Oliver Hodges
A Small Seclusion
Shrewsbury School
A Small Seclusion
‘You better hurry or the shop will be shut by the time you get there! Take a tenner from my
purse - that should be plenty.’
Ryan sighed and kicked his ball against the wall one last time before going into the kitchen.
His mum had been nagging him all day – ‘watch your sister’ ‘pop to the supermarket for me’
‘tidy your stuff up’ …. She was making such a fuss about him just hanging around the house
that getting out for ten minutes and picking up the bits she needed from the shop would
probably be a relief!
He grabbed the cash from her purse and headed out, slamming the door behind him. The
supermarket was on The Parade, only a couple of streets away and next door to the post
office and laundrette. Ryan daydreamed as he walked along, thinking about the next term at
school, looking forward to playing football with his mates again. Everyone else seemed to
have gone off somewhere for the holiday, Finley was at his Gran’s, Jacob with his mum and
dad at their caravan and Regan’s Dad had taken him and his brother back with him to Spain
for the last week of the holidays.
He shook his head thinking how weird it was to be looking forward to going back to school.
He knew he was nothing special and that sooner or later he’d have to start ‘knuckling down’
as Grandad called it, but it was football that made him want to go to school. The chance to
play, be in the team, finally feel like he was good at something, really good. As he walked
round the final corner into The Parade he was in a world of his own, scoring the winning goal
and racing round the pitch with his hands in the air, so he hardly heard the shout and it was
only when he finally looked up that he stopped dead in his tracks, not really believing what
he was seeing.
The sight that met his eyes was not one to be fondly remembered, yet it could never be
forgotten.
Careering towards him, as he found himself on the pavement of The Parade was a vast mass
of destruction being hurtled by the immense winds that confronted him. Soon the shout was
echoed by many others, and reverberated down the sides of the streets, whilst the distraught
faces ran his way and the hurricane smugly whistled a terrifying note. Realisation kicked in
and an innate propensity to survive fuelled his escape from danger. Past the office, the
laundrette and approaching his own house, but still it tore on coaxing anyone that came too
close and engulfing whatever lay before it. Nothing could resist its hold.
Somehow his football was still at his feet, unable to free itself and afraid to be sucked into a
darkening sky, which resembled nothing other than pure horror. Alongside this, the sea close
by was in turmoil, lashing around like a fish out of water as it was thrown around by a loutish
hurricane. White horses raged over the choppy surface, an almost angelic sight of destruction.
It spared nothing.
Oliver Hodges
A Small Seclusion
Shrewsbury School
Unpredicted, it had taken the whole town by surprise and had struck at the busiest time of
day. Charging onwards in a desperate way, Ryan did not deviate from his route, however the
vision of his own house stirred at deep dwelling anger inside and he could not stop himself
from rescuing his mum. Nothing else mattered. He ran inside at break-neck speed searching
for her, but to no avail. What had happened to her? Where was she? Had she already been
taken by the wind’s inviting grasp? Thoughts rushed through his head clouding the oncoming
situation and its severity. Instincts prevailed and he jumped down the stairs almost stumbling
into a heap, before re-entering a world of havoc.
His energy was quickly draining and the loss of his mum had left a heavy burden and sense of
guilt looming. Before he knew it he had reached the small hill where he and his mum used to
go after his dad died and caught in a daze he collapsed strewn over the hill’s crest.
Excruciating pain coursed through his body, but somehow leaning over him was a familiar
face. She sat next to him, just as they used to, and apologised.
Momentarily the sun streamed through the clouds in great beams and caught in a small
seclusion were the bodies of two people. They had accepted death and were enveloped into
the depths of the hurricane, under the gleaming silver lining of the menacing clouds above.