We are sharing the next story in our series, Featured Short Stories, written by students in the Creative Writing Club.
Summary – The Unexpected and Quite Crazy Diary of Tiana Banks – Tiana Banks thinks she understands her family, until an overheard argument and a set of mysterious documents reveal a shocking secret about her real father. What follows is a chaotic adventure involving lies, an escaped criminal, a police chase and one very unexpected family reunion.
This week’s story was written by Anaiya, aged 10. Enjoy!
THE UNEXPECTED AND QUITE CRAZY DIARY OF TIANA BANKS
CHAPTER 1: HERE IT GOES AGAIN
Dear Diary,
I’m in the kitchen waiting for my breakfast. Mum and Dad are shouting at each other, as usual. Then I thought to myself:
What are they arguing about now?
And so, I listened.
I heard Dad say, “For goodness’ sake, why don’t you just tell her about what happened to her dad?”
Mum just replied, “She is only 13!”
I quickly ate, got my bag and left for school.
On my way, I just couldn’t stop thinking about what they had said.
Dad is my dad… isn’t he?
From now on, I’m not talking to anybody.
School is FINALLY done!
I wasn’t listening to any of the lessons at all!!!!!!!!! (Apart from PE.)
I just had one thing on my mind: what had been said that morning.
Then, as I was thinking to myself, I heard my name.
“Tiana!”
It was my mum. I froze.
“Tiana!” she called again.
Everyone stared at me. Mum had truly embarrassed me. Humiliated me.
WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS?
I walked over to her quietly.
WHY WOULD SHE DO THIS TO ME?!
I didn’t want to talk to her. This morning had been A NIGHTMARE!
I stopped the tears from running down my face.
She reached in to hug me, but I pushed her away. She didn’t say anything and walked silently behind me. Inside, I felt truly ashamed of what I had done to her. But I did it for a reason.
We are in the car now, and Mum is giving me the silent treatment.
(Which is when I do something bad and she ignores me.)
CHAPTER 2: LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!
I stayed in my room for the rest of the day, drawing. I enjoy art and sports. Art helps calm me down. I was looking everywhere for a rubber, so I went into my parents’ room to see if I could find one in their drawers.
I looked in the first drawer. No sign. Second one, still no sign. Last one… YES!
But there was something underneath it, multiple documents that looked interesting.
I grabbed the rubber and the documents and ran back to my room.
There are three other rooms connected to my bedroom: a bathroom, a hanging-out area and an art studio. No one apart from me and my friends is allowed in there. So, I went into the hanging-out area and slammed the door.
I pulled out the documents and opened them. The first one was a newspaper.
It said:
BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS!
SAM BANKS
BANK ROBBERY
In the year 2000, a bank was robbed by one of our most wanted criminals, Sam Banks. He has been given a nine-year prison sentence and will be released in 2009.
HE HAS STOLEN £20,000!!!!!!!!
The second one was a poster.
It said:
WANTED! WANTED! SAM BANKS – DEADLIEST CRIMINAL EVER
IF HE IS FOUND, REWARD GRANTED: £5,000
The last one was a criminal record.
It said:
CRIMINAL RECORD:
1989: SAM BANKS HAS ABUSED HIS WIFE FOR THE THIRD TIME BY PUTTING SLEEPING PILLS IN HER TEA. HE WILL NOW BE IN PRISON FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
2000: SAM BANKS HAS ESCAPED FROM PRISON.
2000: SAM BANKS HAS ROBBED A BANK FOR THE 12TH TIME.
When I finished reading, I froze. Could this really be my dad? I couldn’t believe it.
Tears ran down my face as I wrote Mum a note in my neatest handwriting:
To Mum,
I have seen something unbelievable. I need to talk about it tomorrow after breakfast. Both of you. Do not be late.
I folded it in half and placed it on Mum’s bed. I checked my phone. It was 18:02.
I ran downstairs to get myself something light to eat.
I still couldn’t believe what I had seen.
Am I dreaming?
I slapped myself.
Still here.
I’m going to bed now.
Speak tomorrow,
Tiana
CHAPTER 3: THE DISCUSSION
Dear Diary,
It is early morning. Exact time: 03:34.
I couldn’t sleep at all. I kept having horrible visions of my real dad going to prison. It was scary.
I wanted something to do while I waited, so I got some paper and started making abstract art.
I wanted to make it kind of gothic because, after all, I love purple and black.
I LOVE art. I have my own studio, I take art classes outside school AND in school, and for nearly all my birthdays, I would go to an art gallery.
Art is probably one of my talents. It’s amazing because it brings out your emotions and feelings, which is why I love it so much.
I finished my artwork. Art doesn’t always have to look like something. It’s supposed to improve your mood, and I did feel better…
UNTIL Mum barged into my room with Fake Dad.
I quickly hid the documents under my bed.
