I Felt Black

• Hayley Pastro, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2016

“Absurd” my parents called me. Well it wasn’t my fault. They had been arguing for weeks now, and my pillow was stained with tears. It started when I heard, “I want a divorce!”
I went downstairs; each stair creaking under the tension, my mum was shivering from head to toe. She looked up at me, saying “what?”
My dad gulped and he said “I want a divorce”.
Looking down, mum replied with “Fine we can sign the papers this weekend.”
I know my mum didn’t want to, neither did dad, but they knew…
2 Months Later.
Today I found a bag of powder under my mum’s pillow. I wondered what it was so I went to the computer and searched the internet. I was shocked at what I had seen, some of it terrified me. I opened my mum’s bedside cabinet and I saw bottles of liquid. I ran downstairs and cried. I could feel the wet cold tears dripping of my face like sad drops of rain down a window pane.
I ran, ran and ran. I could hear the waves crashing onto the rocks on the shore of the beach, I could smell the salty water and I could feel the ground burning my feet.
I finally reached the sand of the beach and I ran down to the rocks. I felt so free, it was like nothing was inside of me. Nothing could hurt me. Everything was in slow motion. I could see the pod of Orcas swimming around and it felt like I didn’t need to breathe anymore.
I jumped, I fell at great speed. My hair blowing in my face. It felt like I was flying. Splash! I went in the water. I was floating like a seal sunbathing on its back. The sun was burning my face, but I had no reason to move.
There was no tension in my body. I could taste the salt water seeping into my mouth, bringing back memories of family holidays on the beach. I felt like I was a part of an Orca pod. My eyes blinking slower than before. My heart was calm like the ocean.
Then I realised how it felt to be a fish, just swimming down in the depths of the waters. I felt like the animals of the ocean had accepted me as one of their own kind. I could feel the Orcas rub up against my legs. I felt calm. I was at peace.
I heard dolphins, without thinking, I wrapped my hands around its fin. It gracefully swam me to a faraway island with animals. Not standard, ordinary animals, these were nature’s own. There was a pond that I drank out of. The water was crystal clear and cold. There was an apple tree. With juicy apples that would drip everywhere.
Then I realised this is where I was meant to be. My own home …