‘Goodbye Leah! Goodbye Claire! Have a good day at your NEW school!’ Mum waved goodbye at her children. Claire walked straight through the gate and walked over to some girls playing tag-your-it. Leah, on the other hand, stayed attached to her mom. ‘I wanna stay with you, mummy.’ She whispered. Her mum bent down and put her hand on Leah’s shoulder. ‘Leah, honey, you gotta go to school! You got into so much trouble with Maya at your old school because of all the mean things you were saying to others, just to keep being her friend.’ She sighed deeply, then looked into Leah’s eyes. ‘I believe in you.’ Suddenly, the bell rang. The teacher standing at the gate led Leah to the year 1 line. Leah was sitting at the back of the line, behind a girl with blonde hair tied up into two pigtails.

 The girl turned around. ‘Hi,’ She said, ‘I’m Malanah. I’m new here too, but I started in term 1, and you started in term 3.’ Malanah turned around and looked at two other girls, chatting and laughing together. Then she turned back around to look at Leah. ‘Those are my friends, Ella and Emily,’ She said, pointing to the two girls. ‘We can all be friends! Oh, and what’s your name? Sorry I didn’t ask earlier.’ Leah remained silent. ‘So, ummm can you talk?’ Malanah asked. Leah nodded.

 ‘Then why aren’t you speaking?’ Asked Malanah. Leah cried silently. She moved closer to Malanah and whispered in her ear, ‘Because I'm scared at this school.’ But that wasn’t the reason. It wasn't the reason. The reason was because talking could get Leah into trouble again. It’s best to stay silent. Weeks passed, and Leah remained silent. People begged for her to speak, but she wouldn't budge. Months passed and Leah wouldn’t change. By the next term, Leah kept silent at all times. The year went by, as if Leah had no tongue. She was too afraid. too afraid. The year passed, and Leah moved into 2nd grade while Claire moved into 4th. Still, Leah remained silent. She lost all hope, like she couldn't doanything, and by anything, I mean she couldn’t talk. 

Not couldn’t, she wouldn't. But everything changed one sunny day when Claire went shopping with her mum. They were in smiggle, obviously. That’s Leah, Claire and all of Claire’s friends' favorite shop. ‘ So for Lisa’s birthday present we need to find something! Overwise we can’t go, because she needs a present. Also, the whole group is going! Abigail, Leena, Nella, Jeniffer, Gemma and Me!’ Claire said. After 45 minutes, they finally chose the present. When they had finished and scanned then went out of the shop, they saw a lady handing out little papers to everyone walking by. 

As Claire and her mum walked outside, the woman gave Claire a paper, then winked at her. Once they were outside of the shop, and inside the car, Claire said, ‘Mum, the lady gave me a paper. Can I look inside?’ Her mum nodded. ‘Sure thing, bumblebee.’ She said smiling. Claire ripped the envelope the paper was in and peeked inside. As she read the page, she gasped. ‘It’s a singing competition! Mom, you KNOW how much I LOVE singing!!’ Squealed Claire. ‘OMG! The winner gets two million dollars!! Me and Leah should totally compete!’ Claire was so excited, but as she read on she suddenly frowned… ‘7 years old and under… started already… people over 7 are eliminated…’ Claire skipped through the pages. ‘MOM! It says only for 7 years old and under… Leah and I can’t compete!’

Claire’s mum frowned. ‘Maybe you can’t, but Leah can! She loves singing, and she has a wonderful voice! And if she wins, she can split the money up with you…’ Claire interrupted. ‘NO! NO! NOO! If I can’t go, LEAH can’ go!!’ Claire was fuming with anger and jealousy. ‘Lets just go home.’ She told her mom. When they arrived home, Claire left her paper in her and Leah’s bedroom, then went into the playroom to play on her computer.   Leah was playing uno with her dad. Then, when their game was finished, Leah went into her and Claire’s bedroom to read a book. As she was walking in, she slipped on an envelope. She was so curious that she couldn’t resist opening the envelope and checking what was inside.

When she saw it was a music competition, her face lit up. ‘I can win two million dollars by singing for mommy and daddy!’ She said to herself. But then she realized she had to sing in front of millions of people, not just her own parents. ‘I’ll never be brave enough to talk or even sing in front of everyone.’ She thought, as silent tears streamed down her face. Weeks passed and Leah was singing and practicing so much at her house, but still kept quiet at school. Her mum noticed how much Leah was singing, and paid attention to most of her songs.