Calamity

• Jessica Proctor, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2018

BOOM!
I look up.
A giant, menacing cloud of black smoke is billowing down towards me, enveloping me,
enveloping everything. I squeeze my eyes shut.
This must be a dream, surely?
I open my eyes.
This is a nightmare.
I run.

I hear screams, the whirr of sirens.
Bodies push and shove. Hands grasping for anything solid.
Debris falls to the ground around me.
I trip, landing hard on the asphalt. I try to stand but there’s pain in my leg, it’s unbearable.
Everything’s black.

Does death welcome me?
My eyes flutter open. I scan the room, all the walls are painted bright white, like fresh snow.
I try to get up. I am held down by a heavy hand, it’s the nurse.
“You rest, sweetie.”
Her eyes brim with tears. She hands me a paper.
The headline reads, 911.