Her Piercing Blue Eyes
Matilda Minehan | Derinya Primary School |
5/6 English | Term 1 2025
The rocky gravel road cooled down as the sun set rapidly over the rundown town of Vinwood. The overgrown grass that grows well past your knees and the smell of fresh spray paint soaking into the old buildings, made the town feel quite uneasy. Most buildings were crumbling to pieces, old and vandalized. The only two buildings still standing were bland, rusty butter factory and the small school called Vinwood Primary School.
“What do you mean a kid was tied to the top of a tree in the middle of a storm? Who would do such a thing?”
“I know, the new girl sounds like such a freak! What school did she even come from?”
“I have no idea, but I bet it was torturous.”
The students of Vinwood Primary School secretively whispered to each other after hearing rumours about the new girl who had just arrived. Vinwood Primary was quite a small school with three bland classrooms and no more than thirty-six carefree students in total, until now.
Her short blonde hair was set in a straight bob that sat just below her ears. Her unforgettable piercing blue eyes, thin tight lips, and ghostly pale skin made her look transparent. She stood out, wearing a Khaki tartan dress with a white collar, formal school shoes and white frilly socks. It was nothing like their school uniform and it made the students feel wary.
“Anni, the Principle is waiting to welcome you to Vinwood Primary School” says Max with a pin labelled ‘School Captain’ on his shirt. As Anni walks into the office, her shoes drag along the floor all the way in through the doors. As she reaches for the door the principal swings it open, then stops and glairs at Anni’s piercing blue eyes. “Welcome” says the principal with fake confidence. “I know you will fit right into this school”.
The principal shows Anni to her classroom and she sits down next to a girl called Bella. Bella looks slightly familiar, but Anni just thinks she looks like any typical girl at her new school – long brown hair, with hazel eyes, black runners and a soft shy smile.
“Ding Ding Ding!” the bell rings to go out for lunchtime and all the children race out of the door to play. Anni slowly follows behind. She walks over to a large rock on the opposite side of the playground and sits down. She finds a small white rock, similar to chalk, and starts drawing on the large rock she is sitting on. A boy called Marcus was playing with Bella and notices Anni sitting alone. Marcus tells Bella that he is going to ask Anni if she wants to play, but Bella warns him not to. Marcus doesn’t listen and strides over to Anni. Anni looks up at Marcus, says nothing, and then looks back down at the markings she had been making on the rock. Marcus asks if Anni would like to play with him. Anni cautiously agrees, then takes Marcus to the back of the school, down where the unusually large rubbish bins were. Marcus has his suspicions that things were about to take a turn, but because Anni was the new girl, he stays silent. After a while of walking in circles around the bin, Marcus finally musters up the courage to ask what they were doing. Little did he know, he has made a terrible mistake. As soon as he asks, he feels his clanky shoes and heavy feet lift off the ground and land in a cold peculiar smelling place with a thud. Then darkness strikes him. With a big bang and a powerful gust of wind the lid closes.
The bell rings again for the end of lunch and Bella sees Anni walk back to class without Marcus. When the teacher Mr. Williams is taking attendance, he notices that Marcus is missing. ‘Class, does anyone know where Marcus is?’ Mr Williams asks, Anni shoots up her hand and simply replies, “oh he went home”. Bella stares at Anni thinking that none of this makes sense.
“Students, do I need to remind you about the school excursion to the Vinwood Butter Factory tomorrow, or have you understood how the day is going to go?” asks Mr Williams with a lack of enthusiasm. “I hope Marcus feels well enough to make it, because no one wants to miss out on this”, he half-mutters as he looks out the window, not paying attention to the class.
The excursion rolls around as the dark clouds rolled in over Vinwood. The students shuffle slowly off the bus and look up at the rusty, greasy, old factory. The stench of fumes and fat fills their nostrils as they clench to hold them tight. ‘Line up children the tour is about to begin’ bellows Mr Williams.
As the tour proceeds on past various rooms of confusing machinery and dull explanations, they eventually assemble inside the churning room. Mr Williams hands each student a checklist to assess how much attention they have been paying during the tour. The students are asked to pair up and investigate the churning procedure for making the butter. Most of the students find their friends relatively quickly, but as poor, lonely Jacob looks across the room, his eyes lock on to the only other pair of eyes left – the piercing blue eyes of Anni.
Anni walks over to Jacob and without saying a word, takes his hand and leads him away from the other students. A nearby ladder is adorned with a chain and a sign that says ‘No Entry’, but Anni ignores this as she slowly and steadily unhooks the and lets it swing to the floor. She leads him up to the observation platform above the hulking machine. By this time, Mr Williams has led the remainder of the class out of the room and into the next part of the factory. The sharp slam of the metal door behind them telling Anni that it is time to strike.
Holding Jacob by his feet, he squirms as Anni slowly lowers him down to the butter churner. His wriggling loosens his shoes, and before Anni can enjoy the moment, Jacobs’ feet slip out of his shoes. He falls headfirst into the buttery mixture. Jacob is being churned.
As Anni watches with hidden glee, the metal door swings back open. Mr Williams re-enters, looking for the missing students from his recent head count. Instead, he finds Anni, standing over the churner, holding Jacobs empty school shoes.
The next day, the school yard is a-buzz with gossip and rumours about what had happened to Jacob. Bella was suspicious as to the absence of Anni. Has she been expelled? Or has she simply vanished? Mr Williams looks pale and does not mention a word about the disappearance of either student. Will the truth unfold? Or will the secrets of what happened forever be hidden somewhere else?
Across the country in a small beachside town stands a school buzzing with chatter about the new student. A pale ghostly looking girl with short blonde hair and unforgettable piercing blue eyes steps through the school gates of Surfside Primary…
