A Child Of Hope

• David Ballin, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2014

A prison camp, that’s what it was. A vast, remote piece of lifeless land surrounded by thick forest. Isolated from the world. Rows of huts; endless columns of threadbare cabins, stripped of their black paint and the wooden planks splintering from years of stress. Protecting the outside from the war camp was a colossal fence, electrified and too tall to climb, but if anyone succeeded with that, there was barbed wire across the top of it. The place overflowed with hostages. The jailbird limit had already been exceeded two months previously. Therefore there was no room at all; in fact some of the prisoners had to sleep outside at night, when the howling air turned icy. It was a lie to say that this prison camp was hell – for it was far worse than that. The prisoners became heartless - no soul, robbed of their life. The trauma sucked it away. They were miserable cows. Day in, day out - they worked and moaned in pain. All except one. Jordan was his name; a young boy, about 6 years old. He arrived at the prison camp three years ago. He had no father, and his mother had been taken away from him when he was three. But Jordan remembered none of that, except for one impounded image; his mum, being trucked away. Confusion, pain, imprisonment - that’s all he felt. Jordan now lay on the dusty ground. It was sunrise, but unfortunately it was overcast. Today was going to be dead. The stench of misery lingered in the air. A burst of thunder sat Jordan up consciously; he did not want to stay. He was desperate; he had to leave, NOW! For the years he had slugged around, now his moment had arrived. He gazed at the giant fence that imprisoned him. There was something outside of it, something different. A light dwelled in the forest. A warm light. Jordan was hopeful; he scrambled to the boundary of the encampment; now a foot away from the fence. It loomed over him; he gulped, awestruck. How could he get out? Suddenly a cloud broke open, a brilliant beam of golden light shone down next to him. “The ground?” he whispered. Was this his way out? Was this the moment he had dreamt of since bondage? Apparently, and so Jordan hacked at the ground furiously! Kicking, scooping, digging - whatever he could do to escape. Distant guards that patrolled the area noticed him. Shouts could be heard with harsh orders. A siren went off! Enemy approaching, Jordan scrabbled ferociously at the ground; a child’s life was at stake, his life. Somehow he managed to dig enough – a tremendous amount – and he scrambled under. Kicking and pounding the earth as he did, sending dust flying everywhere. A tough effort was achieved then, but Jordan still had to run into the open forest, away from everything he knew. But for this short moment in his life, Jordan appreciated the single fact; he was free.