I Used To...

• Anika Vlahakis, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2016

I used to sit on a deserted beach, watching the white tipped waves roll onto the shore and onto my toes. I used to hear seagulls squawking in the distance. I used to think, "The seagulls are getting attention, but what about me? Where was my small serve of attention, because it sure looked good". This is how I spent my days in Greece. Not knowing the language was hard but not having any family to help me was even harder. I wondered if the world paid attention to me anymore because it didn’t seem it, until one life changing day…
I was lying on the beach, reading the only treasure in my whole universe - an old atlas from my mother. It was from when she was an explorer. She inspired me to save up enough money to come to Greece with her, but unfortunately she passed away just after we got here. After that day I knew I had to get a job even if I got 50 cents a day...I wanted to survive. With the money I earned from my job I could only afford 1 bread loaf a week, but it was enough to keep me going for days.
So, as I was saying, I was reading my atlas on the beach, when suddenly I realized the ground was shaking. A 7.7 magnitude earthquake had hit Dodecanese! That was where I was! I managed to outrun the breaking structures with the heavy atlas still in hand! I kept running until I was far far from the beach and ended up at a small blue beach shack. After about 2 seconds the terrifying shaking had finished, but disaster was still on the way. I looked up and saw a wall of water rushing towards me. I started sprinting not knowing where I was going. It was a race...but the waters won. All I could see around me was dirt and plants from around the city. I was about to give up when I realized I had no atlas in my hands! Pushing myself up to the surface, I saw the soggy book floating in the water. I used all the strength left in my body to reach it. Finally, thank goodness, I felt the hard cover and hugged it to my beating chest. It seemed to give me strength, but the moment was over when I got dragged down again and started to spin, falling into a deep sleep.
When I awoke I saw an amazing world, one I had always dreamed of visiting. The sun was shining bright and there were fruit trees everywhere. I still had the atlas in my aching hands but I saw something better than all the atlas’ in the world…my mother! Was I dreaming? Had I finally found happiness? I ran up to her with tears dwelling in my eyes and the happiest smile. Then I forgot about all my worries. When she hugged me tightly, finally I was home.