The Flood Of 2010

• Alexandra Millington, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2013

That’s when the water hit. Strong and powerful, enveloping us in its murky, unforgiving arms. “Ben!” I call out desperately as my father and I fled from the place that had given us comfort, shelter for the past 13 years. There was no reply. I crossed over to my father whose unreadable eyes were heavy with pain. “We must keep going” he screamed over the sea of people who were now swarming to escape this fog covered neighbourhood. I nod transparently as we board a small tinny boat that is now covered in an ocean of nameless faces. Still, no Ben. I shiver as I think of all the memories we shared, the laughing, him teaching me how to surf, having sand fights amongst the moon draped sky. “No” I tell myself, “You will not cry, you must stay strong, for you, for dad, for Ben”. I haven’t cried since my mother died when I was four, I held it together to make sure that my dad wasn’t going to lose it. I was forced to grow up too fast, to miss the enjoyment of childhood. “No” I repeat again softly as the salty liquid runs out of my eyes and onto the rest of my rain soaked skin. The helicopters are now herding like cattle above the little tinny boat which is now all that is left of my past. The ladder folds down and we are all instructed to climb it to safety, people madly wave their children and pets in the air trying to get to the ladder first but it’s Ben’s mother that is the lucky one. I look at her, a shadow of her former self, she sees me and we meet eyes. She mouths “Cassie I’m so sorry, Ben is-“ and then she’s climbing, up, up, up into the helicopter which is our only hope of survival.
The next few days are a blur, checking in and out of crowded hospitals, booking rusty hotel after mouldy hotel, eating, drinking, crying, breaking down, figuring out how to reinvent myself, keep my cool and dreaming. Dreaming is the only thing I have left to hold onto as I watch the rain drizzle down calmly. It’s the only thing I have left of Ben. It turns out the boy with the sandy hair, bright smile and chocolate brown eyes is gone. He left me when I needed him most but I still have my dad. He will never be the same again, my dad who used to dance around the house in just his pyjamas on is gone. Around me he never cries but just veils his hurt with a gentle smile. The thing I’m most scared of is losing him, and I have in a way until he says “Although everything has changed, the one thing that remains the same is that we still have each other.”