The Br Gerry Faulkner Award

The Br Gerry Faulkner Award is the College’s annual creative writing and illustrating competition that is open to all Trinity students. This year the Library Choice Award has been introduced to award one Junior School student and one Secondary School student the opportunity to have their work featured in the winter edition of Trinity News before official judging of the Br Gerry Faulkner Award commences. Like that of the Packing Room Prize, awarded as part of the Archibald Prize, the works to be featured are the choices of our library staff and may not be the same as the final judge’s choice for the Br Gerry Faulkner Award. Congratulations to Finn Stenning Alexander (9.1) and Kenneth Wu (5W) on being selected as the 2022 Library Choice Award winners. We hope you enjoy reading their entries.

Museum for the Lost - A Monologue

BY FINN STENNING ALEXANDER (9.1)

This is a museum of the lost. Don’t ask me how they end up here, I just do the night shift. I’m staring at an empty spot on the floor. I blink, and then BAM! A new exhibit comes into existence. A new forgotten moment frozen in time. Fractured. Refracted. Viewed behind frosted glass, figures that seem familiar, but aren’t. The biggest exhibit we’ve got here is of a whole civilisation. An entire city, frozen in ‘eldritch horror’, every single man, woman and child staring agape westward. Some run. Some stand frozen – even more frozen than the exhibit if you can believe – but it’s no use. Whatever attacked that city did a good job. There were no survivors. No one to remember the names of the countless lost. No one to warn others. The scariest part? We haven’t the beast that committed the crime within our collections. It’s still out there. I wonder if it’s taken any other towns, somewhere anyone got out, to warn future victims. Why can’t that be me? Why can’t I be the one to remember? I try, night after night, I stare at the exhibits, waiting for something to click. I wait for that moment where I understand. Maybe I can be the one to warn people of that monster. Maybe I can reinvent an innovation lost to time. Maybe I can change the world. Maybe I can form the world. I mean, look at this place! Thousands of secrets waiting to be discovered, thousands of locks without keys, thousands of opportunities for greatness. It’s torment. Being locked outside of an exclusive club, where the rest of the world stands, waiting to be amazed by the knowledge you find within. LOOK AT IT ALL. Eldritch abominations, rich aristocrats, lost languages, all waiting – nay, begging – for me to introduce them to the world. THIS IS JUST A GIANT SLUG. A ten-foot tall, slug with a monocle. Why is it here? What is its business? WHY IS IT WEARING A MONOCLE? It would be no use. Even if I did remember, even if I did solve the riddle that is this museum, it would disappear. No one would ever know my genius. They wouldn’t believe me. If l break that lock, smash down that door, the world won’t applaud me. They will mock me. They will laugh at my ignorance, my futile battle to know what is destined to be forgotten. To find what is lost.

Lost. LOST! That’s it! The only way to understand these creations, the only way to be immersed in this fantasy, to make it real again is to become lost. I’m halfway there anyways. I have no family, I’m unmarried, I sleep through the day, then stay here all night. No one would remember me. The only reason I’m remembered is through the name on my paycheck. So, I quit. Goodbye museum! May I see you again soon. The only way to see the light? Embrace the darkness.

Looking at the Moon

One late night, after dinner, l was munching on my snack, carrots. I was extremely bored, so I looked at the sky. It was supposed to be pitch black, l thought to myself. But l realised that the moon was shining in the sky, which made it brighter. I thought to myself, l wanted to see what was out in the sky and if it was possible to travel to the moon. I kept on thinking about it and imagining how l could travel to it. With these thoughts, l went to bed and fell fast asleep.

Being Shortlisted

I woke up the next day seeing scientists in a white suit. They kept on talking about a journey to the moon, so I was curious because l was thinking about that the other day. The scientists came to me and mentioned that l was selected to compete for a moon landing. I was filled with joy, which quickly turned into a shock. There were hundreds of other competitors for me to compete with. I was soon brought to a facility for testing and training.

The Chosen One

I went to the testing area with other competitors. There were several tests to go through. The first one was a health check-up, which l passed with flying colours. The second test was a running test, which l finished first. The last test was a maze test, which l managed to solve in the shortest time. Scientist finally declared the one that will go for the moon mission. Guess what, they declared that l was going for the moon mission. I was in disbelief that l beat all the competitors. My dream had come true.

The Moon Mission

The day had come for the rocket to be launched to the moon. I wore an astronaut suit. I saw people checking if the rocket would be successful to launch and it was. I was nervously entering the rocket. “3! 2! 1! BLAST OFF!” commanded the mission leader. The rocket ship blasted into orbit. I could see the clouds below me. I managed to see the blue planet (Earth) becoming smaller and smaller. But started to see the moon get bigger and bigger. I was so excited to see what was on the moon.

The Rabbit on The Moon

Three days later, my spaceship landed on the moon. The moon was shiny like the colour silver and looked cool. My spacecraft then launched a robot to make me a small, but comfortable home. It provided me with plants to breathe, food, and water to stay alive with available resources. “We have landed the first rabbit on the moon!” cheered the mission leader. When it was time to go back to Earth l wanted to stay on the moon because it was a wonderful place to be. I was proud of that decision. Now if you look at the moon at night you will always see a rabbit on it, which is me. – The End –

My Journey to The Moon

BY KENNETH WU (5 WHITE)

Year 5 student Kenneth Wu with his winning entry