| Task 3: Dialogue Between Two Characters |

“I tried really har-”

“How did you get such a low mark?” Nela muttered as she looked at the number scribbled on the paper. She glanced down at Claus, her sharp blue eyes causing the little girl to start gripping the front of her shirt. “If you keep getting such low marks they’re going to say it’s me, you know?”

“But Nela, I-”

“That’s right, it always comes back to me now,” Nela muttered as she looked back to the paper. It was shaking in her hand a little and her jaw was clenching and unclenching. “But I bet she didn’t care even when she was here.”

Claus’s teeth chattered a little. She recognised Nela’s snarl. It was that same snarl she’d used as a flag to hide away. “Nela… Nela, I tried-”

“Can’t even get my little sister to do well in work that I did a couple of years ago. Some big sister aren’t I?” She threw the paper down onto the table and Claus took a step backwards, small enough that Nela’s eyes didn’t catch it. “And we’re starting to run out of money already. All of these bloody bills coming in and all we have is that payment coming in every fortnight.” She covered her eyes. “What am I going to do?”

Claus was quiet for a moment. Normally she didn’t speak when Nela was angry. “We could ask-”

“Ask who?!” Nela suddenly yelled as she turned on her. Claus shrank back a few feet and it enraged Nela. Not because her sister had dared to walk back from her but because she had become someone her sister was afraid of. Her parents had made a monster and abandoned it, leaving the small fragile thing that was Claus at its mercy. “Who are we going to ask, Claus? Huh? Who?!”

“I just thought-”

“You think any of them are going to help us?”

“I thought-”

“The ones that all left us here? The ones who are meant to be our family?!” Nela began to pace around the kitchen. It was so bare and yet so dirty. It was making her head spin. “I have to clean the kitchen and think about something to say to your teachers,” she was muttering as she started to throw things into the sink. “Then I’ve got to go to the shops. How am I supposed to bring back any food without a car? The supermarket is so far away!” She was rambling now and Claus could see hot tears splattering all over the benches and floor.

“But Ne-”

“What?! What is it?!” Nela screamed as she slammed her hand on the bench. She watched as Claus’s head fizzled. She had never seen her do that before. It was like watching a kettle. And then she suddenly blew up.

“I’m trying Nela!” Claus screamed as her face burst out in snot and tears. “Nela! Nela I’m trying!” The closer Nela looked at Claus, the more she realised the little one had been trying to reach out to her on more than one level. Claus kept her hands close to her but they shook with want. She wiped her face as she wailed. “Nela! I’m trying! Please don’t leave me!”

Nela put a hand on her forehead as she gripped the edge of the bench, reeling from what she felt she had done. Claus was holding her arms out to her now. She’d always been the clumsy little sister, unable to ask for what she wanted.

“Clau-”

“Nela! Ne-” she was coughing and choking on her tears, “Nela! P-P-Please!”