pockets as she walks towards me and says, “Hey, I’m so sorry, are you okay?” She helps me put on my bag, and squares her shoulders, turning towards the bullies. “Bullying is not fun, making rude comments on someone’s clothing is not fun. I hope you realize you’re in the wrong.”
I feel a surge of emotions as I come to the realization that even when there are bullies in the world, there are also people like Chloe, looking out for us. It makes me want to believe in myself.
Point of View #2
By Akshita Sundeep Singh
“…we’ll go over it tomorrow, okay? Have a good day everyone, see you tomorrow!” At the same moment, the last bell of the day struck and school was dismissed.
“God, that video was a nightmare.” I hear my friends say, as we walk out of class together.
“For real! Like, I mean it’s just fun. It’s not our fault they take it too seriously,” Melissa chimes in. “Agreed!”
“Who’ll stop the bullying?” They mock the video. A wave of loud laughter surrounds the group. I walk along with them, not saying a word. The words of the video still cloud my thoughts as I realize that my friends are the bullies.
With a sigh, I walk ahead of them and take a seat at the bus stop. Putting on my airpods, I scroll through Instagram. Loud laughter sounds fill my surroundings but I ignore, assuming it’s just my friends cracking lame jokes. I don’t look up from my phone till I hear another round of muffled giggling.
I look up to see my friends swarm around a girl. I continue to watch, and to my surprise, they shove her belongings to the ground. I think back to the video in class. Who will stop the bullying, right?
“Come on, can’t you take a joke?”
Okay, that was way out of line. Anger ripples through me as a look of sheer fury replaces my usually composed facial expressions.
“Melissa, stop!”
“Chloeee,” she drags out. “Nice of you to join us! Come on, join in on the fun!”
I scoff. “Fun? This is what you call fun?”
Melissa rolls her eyes. “Yes? This is exactly what fun is. What happened to you?”
“Realization, that’s what,” I spit. “This isn’t good. What did she even do to you?”
I turn around to help the girl only to see her already on the ground, dusting off the dirt from her things. She shoves her belongings into her bag and stands back up.
“God, we’re just having fun. Don’t be such a killjoy, Chloe!”
I ignore her words and bolt past them towards the girl. “Hey, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”
She just nods silently in reply and I turn back to my so-called friends. “Bullying isn’t fun. Making rude comments on someone’s clothing isn’t fun. I hope you realize you’re in the wrong.”
I see a flicker of hope in the girl’s eyes, as mine meet hers.