No

• Rachel Sahabu, Grade 6, St Bernadette's Primary School
• Short Story
• 2021

Excellence Award in the 'Play On Words 2021' competition

No. No. No. I SAID NO! Saying no is a part of life. Wash the dishes! No. Go brush your teeth! No. Eat your greens! What? No way!! As I said, saying no is a part of life! But sometimes it takes its toll. Lollies!! Anyone want lollies? N-I mean yes! Wait, what? Where are you going? See what I mean? Anyway, this story isn’t about me, it’s about my family. You’ve heard me say no a lot, but you haven’t even met my family yet. I’m Luna by the way, and I’ll be the one telling this story.

Let’s start with my mum, Valerie. She's a ‘probably’ type of person. Is it going to rain today? Probably. Can I go to the mall by myself? Probably. Am I old enough to go onto the roller-coaster? Probably. She is a probably type of person but don’t think she says it for everything or for no reason, just most things. Like about ¾ of things. Apparently at school she was really good at chance in maths, so that's what made her who she is today.

Now we’re going to go to my dad, Hayden. He’s the total opposite to me. He’s a yes guy. Skydiving? Yes! Cage of Sharks? Sure! Cliff Jumping? Absolutely! He’s a total thrill seeker. He always jumps headfirst into things. Sometimes even literally. Like the time he dived headfirst into the ocean, not knowing what was in the water, and came out 15 minutes later, soaking wet saying he’d seen a shark from a distance! He never fails to shock and amaze us.

We’re now moving on to my older brother, Cody. He’s a maybe being. Check this out. Do you want to have fries with your burger? Maybe. Do you want to get a brown bunny? Maybe. Do you want this cool shirt? Maybe. You’re probably reading this and getting infuriated, like why can’t he just say yes or no? Well that’s the way it is for us. He somehow doesn’t get annoyed. Crazy right? So we usually guess yes or no by his face or actions. It isn’t easy, trust me.

Now, last but not least it’s my younger brother, Walker. He’s a ‘what if’ type of person. Do you want to go down the water slide? What if it breaks and we all fall down? Do you want a new stuffed toy? What if it turns evil and turns against me? Do you want to try and cut those cucumbers for lunch? What if I end up cutting myself? He’s a pessimist, but sometimes he can talk some sense into my dad. Look at this. Let’s go extreme kayaking! What if we all fall out of the boat and drown? Get my drift?

We all have a different type. Remember when I said this story wasn’t about me? Well, it’s actually about all of us, together. No, probably, yes, maybe and what if. They all help in different ways.