Bulgarian Creative Writing Competition

The Girl who Danced with a Wizard. An essay written by a sixth grader who won first place at last year's Bulgarian Creative Writing Competition

It had been six months since he went to the war. He never came back.

Eliza was in her room, preparing for the big feast in honour of their victory. She was hardly holding back her tears.

The memory was stuck in her mind. How after being allowed to come back home for a while her father went off again for one last battle.

It was really hard for Eliza to let him go. She knew something bad would happen. She was right.

But even though grieving she had to go. Otherwise they would worry about her.
She didn’t want them to worry.
She didn’t want them to know.

So she went there. Eliza went there and danced. She acted like she was enjoying herself. But she wasn’t. And they didn’t know.

On the end of the table sat a man that Eliza didn’t know. He was telling stories of the war. He looked at her. He knew.

He invited her on a dance. He told her:
‘You know, I fought alongside your father in that last battle…’

Then he told her stories about their squad. About the brave men and the fights. How the enemy was about to win and about this, who always cheered them up. He told them nothing is lost, he told them stories in the dark moments and kept repeating:
‘You don’t die. Even if you fall, struck by a bullet, you are never dead.’

They called him The Wizard, because of his ability to keep their minds off the bad things.

Their squad pushed through the enemies and claimed the victory.

Eliza often asked who that wizard was, but the man wouldn’t tell her.

The feast ended and everyone went home happily. Including Eliza. She kept wondering who the man that helped her father’s squad so much was.

She got back home, went in the room where she had cried so much and then… She knew.