Kurzgeschichte "The Dark Count" (Klasse 7g 2007)
Auf einer Klassenfahrt der 7g (bil) entstand die Idee zu der Kurzgeschichte "The Dark Count" ,die dann beim Bundeswettbewerb Fremdsprachen 2007 den 3.Platz auf Landesebene gemacht hat - von 21 Gruppenbeiträgen!
Wir wurden nach Braunschweig eingeladen im Mai 2007 um den Text dort szenisch zu präsentieren. Das ganze wurde sehr aufregend, weil just an dem Tag die Bahn streikte und wir um 11 Uhr in BS sein mussten zur Präsentation und Preisverleihung. Wir haben es knapp geschafft: das Orchester hub sofort an zu spielen, als wir reinkamen. Es gab keine Zeit mehr zum Proben.
Preisgeld: EUR 75, die wir für ein gemeinsames Kochen und Essen ausgegeben haben.
"The dark count"
Claire and Tim wandered through the dark forest for it seemed an endless time but couldn’t find their way out. They got tired in the end. Finally they came to an old windmill and decided to stay there for the night though it looked rotten and empty. They were so tired that they fell asleep at once.
Early next morning the door squeaked and a dark shadow crept in. Claire and Tim were very scared when they saw the sharp claws. It was an old count with long greasy hair. A black raven was sitting on his shoulder and maliciously looked at them. The black count grabbed the children and dragged them out of the room. Claire was so frightened that she nearly fainted but then she saw Tim fixing a thread of his woollen cardigan on the branch of a tree.
The count magically transported them through the air. They were taken to the count’s castle and put into the cold, dark tower.
After he had locked the door they heard him laugh and say to his raven: "Now I’ve got my background choir. They’ll never find the loose brick." After he was gone they immediately knocked on the walls of the chamber to search for a loose brick. Fortunately they found it and removed the brick. With shaking hands they took out an old crumpled map. They unrolled it and put it on the dusty floor. It showed the emergency way out of the castle. Suddenly a strange noise was to be heard. It came from one room in the castle. Claire and Tim were startled. It was techno-music – and very loud. They slowly crept closer, spied through a hole in the wall and saw the count practising for the techno competition. He sang
Me, I’m the dark count and I’m strong
My dark castle is where I belong
My obstacles do their job awfully fine
And the background choir will forever be mine.
So that’s why he had kidnapped them. They were chosen to be his background choir.
But the children took their chance and escaped through a small window. According to the map they had to cross the garden first. On their way they encountered three obstacles. First, the huge web of a black spider had to be overcome. They knew if they touched it they would die. "Let’s do it like we did yesterday when we played the game in the forest", Claire proposed and started to climb on Tim’s shoulder. He took a powerful swing and carefully threw her over the web of the spider. She fell into smooth moss on the other side. Then he looked for a long branch, ran and poled across. "You set a record", Claire admired.
The second task was to cross the acid pond. In the middle of the acid pond was an island – but how to get on it? Suddenly a swarm of black crows pounced on the children and carried them in their beaks high up in the air. "Tickle them", Claire shouted. That’s what they did and the crows dropped the children – into the acid pond. "Swim", Tim shouted. They reached the island exhausted and fell on the sand. Their skin hurt terribly. Suddenly it began to rain and the rain washed the painful acid off their skin.
You’ve got one hour free time, till nine o’clock", Mrs Newman informed her class. Then she turned back to watch the Techno-competition on MTV which was her favourite daily show.It was a humid chilly evening when the class spread into the forest to play Hide and Seek.Claire and Tim found a cave and hid inside. They expectantly waited and were happy they weren’t found.Everything was quiet except a strange noise coming from the birds in the trees above.After a very long time they carefully crept out of the cave- but nobody was there! The classmates were gone.
Meanwhile the count had finished his training and decided to go to the competition. He was sure the children were safely locked away and opened the door with his rusty keys and disappeared.
Back at the camp the class worried about Claire and Tim. They decided to look for them in the forest. It was Tim’s friend Walter who found the woollen thread and told the others. They followed it until they came to the dark castle. There was no light or sound. "Let’s shout", Walter suggested. So everybody screamed their names. Inside the tower the children heard the noise and Claire and Tim escaped easily with the help of their class. Everybody ran back to the camp happily to celebrate their lucky escape. There, they found their teacher still watching the live show on MTV. Miss Newman was angry when her favourite rapper, the dark count, didn’t win the competition.
"There was no background choir", she said.
The next weeks passed without an adventure. The class enjoyed their holidays in the forest. But they never played Hide and Seek again.
Written by Adina, Gesine, Julie, Kaija, Kilian, Phillipp and Theresa
of class 7g of Hainberg-Gymnasium-Göttingen