Jumping

• Grace Jackson, Grade 6, St Mary's School
• Short Story
• 2014

Excellence Award in the 'Write As Rain 2014' competition

Hot, dry, windy. Mum lifts her head sensing danger. She turns and wants to move. AGAIN! Hot, tired, angry. I can’t be bothered I want to laze the day away under this shady gum tree...FLASH, BOOM, BANG!
The big tree hits the ground. A cloud of dust and smoke spreads and pretty lights fall from the sky. Owww! Hot. They burn! I whiz around to see mum bounding off. Wait for me! Smoke, fire, scared.
I must hurry, I must find mum, I must not trip over rocks and I must not hit trees. Roaring, choking, stinging.
I can’t see, my paws hurt and I don’t know which way to go. I’m petrified but I keep jumping and jumping to outrun this fire. Lost, hurt, afraid. I think I see mum ahead. I hop for what seems like forever. Then there she is, alone against the skyline. Mum, comfort, relieved. We stand close on a cliff face and watch the flames come. Together, trapped, terrified.
I’m really too big but I hop in mum’s pouch. The ground is hot, the air is searing and the noise is deafening. She turns and together we look far below to the cool, blue surf. Burnt, desperate, we jump.
P.S The Joey was found barely alive in his mothers pouch by a CFA volunteer. Sadly his mother died. Both forgotten victims of Australia’s bush fires.
The End