Published writing

Task 1. Adhalia woke up one night to the sound of banging, most likely on a wall. It was quite a loud sound and also one quite hard to ignore. There was also the sound of… a sewing machine? Adhalia recognised that sound from when she did sewing classes when she was ten and her teacher always used this old vintage sewing machine that would always break down but she insisted on using it. She was ultimately confused about what she was hearing but she was also half asleep and couldn’t really make sense of anything. So, she went back to sleep without a second thought. Two nights later, she saw that new neighbour, she had never seen him before, only heard him talk which was barely anything, and wasn’t even English, she didn’t think. But it was late at night where the only light was the bright crescent moon up in the sky. The man seemed to be carrying a heavy bag, the bag looked, from what Adhalia could tell (which was mostly nothing), lumpy, it looked to have lots of curves in it. But she didn’t think anything of it, all she was thinking about was what she was going to have for breakfast the next morning. Task 2. Adhalia was driving home from seeing her mother, she was in hospital with a brain injury which made her very sad but Adhalia had faith that her mother would get through it. The sky was now a dark purple and everyone was now in their homes, safe and sound. As she was driving past Boronia St, she saw someone inside of Denny’s house. Denny was a good friend of Adhalia’s and had been for as long as she had lived in the area. She would always buy flowers for her mum, Helen, at Adhalia’s florist. Denny had told her that she was going to go on holiday with her two sons for the next two weeks only three days ago, she couldn’t be back now. And that definitely wasn’t Denny, Denny did not look like that. Adhalia decided to stop at the next connecting street. She unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of her Mazda into the fresh cool air of the evening breeze. I’m overthinking this. I’m crazy! That’s probably just her dad or her third son. Adhalia’s head was consumed with thoughts surrounding her mind like wildfire in a forest. But Adhalia wasn’t going to risk that, if that was a criminal, she couldn’t just let them steal all her precious belongings. She peeked over around the corner of the street where she could get a clear view of Denny’s front garden. She walked a bit further so that she could see through the windows of her house. There was definitely someone in there and that was definitely not Denny. There was a burglar in her house! Someone was grabbing her stuff and putting them into garbage bags. Adhalia was trying to inspect this criminal so that she could describe them to the authorities when she would turn him in, but then Adhalia realised… She knew this person! The person who was inside her house was Adhalia’s new neighbour, the creepy man who allegedly couldn’t speak English! Her whole body was in shock. She was still staring at him, trying to make sense of all this new knowledge. As Adhalia’s mind came back into focus, she saw the man staring straight back at her! Adhalia froze in fright, she felt like she had no more control over her own body. Oh no no no. Why did I even get out of my car! What have I done, I shouldn’t have gotten into this. She thought, petrified. They both stared at each other for a while as the man realised who she was. As soon as Adhalia felt like she had any control, she sprinted straight back to her car, got in, turned the car on and drove home as fast as she could. Task 3. Oh no. What have I done! Adhalia thought rapidly as she drove home. She was still in shock after what just happened. What was she going to do? She had never gone to the police about anything and she certainly had never been confronted by a police officer. Now he knows that I know that he is a CRIMINAL! Adhalia thought again. What if she bumped into him somewhere! At this moment, she felt more scared than she ever had before. “Okay, I need to go to a police station.” Adhalia said to herself. “But I don’t have any evidence to prove it!” She continued to say to herself again. She was now frustrated and annoyed. “He is my neighbour, how am I supposed to avoid him? Ugh!” Adhalia shouted. For all Adhalia knew, she could be wound up dead by the end of this week! Task 4. There is no real time limit, Adhalia just doesn’t have a lot of it.

The sun started to drift down the yellow-orange sky and the clouds from the earlier rain had faded away. The sound of young children having fun in the Elderberry Gardens was still going on, with the sound of happy screams gusting through the trees and into the streets around it. Geraldine Parkway was one quite similar to any other. It had regular people, regular shops and regular housing. It was an afternoon just like any of the ones before it. The whole area around Elderberry Gardens were all townhouses, quite pretty and aesthetic ones as well. A cool breeze whisked through the air of the street and into Adhalia’s shop, she felt that cool chill she always loved on especially warm days. As the clock striked 5:01 on her watch and customers filed out of her shop for the end of the day - she started to close up. As soon as everyone had left, she walked over to the entrance and picked up the few display flowers that sat outside neatly in their pots. She heaved them up with both hands with all her might and placed them back inside. She did that with all of them. But before she could close and lock the door, her eyes caught a moving van that flew across the road. The van parked in a spare spot on the other side of the road and she saw the logo for Allied moving company pasted on the back of the vehicle. Adhalia saw two men clamber out of the van who then walked across the road to the townhouse next to her. That townhouse that was quite unpopular. Apparently there had been a fire there thirty years ago and it was almost burned to the ground. It was just never rebuilt properly. Of course it’s still usable and safe but it is just very ugly. Adhalia then heard a man's voice coming from next door. His voice sounded old and decrepit. It also wasn’t English. It was some strange language, one that Adhalia definitely hadn’t heard before. The two moving men seemed confused from what Adhalia could make out from just her hearing. But, she didn’t think much of it, she locked the doors just like regular and trod to the kitchen where she heated up some leftover lasagne in the microwave.