Pain, Anger, Depression, Hope

• Gregory Kwok, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2012

Lying there, amidst the tall grass, I was lost in the scent of spring flowers bursting from their buds. All I could hear was the twittering of birds and the gentle trickling of the flowing river. I tried to shut out everything else: all the arguing and fighting; the anger, pain and depression. They were the only feelings flying wildly around the house. I tried to shut it out.

I could still hear screaming at the back of my mind. I just wanted to get away from it all. No one ever listened to me; all they did was torment me. I didn’t want to live! I never got anything. My parents favoured my brother beyond his dreams! I wanted to escape from all the madness! But what would escaping do to help me? I had no friends, since my parents had forced me into isolation. I had forgiven them, time after time, hoping that they would change the next day, hoping it was all a nightmare and I would awake to find parents of tender kindness and hearts of gold. But time after time, I have been disappointed. Every night, I cry myself to sleep. Every morning, a day of pain and suffering is yet to come. The only things I can share my feelings with are the birds that rarely pass by our desolate backyard.

However, there I was, in my new hiding place; the perfect place for quiet and peaceful meditation. There, by the creek, I felt free and could finally share my feelings with something. I was surrounded by the creations of Mother Nature. I was relaxed without a care in the world. I was at sixteen years of age and had no social life; my chances of a girlfriend were slim.

That all changed one day, when I was again sitting in my hidey-hole, when I suddenly heard sobbing. It was coming from a cave behind a curtain of ivy. I crept silently and cautiously up to the mouth of the cave and heard the sobbing abruptly stop. Then there were sudden sounds of scrambling and a girl with long, brown hair shot out of the cave and out of my sight.

One day, I found her again, watching me from behind a bush. Making an attempt to be friends, I started a conversation. She started off really shy but began to develop confidence as we talked. Shianne, that was her name, was also in the same difficult situation I was in. We talked for many hours. By the time I had to go, I was feeling light-hearted, so I started meeting Shianne every day.

Then one day, I had the courage to ask her if she wanted to have dinner. She said YES! I was so happy; it was probably my life’s biggest achievement! That night I felt like the happiest teen in the world. I had finally found love.

Now I know that even with pain, anger and depression, there is always hope.