New Age

• Teagan Mccartney, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2013

I feel like an animal. Confined to a cage. Being stared at by strangers and having them judge me. Why is my life like this? I need to escape. Tomorrow I will. I’ll find a way. Of course I’ve been saying that for years now. Where will you go they say. Anywhere. Anywhere that’s far away from here. I’ve always wanted to go to Paris and climb the Eifel Tower. Of course the Eifel tower is empty and on enemy land but a person like me accepts the challenge and smiles at the danger of it all. Tomorrow. I promise.

Night falls and I pace my cage. I finally decide it’s time for sleep to take over. I wrap my arms around my knees and let sleep carry the burden of consciousness. My dreams are always the same It’s what you call a nightmare but I’m so used to it it’s a dream. It’s his face. He’s reaching out to me whilst I’m screaming. There’s a bright flash of red and he’s gone. I’m still screaming and kicking trying to get out of the hold someone has on me. Then black and I’m asleep till morning.

Sunrise exactly. I stand at the bars of my cage looking to the sky. Today’s a big day. I’m escaping. I don’t know how but I do know when. Now. I let fury take hold of me and I turn to the bars, grab them and pull. I pull so hard that I nearly scream. It’s painful but a good pain. Once I’m done the bars are spread far enough that I can easily slip through.

I’m Out.

Finally! FREEDOM! I smile at the cage, turn around and run towards the sun. I keep on running and running. I’m smiling the whole way until I reach the edge of the motorway. It’s deserted and it’s going to be for the rest of my years. The motorway used to be busy and heaving with cars, quite the scene for car crashes. Not since The Disease. Across the motorway there’s a barbed wire fence. The Border. Inviting me to go across. Over that line is the Eifel Tower. I turn around to look at the diseased, wrecked New York and say goodbye.

I know you’re thinking how is the Eifel Tower next to New York? Well when the human race went crazy the earth couldn’t hold us all so all the lands between America and France sunk and joined together. America’s full-scale attack on France started the worst war in Earth’s history. The rest of the world sat by and watched slowly sinking as well. The only countries left are Australia, Africa and France and America. Africa is now the richest country in the world or what’s left of it and Australia is still the same. Although they have no more beaches and are suffering from The Disease.

I turn back to The Border. I take one step and start to run towards the fence. BANG!


By Teagan McCartney
13, Year 8, Silkwood School