The Path To Misery

• Zoe Herbert, Grade 5, Mt Crosby State School
• Short Story
• 2014

Excellence Award in the 'The Text Generation 2014' competition

It was like being locked up in a cage. The banging and shouting from the kitchen seemed endless. I curled up under my covers and listened; Mum was screaming as Dad was beating the table with his fists. My little sister, Anna, opened the door and came rushing into my room. I could see by the pain in her glistening blue eyes, that she was as scared as I was.
After what seemed like hours of shouting and banging, my door flung open, it was Mum. Her eyes were so red it looked as if they had been bleeding. “It’s OK “ she reassured us. “Daddy and I were just having a little disagreement that’s all...” ‘Little Disagreement?’ I thought to myself,so shouting and banging is a ‘little’ disagreement?’ Then I finally realised that she was trying to comfort Anna. After Anna was tucked in, Mum walked up to me and said “Harry... Can I have a little ‘chat’ with you?”
Mum came in, she sat on my bed and curled her arm around my shoulders and softly whispered not to worry, “everything will be alright”. You will go to school tomorrow, pick up Anna and walk home. She lifted up my sheets and I slipped into bed, Mum planted a kiss on my forehead and mouthed "Goodnight".
When I arose from my slumber and slumped to the kitchen bench ready for breakfast, it did not feel the same, apart from Anna blabbering along about how she’s going to get a gold star today. I watched Dad walk in from his morning walk to get the paper, trying not to make eye contact with anyone he paced to his room with his head to the floor.
After what seemed like hours of reading, writing and arithmetic, it was finally lunchtime. I took out my Lunch box from my bag and sat next to my best mate, Matt. We would normally talk about what we’re going to do this break or predict which sports team will win next match, but we did none of that. Last night’s argument was still stuck in my head.
After we were dismissed for the day, I jogged to Anna’s classroom with my backpack jolting up and down as I strode up the stairs. And there it was on her shirt, the only joy of my day, a gold star. She raced up and squeezed my waist. I slipped my hand into hers and we made our way home.
When we reached our street there was a big van outside our house being loaded with cardboard boxes. Anna and I raced inside to investigate. And there was Dad, packing his belongings into a cardboard box. We went up to Mum and asked what’s going on. She replied “Dads moving”. A cold tear began to travel down my cheek. I ditched my bag and sprinted towards Dad, tightly squeezing his waist. My path to misery had begun.