Death's Reality

• Gabriella Mramor, Grade 7, St Patrick's College
• Short Story
• 2017

Excellence Award in the 'Spread The Word 2017' competition

He knew he had 10 seconds left before he would be cut off from the oxygen supply. 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... His vision drifted to the left. He saw Earth, his home that he would never see again. It was beautiful. A sphere. 6 ... 5... .4 ... He looked the other way, at the bright white space shuttle that was slowly drifting away, as if he wasn't there. He could see the panicked faces of his crewmates inside, looking at him with deep sorrow and sadness, knowing that he wouldn't last much longer. 3 ... He didn't want to die. 2 ... He wanted to go home. See his family 1 ...
She slapped the book shut. Her head was spinning. She couldn't bear the tension any longer. She spent some time calming down and then analysed the situation. He couldn't die. He was the protagonist! Yet somehow, she knew that when she read the next page, she knew what would happen.
Paris clutched the book and walked into the living room and saw Dora the Explorer on TV. Cameron and Milla had their eyes glued to the show as if looking away would make it disappear. She had no idea why Cameron, a six-year-old, was watching it. It was more reasonable for Milla because she's three.
As she walked closer to the kitchen, she could smell fresh roasted chicken and sweet potato. "What's for dinner?" She asked her mum, even though she had already had the automatic sense to know what it was. "Dinner ... tonight. ...is a delicious roast!" was all her mum managed to reply, between taking things out of the oven and then carving the chicken. She stopped for a moment. "How was school today honey?" Her mum asked this like it wasn't the most dreaded question a kid could be asked. Paris gave a shrug "Ok." Her mum gave her a concerned look. The phone buzzed. Mum answered the call and gradually her face went as white as a ghost. Paris thought her mum would faint.
Paris' mum hung up the phone. "Kids get in the car NOW!"
Paris' mum was shaking as she turned the key in the ignition.
"Where are we going?" Cameron asked, concerned after we had been driving quietly for 3 minutes. Her Mum gave no response. The drive was silent.
They approached the local hospital, and at that second her heart skipped a beat. Paris' mum stopped the car and pulled out the keys. She sat there for a moment and it seemed she was holding in an urge to cry. Her mum grasped Cameron and Milla's hands and they all walked inside. They felt a breeze of cool air and the scent of hand sanitizer. They walked into a room, and Paris' mum kneeled beside the bed and held her mother's hand tightly. It was so quiet in there you could hear a pin drop. Paris couldn't help crying. She didn't want Nana to die either.
She looked at the book grasped in her hand.
She was ready now.