newsXpress creative writing winner: Chris Van Ingen

newsXpress ran this creative writing competition in 2020 to offer writers and aspiring writers an an outlet. This is the winning entry in the adult category, winning $1,000 for Chris.

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The smell of newsprint and poached eggs on toast
Remind me of my childhood the most.
Those weekend mornings where my Pa would sneak down to the newsagents
To get the paper to see who the hatches, matches, and dispatchers are.

Then as I grew up my Dad and Pa would send me to the newsagency in my wheelchair
For my first taste of independence from my disability.
I would drive straight to the martial arts magazines and dream of one day being on the front cover
So the bullies at school would stop being mean.

I would stare at the news headlines and hope
That I would be on the front page one day as a star
And people would marvel that someone with a disability had come so far.
I would go to my local newsagents and buy four copies for my family because they are just so proud of me.

The local newsagency has meant so much to me and the community
For some it keeps them in touch,
For me it brought me independence, and
Breaking News: Personal Agency.