Seven Short Words
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Halle Lockwood, Grade 6, North Woodvale Primary School
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Short Story
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2014
Excellence Award in the 'Write As Rain 2014' competition
Annie’s eyes were huge. Her smile faded to a frown and tears started appearing in her eyes. She watched as the man before her threatened to strangle her grandmother. Annie wanted to stop him, but she didn’t know how. Annie wished she’d never used the internet. Never told this strange man where she lived. She’d heard stories of the man before. Seen him on TV and on posters with the words: WANTED and NOW written on the bottom. But she had told him, so she stared at the man, about to suffocate her grandmother. Annie grabbed the fly spray, and did all she could think to do. Spray the man. In the eyes, so it hurt. The man held his eyes. He started madly skipping around the room, before tripping and going straight through the lounge-room window.
Annie’s grandmother was laying still. Very still. Indeed, it didn’t look like she was moving a muscle. Not one. Annie didn’t want to panic, but she was scared. Too scared. Annie paced to the kitchen door and back, to the end of the hall and back. And, then it hit her, like a kick in the guts, but harder, much harder.
Compressions. But it might break her grandmother’s ribs. Oh her poor, weak grandmother’s ribs. But it would have to do, break the ribs or die….. She leaned over her grandmother, put her left hand on her right hand and used the hard bit of her hand to push, right where her grandmother’s heart sat. She could hear beeping sounds. Carefully, Annie’s grandmother opened her eyes, in a daze from the bright, ambulance lights.
Annie fretted, and then clasped her grandmother’s straw hat in her hand. And ran. Fast, and faster after the ambulance that was escaping down the road with her grandmother at a rapid pace. For a while, the last words Annie heard were,“You’ll be ok, Annabelle. I love you.”