Lost to the Bin

Emma Binns - The Abdication

Year 7 Writing Assessment

King Edward abdicated, because of his love of Wallis Simpson. Now, I don't see it as so much of a shock, marrying a woman who just happened to be a divorcee. It's a lot more common nowadays, getting divorced and marrying again. But way back in 1936, when I was nine, divorce was a disgrace. People frequently whispered the word, and divorcees were positively shunned by the public, family and friends. My parents argued all the time, but stayed together, as many unhappy couples did, just to avoid the public disgrace of a divorce. Even though it was nearly eighty years ago, I still remember the shock in Britain as the press released the news, and as the speech was made.

For me, it was just a normal day walking home from school, daydreaming. I walked out of the school gates, along the road, turned the corner and walked towards the little house with an apple tree behind the white fence. I live in that house now, and have walked along that route many a time since then. The apple tree gives me beautiful apples every autumn, and the fence has been re-painted a few times by my children and grandchildren, and once by my husband, before he died. However, that house has remained just the same as it was on that day.

I pulled at the string under my vest, searching for my door key. I quietly opened the door- my father didn't like lots of loud noise- and put down my heavy school satchel, sighing with relief, and walked into the front room. Father was sitting in his usual chair, reading his usual newspaper, but with a look of shock on his face.

This is the part of that day that I remember most clearly. The few moments when the news was broken to me and my family. I asked Father why he was worried, but he simply ignored me. I was puzzled, as Father always told me off if I ignored him. However, I thought it would be rude to point this out to the only person who brought money into the household, so I simply peered over his shoulder to read the article he was so shocked about. After scanning the page for a few seconds (I was a pretty advanced reader for a nine-year-old), my face turned shocked too. So shocked in fact, that my brain forgot all the many manners Father had taught me, and I simply blurted out,

"Father! Edward's abdicating!"

Father sat there and nodded silently. Then, his head gave the tiniest jerk, which meant he had suddenly come back to his senses; that was never a good thing. Suddenly, he rose from his chair, his face going rapidly purple. My heart thumped under my vest, as the room went suddenly cold.

"EMMA BINNS!" he shouted at me. "How DARE you talk about His Majesty in that way!"

He went ranting on for at least ten minutes, about respecting my elders, and how I was only a little girl. I think he mentioned something about the national anthem as well, most of which I didn't understand. Then,

"GO TO YOUR ROOM!" he screamed at me, veins throbbing in his temples.

He was so angry I didn't even think of arguing, and scuttled out of the room without another word.

The next thing I can remember was the speech; even though I was so shocked it simply passed in a blur.

I remember my mother calling me downstairs, and both my parents sitting at the table, looking serious. The radio was in the middle of the table, and my father twiddled with the various dials and knobs as I sat down. There was a buzzing noise, and my father slowly moved his hand away from the radio as Edward began to speak. I saw my parents listening hard, their faces turning to looks of disgust. I listened hard too, and noticed, with an unpleasant tingle, that he was sounding nervous! How the King of this country could be sounding nervous as he talked to his people? I was jerked back to my senses as I suddenly had to stifle an unexpected gasp. I had heard him say that he didn't want to be King! How could ANYONE not want to be King?

By Isabel

In memory of my great- great-grandmother, Emma Binns.

Why were there so many unnecessary commas? Why were italics used? How does her father manage to go from silent to caps lock in a matter of lines?

Realise why in the next thrilling installment.