War Journey

• Tayla Schulz, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2014

Gasping men and thick red blood surrounded me. I lay on the dirt, my face dried and cracked with blood. A pistol was pushing against my forehead while a man was talking in Vietnamese. The man turned to me and said, “You die”, then pulled the trigger of the pistol…

I awoke with sweat on my forehead. I heard mum screaming in Vietnamese to someone. Suddenly I heard the man saying, “Me sorry but Tamen dead”. Tamen was my father! I raced downstairs and to the front door. Mum was crying and pulling at the man’s shirt.
“What happen to father?” I asked with tears already filling up my eyes.
“He dead,” replied the man. “Need replacement. You must replace Tamen.”
“No, not Shauzia,” exclaimed mum.
The man grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the van. Mum grabbed my other arm and tried to pull me back but the man was too strong.
“Me come and find you, promise!” screamed mum.
The man pushed me inside the van and drove off towards Hanoi.

I was feeling dizzy and nauseous when I awoke. A nurse put strange, itchy clothing on me and a large shotgun was placed into my hands.
“You follow soldier. He tell what to do,” said the nurse.
I was ushered out into the searing sun where bombs, bullets and tanks were blasting.
“You, come. You in war. Shoot enemy. Win,” spoke a soldier, also holding a gun.
Suddenly a man with dark skin and blond hair was running up to me. He was an enemy. The man held a pistol and shot the soldier next to me. I ducked.
The man pushed me to the ground and whispered, “You die”.
Suddenly my dream had come true. I remembered those exact words. As I closed my eyes, knowing I was going to die, I saw my father, with a gun, running towards me. He pulled the trigger. It hit the man in the head, killing him instantly. Dad lifted me off the floor and hugged me.
“I thought you dead?” I asked, tears running down my face.
“Soldier lied. Wanted more soldiers,” replied dad.
We both walked back home to mum, where she was crying on the couch. She jumped up when she heard us walk through the door, hugging us hard.
“Can’t believe you alive,” exclaimed mum, still hugging dad and I.
“Soldiers put me in barracks and held me hostage. Me escape when heard Shauzia put in army. Soldiers try to hold me back but me push past them,” explained dad.
“Well, at least all alive,” smiled mum.

The next day we all moved to Australia as immigrants. Our house was in Darwin where I went to school. I met my new best friend at that school. Her name is Farzana and she’s in the same year as me. Mum got a job as a weaver while dad became a lieutenant. We are very happy here and wish to see our home again.