Cadets In Full Action

• Hannah Balmaceda, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2007

My alarm clock went off at 7:00 in the morning. I grabbed my cadet uniform and headed down to breakfast. Mum was with Sophie, my goody two shoes sister and my dog Murphy. Breakfast was usual until… “When you get home tomorrow I want you to pack!” said Mum. “What for?” I said, “because if you don’t start packing Sam, you’ll never be ready for CADET CAMP!!!” Mum always yelled but I could hear the bus coming so I left the room.
Libby was waiting for me at our usual seat. I couldn’t concentrate on what Libby was saying because I was concentrating on CADET CAMP!! I didn’t want to go. The bush was my arch enemy! Libby had noticed I had started to sweat. “You’re thinking about it again aren’t you?” she asked me. “Yeah,” I whispered. “It’ll be fine! Trust me.” Trusting Libby was a hard thing to do.
School was a real down pour! But I knew it was going to get worse! I knew the worse of the worst was yet to come! “PRESENT…ARMS!!!!” That was Sergeant Major War, he was a real party pooper. He would yell like you’ve never heard anyone yell before!! It was like being hit by a thousand earthquakes and tsunamis through your body, knocking you to the ground and holding you there until the waves calmed. To me Cadets was a waste of time, I mean how often do you have to save someone’s life during school hours.
Mrs. Opdecoul was telling us about math and then we left for art with Mr. Jasons. The bus was creaking and groaning all the way to my house. Libby was sleeping over tonight.
My alarm clock went off extra early that morning so that we could get to school early to catch the bus to get to, dare I say it but, Cadet Camp! And don’t get me started on the bus trip because I might be sick again!!!
As soon as we arrived, Libby and I went to search for the right cabin. We chose one with the word ‘Tassie’ on the side wall. We dropped our stuff and headed for the dining hall. I was so tired by the time we had finished dinner and the obstacle course! The night was quiet and all you could hear were the native birds calling into the pitch black sky. I was laying there falling asleep smelling the bush air because the window was open. I went to shut it and I saw a black cloud rising into the sky and drift away. I didn’t know what to do?
“FIRE!” I screamed!! Sergeant major War ran over to the stack of smoke. I ran out with Libby and we were off. There were buckets flying everywhere, people running and screaming. I suddenly felt like I couldn’t bare it so I ran to safety with Libby.
I had never been in such a life threatening situation in my life. I knew Libby was really hard to trust.