‘The Seekers’ by Libby Kent, age 14, Year 9, Soham Village College

My alarm was blaring. As I shut it off, I was grateful for another day of life. I dragged myself downstairs to observe the sacrifice on the TV. My dad was already sitting there and my little sister Addeline was still in bed as my dad didn’t want her watching. Occasionally, I spot her out of the corner of my eye sneakily watching the sacrifice  from the stairs. I don’t know why she wants to. Maybe it’s just the novelty of it all. I certainly don’t want to watch. Today was no different from the last. There was a young woman chosen from cambridgeshire who I’d never seen before. She screamed when she was pushed into the bubbling lava. I couldn’t watch. I never did. I always turned away when they started falling. When it was over my dad let me lead the prayer and I prayed for all the poor souls killed today. Then I got ready for school.

Each day a seeker is chosen for each county. They are then given the burden of choosing someone to be sacrificed at the dome the next morning. The twist is if they don’t make their decision by midnight, they will be sacrificed instead. But that barely ever happened.

It was a usual day at school. Just as boring as ever. When I arrived home, I just flopped onto my bed. My dad came in and wished me good night. He led a prayer for all the people chosen tonight, and I drifted off to sleep…

I awoke suddenly to banging on our front door. Then came a bellowing cry yelling ‘I won’t let you take her!  I won’t!’ Dad! What was going on? I was still half asleep and very confused. I could hear thumping footsteps up the stairs gradually getting closer and closer. Before I knew what was happening two huge, menacing men dressed in jet black suits barged into my room and dragged me away to their truck. I was wide awake now. What was happening to me? They gave me a cup full of a mysterious liquid and told me to drink. They leaned over me and made sure I swallowed every last drop. It tasted weird, like cough medicine. I slowly started feeling more and more sleepy and I blacked out on the seat.

The next thing I knew I was standing on a platform. I don’t know how I got there, I didn’t know how to get back home. I heard someone yell ‘Cambridgeshire’ at the top of their voice, and I was being pushed towards the edge. I realised what was happening, I had been chosen. This was the end. I looked out at the vast crowd and spotted my little sister Addeline. I saw her heart broken eyes leaking with tears and her dainty, little lips mouthing the words ‘don’t leave me, don’t leave me’ over and over again whilst cuddled up in dad’s arms. I decided I wouldn’t leave her…