I Am Muhammad Aleasch (My New Life)

• Jack Burns, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2013

Hello, my name is Mohammad Aleasch.
I was born on 26th September 1991 at Gemusova, a major city in Afghanistan. My father was a soldier in the Afghanistan Army, manning a turret in a 644 helicopter and my mother made cotton blankets and packaged food for the Army.
When I was nine years old and had just started school, the Taliban bombed our home city of Gemusova. It was the 10th of November 2000 – a date I will never forget because it changed my life forever. Fortunately our city was large, and the bomb only blew up the east side and not the north-west. Later that evening we were informed that my father had died as a consequence of this attack. He was shot by a Taliban sniper whilst attempting to evacuate the city of Gemusova.
My mother told me it was not safe to stay in Afghanistan. She sent me to Sri Lanka on a boat with 8 other boys and 10 girls. There were no adults onboard, only the captain, who smoked tobacco and ate what looked like sunflower seeds.
After two weeks at sea, experiencing very rough conditions, we could see land. Water was splashing all over the boat until we were about 500 or 600 metres out from shore. Just when we thought we were heading for a safe landing the boat hit a large reef, started filling up with water and began to sink. Panic struck and we all swam for our lives.
I remember waking up in white clothes and in a bed with white sterile linen. It was the Broome Royal Hospital. I have made it I thought to myself. The nurse said I was lucky to be alive as I was the only survivor of the 19 people on the boat.
Three days later I was transferred to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide. It was a 3 hour flight to the Adelaide Airport and a 40 minute drive to the Hospital. When I got there I did not know anyone. I was put in a ward with many other children to recover from the ordeal.
About two weeks later I was discharged from the Hospital and placed into an orphanage in the southern town of McLaren Vale.
Two months later the Ross family came to the orphanage with a view to foster care for a boy and a girl. The orphanage gave them care of a boy. I am that boy and my name is now Mohammad Aleasch Ross. They were a very wealthy family and had no children of their own.
Now I am getting ready for the new school year. Over the holidays I took English classes to get to know the language better and I am now speaking fluent English. I write to my mother every fortnight but there has never been a reply. I will be going to Tatachilla Lutheran College. At this private school my new life will begin.