Ainsley Beaton- Grand Prize Winner! Writing Contest 2022
The Grand Prize Winner is awarded the costume of the character they designed in their story, made especially for them by a master costumer.
Overcoming Desperation - By Ainsley Beaton
Today, I document the story of one of the worst tragedies in history. In this catastrophe, thousands of humans, fairies, elves, and mermaids lost their lives trying to fight for what our island stands for, which is equality, preservation, and freedom.
I am a human, and I live on the beautiful island of Golgi. Here, there are four habitats: the forest, the desert, the mountains, and the tropics. We call the desert Simmering Sands, the forest Secret Forest, the mountains Frost Range, and the tropics Sweetwater Sea. The fairies live in the Secret Forest, the elves Simmering Sands, and the mermaids Sweetwater Sea. Me and my fellow humans live in the mountains, which you might think odd. But, we love our mountains: they provide good food to eat, fresh air to breath, and crisp water to drink. I live in the family of Noteab with my mother (Mom), my dad (Daddy), and my older brother (Spencer).
My family and I are close friends of the queen of Golgi, Queen Aravis I, who lives down near the tropics at Sweetwater Castle. Spencer and I visit her frequently so she can tell us our next assignment. Most of the time, our assignments consist of settling disputes between citizens or rescuing someone. One day, Queen Aravis summoned Spencer and I to tea. Aravis told us of a monster named Desperation. She said, “You can’t miss Desperation. He has a goat’s body and a lion’s head. If you have no objection, I’ll send you guys with an army to locate and fight Desperation.” “That sounds good, but our parents might not want us to go. Give us a day or two to think about it, and then we will let you know,” I said. Shortly after, we left for the Frosty Range.
There was destruction everywhere. Women were weeping, children were screaming, and men were going to and fro with worried looks and swords in hand. Desperation crushed every house in my beautiful mountain town of Frosty. Not only that, but I soon learned he had done the same thing to the Fairy Castle and the Mermaid Monument. I also heard Desperation had knocked down most of the sand dunes and cacti in the Simmering Sands. At that moment, I knew I had to locate and kill that horrid Desperation. The next day, I wrote a letter of acceptance to the queen, and she sent troops up to Frosty Village. I led the troops up into the mountains where Desperation was last seen.
After days of searching, we found the monster sleeping in a cave just below Frosty Peak. We decided to ambush his cave and fight him. The things I saw were horrible. Too horrible to document them. I watched as hundreds fell. We were losing. Soon, I ordered a retreat into Simmering Sands. We hurriedly snuck into a slot canyon, which had fluted, red walls. Right as the monster was stepping over us, we used our bows and shot thousands of arrows at his belly. He fell, making a tremendous boom. We climbed out of the canyon and checked his pulse. He was dead. A few days later we buried him and the thousands he killed because in Golgi we give everyone a proper burial including our enemies.
Soon, my name was known everywhere, even on other islands. One day after the victory, I was reading the newspaper and saw that my brother had written a description of my appearance and character. While I was reading it, I felt my face turn red with embarrassment. You might be able to imagine why. Spencer wrote, “Ainsley Noteab is my sister and a valiant warrior, heir to the Golgi throne and defeater of Desperation. She is a young girl of 16, bursting with the beauty that any girl her age could be expected to. She has a lovely complexion with dark blond hair. Her manner is determined, and she has a clear-ringing voice. Her sense of humor is vast, laughing at
times when I could not even try to laugh. She does have an explosive temper, which I try to escape when it happens. She is compassionate and caring most of the time, except when hungry or tired. Since most of you like to know what people wear, here is what she wears. Her crown is silver decorated with silver leaves and silver roses. She wears a heart-shaped necklace aligned with silver with a sapphire inside. To keep her warm, she wears a dark-blue cape with glitter on it that goes down to the ground. Her dress is also dark blue with bishop sleeves and white flowers sewn around her waist. It goes down just above her ankles. Her dark-brown boots are made of leather.”
In the end, I was called a valiant hero by the whole island, including Queen Aravis. At a serious event, she awarded me with the titles “Princess Royal” and, most importantly, heir to the throne. I was surprised and did not feel like I had enough strength to be queen. I was a little consoled when she said she had been thinking about doing it for months. Eventually, all the destroyed towns ended up being rebuilt and everything returned to normal. As for me, I look forward to being queen of Golgi and seeing what the rest of my life holds.
