Underwater

• Elsie Sinnott, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2020

I listen carefully as the storm gets closer by the second. The icy ground begins to shake so I rush outside to see what's happening. A wave starts to approach quickly so I start to run as fast as I can. “Get out of here,” I yell half out of breath. I look back at the wave crashing down on the place I used to call home.

I feel a tear drip down the side of my face as the helicopter flies over my old town. My childhood is gone, all the memories I made with my friends as a kid. Emma and I sit silently as we fly to a survival center. I jump out of the helicopter and go for a walk. It gets late so I jump into bed but I can't sleep for hours because every time I close my eyes the wave flashes before my eyes.

“Wake up! Wake up!” Emma screams in my ear.
“What?” I say
“You had a bad dream.”
“Sorry.”
“All good.”
I slip on my shoes and go for a walk with Emma while we wait for the others to wake. “Are you okay?” Emma asks with a worried voice.
I turn to face Emma. “I’m fine,truly.”
“Okay whatever you say.”
“Trust me it was just a dream.”

Emma goes back to our tent but I stay outside and enjoy the fresh air. “Breakfast!” The cook yells. “Breakfast!” I make my way through the children that are playing outside the tents.
“I have an announcement to make,” says a man with a black cap standing out the front. “ Everyone will be taken back to their hometown.’
“Yeah!!!” The whole room filled with excitement. We all file one by one onto the buses. We leave at about 9:00 am and arrive at about 10:00 am with about 2 hours to look around before lunch. I’ve been strolling around for an hour before I come across the soaking wet memories of my old home. I crouch down and pick up a faded picture that I can just recognises Lily’s face. Tears came running down my face like a waterfall thinking about how Lily would have made this whole situation better, don’t get me wrong Emma/’s great but Lily had a special touch with this kind of thing. “hey ,’ I turn to see Emma standing behind me. “ Are you okay? You look upset.”
“I guess it’s just hard to see it all gone.”
“I know what you mean.” I walk around down past the old bakery and the old clothes store. I find my way back to the buses where lunch is prepared for everyone but I don't have the appetite to eat.
Before we go back to camp we all go to the movies. When we get back it’s time for tea so I go sit next to Emma and a girl named Riley and for the first time in forever I have a laugh and actually enjoy myself.