Yileena

• Ani Hoxha, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2010

Yileena. To dream. My name and my meaning. 65 years on, now 72 years of age, those memories and thoughts continue to haunt me to this very day and age. Confusion has filled my head, and not missed a spot, my memory is a blank page and my life, which I once had, is no-where to be seen.

I lived in the outback of this land I called home. A small, remote land where nothing could go wrong, called Cha Kurri. There were some creatures, which in a way were exactly like us but in another way, nothing close. They were the whites. They were the ones who took away my life from me.
I am an only child. My mother is a full-blooded Australian White, my father on the other hand, is a full-blooded Aboriginal. That is why I was taken. They call me a half-cast.

My father, Burnum, met my mother, Alison, when he took up a job with my uncle. They fell in love and that’s all I can say. A white marrying an Aboriginal. You would think it would be impossible, but as my father used to tell me, love can make you do crazy things.

We lived as a family; we loved each other dearly, and looked out for one another. My father continued to work with my uncle and continued to make the small amount of money that we needed. It was then when everything was too perfect that the Whites, especially one in particular, Mr. Neville, invaded our life and ruined our relationship. He had no relation to any half-cast on our land, but with a piece of paper, he owned us. This was the way White Men worked.

It was a normal day, just like any other. Father was working, mother was cooking lunch and I was sitting a couple of metres away playing. I felt the ground moving, I heard the wind howl and I saw the monster in front of me. He wanted me, he wanted to take me. I didn’t want to go. So, I got up and ran away. My skinny legs were tired. The monster was getting closer, my mother was getting farther.
He grabbed my arm, and then my leg, I was screaming, but at the same time, confused. He was pushing my mother, but why? He got in the car, and started driving. I didn’t talk. Dead silence. My mind was filled with thoughts and questions. I wanted them answered. He was evil, a cold-blooded, careless fool. I screamed, yelled, and continued to cry. He didn’t say a word. I was helpless, I was captured. I was taken.

That moment my life was taken away from me. I am Yileena. I am a dreamer. My life was a painting full of colour but someone painted over it with a very thick coat of paint. I would do anything right now, to stare into those filthy eyes of that heartless, devilish, old fool, Mr. Neville.