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Miss Annersley stood on the dais, a calm smile lurking in her clear grey eyes as she surveyed the rows of gaily-attired and cheerful girls in their gentian-blue frocks. Miss Wilson sat behind the table on which were gathered the gleaming trophies, her white hair neatly arranged in its curly crop. A pleasant hum of chatter filled the light, airy Hall. The language restrictions were relaxed for Prize Day, and clear snatches of Portuguese, English, French, and other tongues rose above the hubbub.
Nine Rutherford at the piano struck up the jolly tune for the school song, and the school rose as one and sang lustily. Then a quiet atmosphere of anticipation settled over the Hall as Miss Annersley began.
'Girls! It is my very great pleasure to welcome you all to our annual Prize-giving. As you all know, we pride ourselves on our record of academic achievement here at the Chalet School, and many of our prizes will reward those of you who have worked hard and done well in your studies. But we also value endeavour in all fields of life, and as the true mark of a Chalet School Girl is that she always tries her best in everything she turns her hand to, we have some awards kindly donated by Mrs Maynard (better known to many of you as Jo Bettany) for Special Merit.
'The Heath-Robinson Prize for Utterly Fascinating Contraptions goes to... Saveloy, with special mention for finding the link to that excellent bus stop in Scotland and correct views regarding Southsea public houses.'
Wild applause rang out around the hall as Saveloy, blushing but full of pride, rose and walked to the dais, where Miss Wilson presented the gleaming mechanical pea-shooter (for downing pigeons).
'The prize for Spunkiest New Girl is awarded to... Olulabelle...'
Miss Annersley's voice was drowned out in the cheering which followed this announcement, and as the presentation presented the atmosphere grew more and more high-pitched: through the announcements of Reason in the Face of Provocation (shared jointly by Lurid Archive and Ganesh), General All-Round Marvellousness (to School favourite Xoc), Best Costume at the Edwardian Tea-Party (Anna de Logardiere), and Services to the School Music Collection (another joint award, to Rothkoid and Rizla). The girls were becoming positively fevered with enthusiasm as Chairman Maominstoat picked up the prize for Most consistent contribution to the Pirate/Ninja debate and positively whooped with delight as _pin picked up the popular award for All-round contribution and Zoey Passmoreness.
Thw wildest accolades of all were reserved for the final award, by which time the girls were looking rather flushed and dishevelled. They rose as one and cheered as Haus made the journey to the dais to receive the coveted prize for Head of Class, Head of School and mrs joyful prize for rafia work.
Let us draw a curtain over the joyous scene... |
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