Last Heartbeat

• Julia Racciatti, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2010

I am standing here next to a helicopter. There are a few other people surrounding me. I see people with guns in the far distance. The grass is moving very rapidly from the chopper blades. Injured people are lying on the floor waiting for help. The person that I am helping at the moment has blood all over him. I am feeling very scared and worried, because I just want to know when this is all going to end. My heart is beating a million miles an hour. I start to get anxious, what is going to happen next? When is it my turn to go? I could get shot any moment now. I am feeling a lot of things. Confused. Why does it have to be like this, violence? I can smell the fume coming up my nose. It is pouring down with rain. I can smell the freshness of it. I smell all the fire burning from all the bombs exploding all around me. I can hear the deafening gun shots. I hear the loud wind. The thumps of the chopper blades are really loud. I can hear the screaming injured man that we are carrying, he is in agony. The taste in my mouth is very dry and all of the dirt in my mouth is disgusting. I am very parched. I feel all the grass stuck under my boots. My hands are full of dried up mud. I still wonder when my last heartbeat is.
By Julia Racciatti