I LOVE THEM

• Shelby Parsons, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2010

It’s coming!
The huge wave is approaching with astonishing speed, covering and demolishing house after house.

Hundreds of people are screaming and running for safety even though they know there little chance of escape. Mum and Dad are running with Laura and I in their shaky arms. As I look back, I see our little old house. I try to ignore the humungous tsunami wave that’s looming in the background. It doesn’t work. I cry as I see the wave hit our house but I can’t stop staring. “Where are we going?” I asked Dad. “To the Mountains, He replied, you’ll be safer there.”

I can’t quite remember the events to follow, but I have a gut feeling it wasn’t pleasant.

I woke up in the middle of the night with Laura asleep on a patch of grass next to me. Even though it’s late at night, I can still see that we’re not alone. The half-moon is shining brightly on what seems to be many hundreds of people gathered on a small mountain, overlooking our town. No matter how hard I look I can’t see Mum and Dad. Maybe if I drift back to sleep, they’ll be there with my breakfast in the morning.

ISABELL……….ISABELL I’M HUNGRY!!!!!
Laura is SO irritating when she calls my name like that.
I open my eyes slowly, trying to block the cruel summer sun with my weary hands.
Luckily (I think) Laura blocks the sun with her head as she leans over me to check that I’m awake. I roll over and cup my hands over my ears. It is SO LOUD!

I can see many people’s shoes moving towards a big green army-type tent and I smell something I have never smelt before in my life. But wait!
There are people coming around to everyone with big pots and lots of bowls and spoons.

As I get up I see the children. The tired, confused and starving children who are clinging tightly to their watchful parents. And I see the town, all flattened and wet. I see the place were our house used to stand and where the new school once stood. I see parents calling out to their children and I see children trying to find their parents. The only people I don’t see are our parents. I’m sure they’re here somewhere.

Laura and I walk over to our neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Quillby and ask them if they’ve seen our parents. They look at us with pity in their eyes and slowly shake their heads.
I can’t help but assume the worst. Laura and I start to cry. We miss Mum and Dad so MUCH. I try to cheer Laura up by saying, “What will we tell Mum and Dad when we see them?” Then she added, “I would tell them I love them.”


By Shelby Parsons 7.28
Lilydale High School