I Pray For A Miracle

• Genevieve Hackett, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2015

Hi, I'm Brooklyn and I'm a DIPG fighter. Well, I'm eleven and I have a sister, Courtney, who is two years younger than me, so that means she's nine. This is my story and it isn't a fairy tale, this is a reality, to many children, so it's not sugar coated.
I wake up to the sound of birds chirping loudly outside the open window. I rarely heard that sound where I lived in New York City, so I figured we were somewhere else, but where? I look around curiously and see that I'm in a hospital room. I see that I'm hooked up to all these wires and bags with liquid. I don't understand. My mother, Anna is sitting next to me talking on her phone. She sees that I'm awake and says "Hey, Brooklyn!! How are you feeling Sunshine?" "Fine" I reply. "Wait how did we get here?" I say, scratching my long blonde hair. "Remember? Last night you were feeling really sick and we took you to hospital." "Well did they find out what caused it?" I say. She replied with "Yes," which followed a long pause. "The doctors said it was DIPG, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma," tears dripping down her face. "It's a Tumour in your brain honey." "Hold on," I say, "Isn't a tumour, Cancer?" "Well, yes."
She starts hugging me, still crying and I start crying too.
After a while of hugging and crying, a doctor came in to check on me. He asked how I was doing and I replied with, "Okay, I guess." He gets another bag filled with liquid and hooks me up to it. I decide to start asking about my cancer and whether it was serious or not. I need to know these things If I want to beat it. "I'm so sorry to say, but your Tumour is incurable,” he said. How? I get suddenly scared. I'm stunned.
There are over 7 BILLION people in the world and me being one in that 7 BILLION makes me have cancer? Before the doctor leaves I ask what's going to happen next.
He replied with, “Treatments, we will give you treatments to help you live as much as you can."
A short while later my sister, Courtney and my Dad, Mitchell came in to see me.
Straight away, my sister put a smile on my face. They were carrying flowers and cards and a whole load of other stuff. My dad put them on the chest of drawers next to the hospital bed I was laying in. He said, "These are presents from all of your family and friends. They are so concerned about you." He gave me a hug and kissed me on my head. Courtney was holding a massive Cadbury bar in her hands.
She said, "I saw this at the store and I knew you would want it." She gave me a hug and the Cadbury bar. We hung out for a while until another doctor came in.
That night lying in my hospital bed I pull out my laptop and search DIPG. It comes up with Basic facts, symptoms and diagnosis and DIPG an aggressive brain tumour. I can't take it anymore. I close my laptop and I lay there thinking about it and I keep thinking to myself, ‘I’m not going to let this beat me.'
The next few days were full of Tests, Scans and Doctors. I was booked in for chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Every day I think of when I would run around the garden with my sister and that I'll never be able to again. I think of all my friends who haven't seen me for ages.
As I do time passes, days come and go, sometimes weeks just blend into each other and I'm left wondering where it went. I stay strong and keep fighting this battle. I try to stay positive and happy and keep a brave face. The outlook is grey but Scientist continue to research and look for a cure. One day I know there will be a cure, and I pray for a miracle.