Once Upon a Time: True Stories of an Aspiring Writer

Childhood Writings: Briella Backwards

Looking back, this reads like a kid's story, though it's about college students...kind of. It was written for the heck of it, some at summer writing camp and the rest at high school. So not all the writing is perfect. In fact, placing this in this manuscript, I uncovered at least one typo and at least one hideous instance of telling-not-showing.

Here's what happens when unwilling YouTube star Briella finds herself transported back to the school she loved so much. Can you spot Ben here? There are plenty of other references to those days throughout the story, but I won't name them. This piece helped me move on and is a testament to the power of storytelling.

I should also give some partial credit to my campmate who provided my initial starting sentence at Blue Tree camp in Bryn Mawr, PA, in the summer of 2011. You rock, wherever you are!

The full story is on morganmyerswrites.wordpress.com.

*****

After lunch, things took a different spin. The girls noticed that flyers were all over the halls for an afternoon assembly.

"Who's coming today? Another stupid storyteller?" she asked Rachel.

Rachel snorted. "I hope not. Those storytellers are bad."

Oddly enough, the group playing was a school band made of seventh and eighth grade boys who had become famous through their own YouTube videos. They had a small lineup, mostly covers of songs by pop stars like Hannah Montana and Britney Spears.

"Oh, sweet," said Rachel. "This is a riot. Didn't they perform one of these online? It was so funny."

"I think they did," Briella said, grinning. In reality, her stomach was in knots. Wasn't this how she realized that singing and dancing could be fun? If it weren't for right now, she wouldn't be doing videos in the first place. She knew what she was about to do- after all, she'd done it before. The girls started walking to the auditorium, Briella preparing for her shining moment. And maybe she'd have the chance to earn Ryan's positive attention back.

"Oops, we did it again! We played with your hearts, got lost in the gaaaaammme!" Oh, baby baby..."

The whole school was enjoying Jon, Tyler, and Adam's rendition of a popular song. The goofy choreography by their friends made up for some of the off-key notes. Rachel sat next to Briella, trying not to laugh so loudly as to disturb the audience. When Jon let out a low, flat, "Innnnoccceent!" she almost lost control and had to stuff her fist in her mouth.

"And they formed a band with this talent?" Rachel said.

Briella snickered.

She was waiting for the right moment, where she would rise to pre-stardom, and maybe the role of Ryan's girlfriend...if only it would come. It had happened the same way two years ago, except the girlfriend part.

The crowd clapped and cheered for Jon's horrible, comedic performance. Tyler then spread his arms out to silence the crown. "Good news, middle school comrades!" he said. "I have a lovely entertainment opportunity for each of you. Who of you lovely ladies and gents would like to come up here with the best and perform an unoriginal composition that is pop music? Let's show Jon that his mediocre performance leaves much to be desired!"

With that, Briella was running a top speed toward the stage and up the steps. Before she could even comprehend what was happening she was caught in the spotlight in front of a surprised looking Tyler and the rest of the school. A couple of cheers rang out from the audience, and Briella even thought she heard a "Yay, Briella!" from Rachel.