This monologue hits with the impact of a truck - so simple, so loaded with emotional subtext. This would be a showstopper audition piece in the hands of a talented teenager - carrying so much and revealing it in glimpses, in moments, in what is left unsaid. Beautifully written.

The need to survive makes you into the best or worst of yourself, it's just a shame that children are put into that position far sooner than they should be. Well done.

So much fear, bravery and irony out of the mouth of a middle school student - and all is believable. The fact that a child this age has thought through lockdowns and what is workable and what is nonsense speaks volumes to the mindset of a school child today. Yes, 98 pound weaklings can be heroes. Bullies can be cowards. But there are no absolutes. Wyndham thoughtfully builds a scene with great detail. You picture the lockdown drill. You hear the desk being moved. You wish they didn't have to go through this.