Mum finally broke the silence.
“You wanted to speak, so you might as well tell us now!”
Then I said, “OK… is my real dad called Sam?”
“No, of course not!” Mum said, with an amused but anxious look on her face.
At that moment, I had no choice. I pulled out the documents.
Mum stared at them. Then she tore them up and cried.
She and Dad stomped out of the room.
I lost my temper.
“YOU GUYS ARE BAD PARENTS FOR NOT TELLING ME THE TRUTH!” I shouted.
CHAPTER 4: THE VERY BIG PROBLEM
After that, it was the last day of Year 9.
YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!
I’m going to have a sleepover at my best friend’s house for four days. I quickly messaged Mum. I didn’t want to, but I wanted to go to Stephanie’s house, so I had to.
Mum just replied:👌
I had a shower, brushed my teeth, put my uniform on, had breakfast and left.
I was taking the bus. Then I got a text from Stephanie.
Stephanie: I am so sorry I’m going on holiday for the first week sleepover cancelled.
Me: The fourth week then?
Stephanie: sure 😁
I continued walking to school, and when I arrived, everyone was hugging me and saying they would miss me after the holidays.
Then I walked into my classroom.
“Tiana, I will miss you! Why are you going to the USA?” my teacher asked.
“I am?” I questioned.
My mum. My cruel mum. It had her name written ALL over it.
I ran into the bathroom.
HOW DARE SHE?
I calmed myself down and went back into my English class.
Time flew by. So did the lessons.
I couldn’t pay attention. I couldn’t.
SHE IS THE WORST!
Finally, school was done. Hopefully, my mum wouldn’t pick me up. I had had enough of her. Honestly, she was the WORST.
I was going nowhere. Absolutely nowhere.
Then my teacher came up to me and gave me a big card.
I ripped it up. “I won’t be going anywhere! Whoever told you this nonsense is a liar!”
Then something really, REALLY bad happened.
Somebody was coming to pick me up from school.
My heart raced.
IT WAS MY REAL DAD!!!
I panicked. I probably looked like a dancing chicken.
He had escaped from prison! My heart skipped a beat.
Now I had a choice to make.
Either tell the teacher about what I had discovered a few days ago…
OR tell her he was my dad.
After all, nobody had seen my fake dad for some reason. And so, I chose option two. I knew I would have a confession to make afterwards, but, you know, sometimes it’s good to loosen up.
It wouldn’t be THAT bad…
Right? And my plan was in action.
“Miss! Miss!” I said. “I see my dad!”
“OK, you can go. We’ll miss you,” my teacher replied.
Then she gave me a big sloppy kiss right on my forehead!
Which I wasn’t so happy about.
CHAPTER 5: THE ADVENTURE… I THINK
I ran towards him and hugged him. Then he leaned towards me. His breath smelled of cigarettes and alcohol.
“You know who I am, right?” he whispered in a gruff voice.
I nodded.
“You are Sam Banks, most wan—”
He cut me off.
“Stop. I have police chasing after me.”
We started walking at a medium pace.
Before I knew it, we were RUNNING away from helicopters, cars and motorbikes.
“Why did you pick me up from school?” I asked.
He didn’t reply.
Instead, he muttered under his breath, “So I can tie you up with rope and sell you to make money.”
I heard him. I gulped quietly.
Then I said, “I need to go to the toilet.”
I had a huge smile on my face and I was sweating. No, not because it was hot.
Because I was guilty.
Yep. You know exactly what I was planning to do.
But before I could get my phone out, he grabbed me by the collar so hard that I nearly choked.
“Don’t you dare,” he said.
I knew what I had to do.
MUM
Me: pls help me I’m in abbey gardens. You wouldn’t believe me, but Sam Banks is trying to sell me call the police quick.
Suddenly, the neighbourhood was filled with police cars.
I ran towards Mum…
…and tripped.
Everything went black.
When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed. My parents were staring at me like I was some kind of alien.
Then I was told that I had been asleep for ONE WHOLE WEEK!
Apparently, I had been in a coma. After that, I became more careful and thoughtful.
We didn’t move to the USA. We stayed here and remained together, me Mum and Fake Dad.
I still went to the sleepover, but it was awful because I had literally JUST woken up from a coma.
Mum had to support me, which was frustrating because I couldn’t eat sweets, watch a scary movie or even stay the night.
I had to go home early. I also finally made my confession.
MY TIPS
- Listen to your parents.
- Don’t be clumsy.
- Don’t trust a criminal.
- Be slow to anger.
As for Sam…
He got exactly what he deserved.
But let’s not talk about that.
For the first time, everything felt peaceful.
The End
If you have a child who loves writing stories and essays, and you want to encourage them to explore their creativity and their imagination, then we would love to have them join our writing club! Just click on the link to register, and we will be in touch. Creative Writing Club – Registration Form.