Charlie Stanley The Barlow RC High School

Charlie Stanley

The Barlow RC High School

Hi, my name is Peter. I’m dead. I died during the Peterloo Massacre. But, I was not a protestor, I was simply looking for my Father.

While growing up, all I wanted to do was be like my Father. I looked up to him with everything he did, he was my idol. Little did I know, just how wrong I was…

16th August, 1819.

I don’t remember much of the day…. It seemed quite ordinary, my Dad seemed stressed, but he always was…he blamed it on his job.

I woke up and briskly opened the curtains revealing St. Peter’s Square, however, something was different. People were gathering throughout the Square. I didn’t recognise any of them, I was confused. I walked down my stairs and I was instantly attacked by my Father’s angry screams. I placed my ear to the door, I could only pick up a few words…”Scum,”… “What are they doing here?” I could also pick up another voice, one I had never heard before, it was a young voice, laced with fear and panic. I then heard the slam of a door, they had both left. This left me even more confused, my Dad never really went out, what was going on?

Eventually I decided to go outside, by this point the Square was extremely full, hundreds of people surrounded me. I’d never seen anything like it. I was starting to worry, where had my Dad gotten to?

I wandered around for a while, still clueless as to what was going on, by now all I could see was a sea of happy people, my nerves were calmer now, this crowd seemed harmless.

I had also noticed that there were some men standing on a stage, it looked like they were about to talk.

I looked around and I could see sinister faces staring out of the surrounding buildings, they did not look happy. I didn’t see what was wrong, yet again I didn’t know what was happening. The scary men in the windows seemed like they were plotting something, it was if the crowd was mocking them.

The men on stage were now speaking and the crowd was reacting with screams and cheers of joy. This seemed to make the men in the windows face’s go purple with rage, the crowd didn’t seem to care, they were just enjoying themselves. Then out of nowhere, screams erupted. Out of the corner of my eye I saw men charging towards the crowd upon horses. I was scared now, screams of pain echoed through the Square. Everyone was in shock. The men were closing in on me now…who were they? Why were they here?

The men were now in reaching distance of me and I noticed something strange…. My Dad was on a horse, he was heading towards me, he was going so fast I don’t think he recognised me.

It was too late, a flash of fear spread across his face.