Roller Ella KS2

Roller Ella

Hawys Morgan

Dunni Mustapha

Roller Ella

Written by Hawys Morgan

Illustrated by Dunni Mustapha

1 Exciting news

At the youth club, everyone’s crowded around the noticeboard.

Meg calls out: “Ella, come and look!” She puts her hand on my shoulder and brings me to the front to see what the fuss is about.

A large poster reads:

I love roller skating. Mum and I always used to roller skate in the park when I was little. It was our special thing. Meg, Lily and I are so excited about the roller disco. We’re going to have the best time!

Meg and Lily are my stepsisters. It was a bit strange when they first moved in with their mum, Val. It wasn’t just that there were new cushions in the living room and different photos on the walls.

The house sounded and smelt different too, with a new mix of voices and perfumes in the air.

For a while, I felt like a stranger in my own home, but it was the same for Meg, Lily and Val. Over time, we’ve become a new family.

At home, Lily searches her room for her roller skates. She’s worried that she might have left them at her dad’s. While she looks for them, Meg tells us about The Royal Rollers. They’re a roller-skating crew who are going to perform a routine at the disco and judge a competition.

Thankfully, Lily finds her roller skates.

Then, I pull out Mum’s old suitcase from under my bed. There they are, nestled under Mum’s clothes – her old roller skates. The white leather is a bit cracked with age, and some of the stitches are coming loose, but they fit me!

2 Disaster

I can’t believe it. Dad says I can’t go to the roller disco.

I beg and beg, but he says he needs to sleep before his night shift so he can’t take me. He won’t let me go alone. Val can’t take me either because she’s working. Meg and Lily are allowed to go and they promised to look after me, but Dad won’t change his mind. It’s so unfair.

Dad wasn’t always this strict. He used to be the easy-going one compared to Mum. That all changed when Mum died. Now he’s no fun. Every time I ask him if I can do something, the answer is “No, it’s too dangerous”, or “You’re not old enough, Ella”. He says that it’s up to him alone to look after me now Mum is gone.

Before Val goes to work, she gives me a big hug and tells me Dad is only trying to take care of me. I know this, but it’s still unfair. What’s dangerous about a roller disco in a youth club?

I try to smile for a photo with Meg and Lily, but it’s not easy when I feel so angry with Dad.

Once Val, Meg and Lily have left, the house feels empty. To cheer myself up, I put on Mum’s roller skates. I roller skate around the house, listening to music and dusting photos of me and Mum. I miss her.

3 A miracle

I love the photo in my scrapbook of Mum and Dad smiling over my cot, but I wish he’d stop treating me like I’m still a baby.

Dad is sleeping upstairs before he goes to work on the night bus.

Then I hear a key turn in the lock.