Task: Story Composition
Input (English): Fact1: Protagonist Charlie Bucktin is 14-year-old boy living in fictitious rural town of Corrigan in Western Australia, Fact2: Vietnamese boy shares Charlie 's love of intellectual banter and deals with constant race-hate inflicted on him and family, Fact3: Jasper leads him to private glade in bush, Fact4: Charlie is horrified to find dead body of young girl, Fact5: attempts to join Corrigan team are thwarted by racism of coach and other players
Output (English): Protagonist Charlie Bucktin is a 14yearold boy living in the fictitious rural town of Corrigan in Western Australia. Charlie spends his days with his best friend Jeffrey Lu, a Vietnamese boy who shares Charlies love of intellectual banter, and deals stoically with the constant racehate inflicted on him and his family. Eliza Wishart, a local girl, and daughter of the President of the town hall becomes more and more endeared towards Charlie. On Christmas evening Charlie is unexpectedly visited by Jasper Jones, an outcast in Corrigan due to his mixed WhiteAboriginal heritage and rebellious lifestyle. Jasper begs for Charlies help, and leads him to his private glade in the bush. Here Charlie is horrified to find the dead body of a young girl, Jaspers girlfriend Laura Wishart, battered and hanging from a tree. Jasper, aware that he is likely to be blamed for Lauras murder, convinces Charlie that they should hide the body, so they throw it into a nearby pond, weighted by a large rock. Jeffrey is passionate about cricket, but his attempts to join the Corrigan team are thwarted by the racism of the coach and other players. Eventually fortune goes his way, and he finds himself batting in a game against a rival town, watched by Charlie, who has befriended Eliza, Laura Wisharts younger sister. As Jeffrey wins the game on the last ball, Charlie and Eliza hold hands and embrace. A search for the missing girl is soon organised, focused on the idea that she may have run away. Jasper is interrogated roughly by the local police, but he soon escapes. Meanwhile tension builds in the town, as parents fear more disappearances, and townspeople search for someone to blame. The tension is funneled into strict curfews for the children as well as racial attacks on Jeffreys family. It is revealed that Charlies mother, increasingly disillusioned with life in Corrigan and her marriage, is having an affair with the Sarge involved with the investigation into Lauras disappearance. Jasper believes that Lauras murderer is Mad Jack Lionel, a reclusive old man who is rumored to have done terrible things in the past. Jasper determines to confront Lionel on New Years Eve, and together with Charlie, goes to his house. Lionel manages to defuse Jaspers aggression, and the truth comes out: Lionel is actually Jaspers grandfather who had ostracised his sons family knowing that he had married with an Aboriginal woman when Jasper was a baby. His daughterinlaw then took care of him, spurring a change of heart towards her. One night, she needed medical attention, and Lionel had attempted to race her to hospital. In his haste, however, he accidentally crashed his car, causing her death. The incident has left him guilty, broken, and ostracized by the townspeople. Ever since, Lionel has been trying to reach out to Jasper and apologise for his actions. On the same night, Charlie comes to Elizas window. They go to Jaspers glade. Here Eliza tells Charlie that she knows everything about Lauras death and hands him the suicide note detailing the gruesome reasons for her apparent suicide. The note said that after rampant sexual abuse by her abusive father, leaving Laura pregnant, and after a particularly violent fight on Christmas day, Laura came looking for Jasper. Eliza followed her to the glade. Finding Jasper away, in despair Laura hanged herself, and Eliza, paralyzed by fear, could not save her. Charlie then confesses that he and Jasper had thrown Lauras body into the pond. Charlies mother leaves Corrigan. Charlie remains close to Eliza, who exacts revenge on her father by setting fire to their house, injuring him. The secret about Lauras death remains with the three of them.