Car Tourismo Banner
Home » Lifestyle (page 261)

Lifestyle

The Story Needs an Ending

  Senior highly commended Kate Ní MhurchúGaelcholáiste an Chláir SHE sits in her musty armchair by the window, looking out, as she always does, only moving when the nurses come to help her use the toilet, or to eat; only showing signs of life when they read to her. It’s the only way she can remember the woman she used to be, through the stories she cherished. Minutes, days, weeks pass where she can’t even remember her name, but her soul, yes her soul, is what is important. She feels it with her stories, stories she loved, stories she wrote, stories she shared with friends. Yes, she may not know her family or where she is, but when she hears those familiar expressions, she knows she’s human.She sits in her musty armchair by the window, looking out, as she always does. She doesn’t know how long she’s been there or how long it will be before the nurses come to …

Read More »

A decisive moment

  Senior highly commended Laura MatherRice College, Ennis SHE stared down at the positive pregnancy test as tears filled her eyes. She turned to her best friend, Rachel, with a desperate expression etched across her face. She handed her the test. “Oh Emily, I’m so sorry,” she said in a sympathetic tone, as she wrapped her arms around her shaking shoulders. The girl’s bathroom was completely abandoned as hundreds of students poured into the cafeteria for an hour-long break. Emily’s muffled cries filled the bathroom as she tried to come to terms with the news. She lifted her head from Rachel’s shoulders, turning towards the array of mirrors to her right. She wiped the tears from her dampened cheek as Rachel handed her a ruffled make-up bag. She pulled her chestnut coloured hair from its tight ponytail and let it fall limply to her shoulders to cover her blushed face. She leaned towards the mirror with her piercing blue eyes …

Read More »

Protest

  Senior highly commended Hannah RyanRice College, Ennis November 20, 1969THE unrelenting crush of limbs and sharp-edged wooden posts was like the deadliest undercurrent. She struggled for air against the sheer, bone-crushing force of so many hundreds of people. There was no fighting the crowd; to resist was to be brutally trampled beside the torn, discarded signs and other debris.As she desperately strained to forge an escape route through the vicious throng of bodies, Amber’s mind darted back to that day, two months previously and the reason she was here.The campus sprawled away from her in all directions, bright lawns of soft grass shaded by magnificent oak trees, clusters of low, brick buildings joined by winding, cobbled paths. The sky was a warm, deep blue and the afternoon sun bathed the scene in a gentle orange glow. Washington State University; Amber sighed in sheer ecstasy. Here it was, the starting line for the rest of her life. All she had …

Read More »

Home coming

  Junior highly commended Amanda HonanSt Joseph’s Community College, Kilkee IT was a cold foggy morning, in Sheriff Street, Dublin. I lay on the park bench too stiff to sit up. It had been a cold wintry night. I just lay there in silence glaring at the sky, there was nobody in sight. It was so peaceful.I began to wonder what my mother and sister were doing. My father, the coward, left when my mother, Helen got pregnant, leaving her to raise me on her own. When he passed away, I didn’t cry because I didn’t have feelings for a stranger. My sister, Mary and I get on really well even though we have different fathers. I left home because I wanted to do my own thing but I didn’t think it through, I really missed my family.It started to rain so I got up and made my way over to the bus shelter. Every step was a struggle. I …

Read More »

Doing the job

  Junior highly commended Mary MurphySeamount College, Kinvara THE shop was busy. The rustle of clothes, beeps of cash registers and low hum of conversation filled your ears as soon as you entered.This sounds like an appealing description but just to let you know, the conversation came from the mouths of Neanderthals seized by a fit of temporary (or otherwise) consumer mania. How long could I wait until uttering the hated words ‘next please’ initiating the serving of the next excuse for human life? I wondered if I said that aloud. Even if I had, my face held the look of indifferent superiority, as I felt. I felt indifferent, because a life time of witty and worthy comments had taught me that the lower people would take offence. (I presume I do not need to explain why I felt superior).By now, the craning heads of the insatiable vultures’ hording from our sale racks, looking at my free stall, told me …

Read More »