Truly Tan Baffled

But Rose is not affected. She stands tall like a famous monarch and ignores Scooter. Rose ignores everyone. Unless they are her bosom buddy. The screen behind the king and queen is glowing. Scooter drew a winter king in a flowing fur cape, riding a wild brumby through a snowstorm.

Scooter draws the best horses in PeppercornValleyand that’s saying something because Lily draws good horses too. Even Verity Crisp has some exceptional horse- drawing talent. But I would never tell her that. Rose’s poem is complicated and hard to understand and that’s why it won. It is a rule that prize-winning poems should never make sense. It is the end of a strange and freezing, boring but enjoyable assembly. It is good to get out of there. ‘I feel so exhilarated,’ says Gloria as we file out, and I agree. It is fun to feel exhilarated on a Monday morning.

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