War

• Alissa Kirton, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2014

‘Boring,’ I say. I’m feeling worse than before. ‘We need to find out who is causing all this disruption in Japan,’ replied Mum. We are on our way to Japan’s capital city to hear some dull speeches from the government and we are walking because we are very poor. We don’t have a house or a place we can stay. We just walk around and sleep under trees, in the city and the town. Shortly later the Governor is standing outside his office and he was giving a speech about himself and then he said that he was the one that blew up our house and there will be a war today. He said that you are fighting for your life and the people that survive will get to go to Australia. He then went inside to protect himself. A servant said, ‘So let the war begin!’
Panicking Mum grabbed me. ‘Run Ruby,’ yelled Mum. Its war time and people have guns trying to kill us and we’re risking our lives. I duck behind a rock. I can see that someone has seen me and they’re aiming an arrow at me. I duck down lower, then they shoot and the arrow just misses me. I sigh with relief. But that’s not all. I have to find Mum and Dad and I then see them and run up to them and hug them. ‘Ruby, we must run faster than you’ve ever run before,’ said Dad. ‘We’re going to Australia.’ ‘Australia? Why?’ I ask him. ‘Well, haven’t you seen all this fighting lately?’ ‘Yes I have,’ I replied. ‘The plane to Australia leaves soon,’ Dad said anxiously.
We board the plane not knowing where to sit. Nobody else knows where to sit either. Suddenly the plane starts to take off and to roll around in the sky. ‘We must be taking off but it’s too early to take off,’ said Mum to Dad. No one is sitting down on their seats. I was confused the plane left in twenty minutes and it was all a bit strange because we saw that there were some pilots sitting down smoking near the evacuation doors. I wondered why they were doing that. It’s a bumpy ride until we finally get to Australia.
The plane landed. I was excited and a little bit nervous. There was a girl waiting outside of a Refugee camp and she said, ‘Hello, I’m Emma and I will be taking care of you for the rest of the year and will help you find a house.’ Who would have thought but six months later we are living in a house, all thanks to Emma.