Get Lost! (In the Story)

At 100 Story Building, people misplace things a lot – what with all the students, teachers, and workman up and down all those levels, it’s easy to get lost and even easier to lose things.Which is why the Lost & Found suitcase comes in so handy. You never know when someone is going to realise they’ve misplaced their Peruvian poncho, dragon egg or stethoscope.Until everything is claimed, 100 Story Building not only looks after this peculiar array of objects, they also put them to good use during a workshop called 100 Stories Down. When the lovely students from Sunshine Harvester Primary school came in for a session earlier this week, facilitator Lach heaved the case onto his desk and started rummaging for that ‘special something’ to kick start everyone’s imagination.As the grade 4/5 students sat down on pillows and took notes, an ordinary day in Footscray turned into a world where a ten foot, over-caffeinated lizard man who drinks his coffee from a giant mug was arguing with a grumpy, snowbound Yeti, while a mad professor (in another dimension) who has a pet dog/bird/fish (not a dog, a bird AND a fish, but a dogbirdfish) was building a rocket in his laboratory. There was also a ghost in the toilet, but that’s a tale for another time.

Brimming with ideas, it was time for the students to write their own stories. Each group was given two or three objects from the suitcase on which to base their amazing tales and the brainstorming began. There was a stinky wooden foot from level 92, a time traveller’s watch from level 66, a dragon cage from level 19 (but thankfully, no sign of the dragon itself), a giant emerald from level 12 and a tennis racquet from level 88 with magical powers.Worlds were built, superheroes won battles, fairies flew, pirates went looking for emeralds, rockets launched into outer space and ice-cream eating monkeys went in search of, well, ice cream. And that was only the first five minutes…

Written by Fran Atkinson, rad 100 Story Building volunteer and writer.