Journey To Freedom

• Jonesia Bekker, Grade 8
• Poetry
• 2009

I can still hear my mum gasping her last few words “Look… after yourself……” Horrified, I saw my mum taking her last breath and couldn’t do anything about it. But I’m now determined to honour her last wishes, to look after myself.


It’s dark all around me. I am sneaking to the boat. Looking behind me, I see the sparks of gunfire flashing in the distance. The memory of Mum’s scared eyes when the faceless soldier entered our back door sends shivers down my spine. My heart is racing a million beats per second….. I am scared to death!
Why does the boat seem so far?

After what felt like forever, I finally reach the boat, saying goodbye to all my horrible life-threatening memories, the howling sound of missiles shooting through the air above me, blood everywhere I look, dead people scattered all around me…. Sometimes I wonder whether the full horror of reality will ever hit me.

The boat has left the shore. I am free. I am safe. Finally I am going to Australia, the place where I will find my peace, my resting place.
Sitting in a crowded corner on the boat, soft instructions come through a loudspeaker: “Please keep quiet. No lights are to be switched on and most importantly, remember to enjoy the ride.”

I grab my blanket. It is so soft and it always reminds me of the world before war came to destroy everything.
Then a thought came through my mind. What if Australia….. is the same…as Afghanistan? No, it can’t be!

“We will be arriving at Christmas Island in an hour. Please sit back and relax.” the same soft voice from earlier is coming through the loudspeaker.


We’re here at last. The long journey is over. I am now starting a new journey, a peaceful journey on my own.

Walking on the white beach of Christmas Island, the fine, soft sand sifting between my toes, I have the most incredible view ever, a golden sunset over the breaking waves. I’m FREE at last!!!

Suddenly a shiver goes down my spine. Cold, rough hands touch my shoulders. I’m scared to death. I turn around stiffly as I face my worst fear….

“STOP, right there ma’am”
Behind me is another faceless soldier, this time only in a different uniform.
“Where are your papers?” his deep voice echoes through my body, accompanied by the loud thumping of my heart.
Papers? What papers?
In the far distance I can see the officers checking my fellow travellers and one by one, they get thrown back into the boat. My heart sinks down into my shoes. My freedom has reached its end. Australia will not have me without the correct papers….I am doomed to return to a place of death and war! To a house without my mother! My dream crumbles and falls to the ground along with the big tears rolling down my cheeks.