‘Are you for Real?’ by Sami Odedra, age 15

Creak. Clunk. I shot up in bed and scoured the room for a light switch. The noises won’t stop. Staying the night in a stranger’s house is the last thing I wanted, but the offer at the time felt boundlessly warmer than the cold streets, so I agreed, and followed him into a vast, dull …

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‘Are you for Real?’ by Ellie Hall, Year 10, Fallibroome Academy

The first time that Noah noticed something was wrong with Jamie was when Jamie laughed. Not because the joke wasn’t funny. Because Jamie hadn’t laughed like that before. It was too perfect, too loud, almost as if he had listened to people laughing and copied the sound without understanding why. The pair had known each …

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‘Are you for Real?’ by Rochelle, Year 10, Fallibroome Academy

“Whe-e-en is yo-ur —–?” Distorting, warping images of Liam glitch across the screen, his deep blue eyes melting into his soulless sockets. “I’m sorry, what?” Fiona asks, watching her boyfriend deform on her laptop screen Her dorm walls: dripping in posters of her favourite bands, University merchandise hanging proudly, textbooks taking over her desk and …

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‘Are you for real?’ by Davies

Late at night, I was lying awake mindlessly feeding my addiction and trying to escape my pointless life I lived. I wanted to change. I wanted to help, inspire and teach but I didn’t have the effort to make it real. I started a fake account online. At first, I thought nothing of it, people …

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‘Descent into Madness’ by Isaac, age 15

Something felt wrong the moment I woke up that morning. Although there was nothing in particular that gave it away, part of me simply knew. It was a gut feeling. Everything was in place but the shadows-the shadows stretched across the walls in long grey shape cast by the morning light, seemingly ordinary. Maybe they …

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Are you for Real?’ by Ela Jones, Year 10, Fallibroome Academy

For the sixth time that minute, I idly tapped my phone screen and watched as the disconcertingly bright light of my wallpaper faded into a cold, endless voice of onyx black once more. I silently hoped for something, anything, any new notification, to bring back the light that seemed to have departed from my phone …

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Are you for Real?’ by Angel Thompson, Year 10, Fallibroome Academy

By 2089, the Filter had become an essential part of society. Artificial smoothness lingered over every citizen’s face, it erased imperfections and replaced them with carefully designed perfection. Scars vanished. Wrinkles disappeared. Every smile was symmetrical. Every face was beautiful. Ava had never seen a real face—not even her own. She never doubted the thought …

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