Danger Level

• Murtaza Naqvi, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2018

"OUCH!"
A tennis ball whacked me on the back of my head. It was unusually painful. "Sorry," apologised the kid who hit me. I didn't reply. He ran off with his friend. I stared at the edge of the river, at the ducks, searching for food in the depths of the water. Even the funny sight of them sticking their heads in the water wasn't enough to eradicate the gloom that had settled inside me.
I had just walked home from school when I saw my parents lying dead on the floor with a savage looking man with a flame tattoo on his arm watching over them. He ran at me with a knife and I instinctively ran away and hid in the neighbour's bushes and, miraculously, I lived. The first thing I did was run to the park.
I was there until very late in the evening when a kind voice asked, "Shouldn't you go home, dear?" I looked at the woman and, again, without a word I walked away. Steadily, I started to go faster. I felt free inside. I noticed the last tweets of the birds, the whistling of the wind and the scent of the flowers. Suddenly, I heard the squealing of tires and a loud CRASH! A car had just lost control behind me, barely missing me.
I went to check on the person in the car. His eyes were closed, his body limp. He was certainly dead. But he also had another of those flame tattoos. He tried to kill me, like the guy who killed my parents, but he also failed miserably. Just then, I heard a gunshot. BANG! I knew they were coming for me. I sprinted away as fast as I could, my heart racing. The few clouds in the sky multiplied, and it started to rain. My face was numb from the cold. I tried my saving tactic and his behind the bushes. It didn't work.
I knew it. This was my end. I was going to die. It was pouring now. My face was as wet as it would be if I just went swimming. But they hadn't killed me yet. They just grabbed me and stuffed me in their car. It was a good one. And the strange thing was, none of them had the tattoos. Finally, someone started talking. "Kid, you're in big trouble. That guy who tried to crash into you? There are more of those people out there. But stick with us and you'll be safe. Clear?" I nodded.
Danger levels high, this was it. I would avenge my parents and destroy the beliefs of their killers. I was nervous, but deep inside, a flame ignited. I would put my parent’s names at peace, knowing that they would be avenged. I felt a happiness I had not known for hours.