Heaven

• Zoe Riley, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2016

The light was blinding and there was an eerie silence. She blinked a few times and the light faded revealing a ghostly abandoned city, with the same beige house repeated over and over as far as she could see. This reminded her of something but she couldn’t remember what. Actually, to be honest, she couldn’t remember much at all.
Without warning the bright light once again spread around like a blanket. Something lightly touched her shoulder and her memory started to jog; she jerked away and peered into the brightness. She saw a faint outline that looked just taller than her; an arm jerked out and grabbed her hand. As the figure dragged her along she remembered her name.
“Imani…” she mumbled.
“It’s okay…” the figure whispered “…you must be quiet now.”
She had too many questions and not enough answers. Who is it? Where am I? She opened her mouth to speak but immediately shut it when she saw its face. It was blank. With the hand it wasn’t clutching she raised it and stroked its face. It looked at her longingly with its new eyes that had appeared. Its eyes were beautiful brown; it smiled sadly at her than tugged her hand.
Boom! The ghost city exploded with such a bang that it knocked them both to the ground. She rolled onto her back and sat up temporarily dazed. She stared at the once huge bland town, now a huge blank scorch mark with not a small house to be seen. It was all too familiar but she couldn’t put her finger on it!
“What is your name?” Imani managed though all of her thoughts.
“Ahuva.” He replied sitting up.
“Is this real?” Imani asked quietly.
Ahuva thought about it for a second. The silence made it feel like he had to think of what to do next.
“Sort of” he said absently. “This is all a vision… of what is to come.”
Suddenly it hit Imani like a tonne of bricks. What she had just witnessed was Earth.
Ahuva looked at where the huge city used to be, his eyes distant.
“Thank you...” Imani whispered.
All of a sudden the light once again settled and she found herself and Ahuva in front of a huge golden gate with a huge city made of gold and shiny gems.
“Heaven…” mumbled Ahuva through the awe.
Imani turned to look at him and stared at him in confusion, his lips moved yet she could not hear a word. And for the last time she was surrounded by a bright light. She heard the birds chirping merrily and Imani found herself in the real world again gazing out the glass window knowing that this would change her forever, listening to the same question echoing in her head…
“Why were you so surprised?”