Hope Beyond All Odds

• Amrisha Anshu Mani, Grade 9, Chester Hill High School -
• Short Story
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Horizon of Dreams 2018' competition

Thunder boomed while lightning danced dangerously. Waves tackled me under as goosebumps appeared on my skin. I can’t recall how I ended up over the side of the boat, desperately fighting for much-needed air. I frantically glanced once more to the monstrous storm before I was pulled under as water drastically filled my lungs. I fearfully thought this was my end so I replayed the memories I held close; the good and the bad...
I remember it all. A beautiful world destroyed by brutal humans raging war upon it. No wonder mother nature is so cruel. I remember all the tear-stricken faces, wounded people, wailing children and the chilling sounds of neverending destruction, as the home I once knew fell to the ground in ruins. Grabbed by my mother we fled for the boats with others hoping to escape the sanctuary, which had become hell. I still hear the sound of the single gunshot meant for me, which stole my mother’s life. As if time was mocking me, her body reluctantly fell to the ground. I knelt beside her desperately trying to stop the flow of blood as everything around me became blurry. My eyes watered with unshed tears as I savoured what I knew would be my mother’s last moments.
“Go!” She told me in our native tongue, “Run Astra. You can build a better life, you can find safety.”
Her clothes soaked with blood, staining the dirt below a crimson red. I spared one last glimpse of her now lifeless body as I ran for my life, hoping for a future without war and with peace. I had nothing left of home but the spine-chilling memories and the star-pendant necklace my mother had given me for my last birthday when I turned fourteen.
I recall how she handed me the necklace and asked me, “Astra do you want to know why I love the night so much?”
“Of course,” I had replied curiously.
“I love the night because it reminds me that life can sometimes be full of darkness but like the night disappears and the sun rises, the dark abyss you're in now will disappear and hope is all you’ll know. Hope is strength Astra, remember that forever,” she had whispered.
I was suddenly jolted from my reminiscing as another giant wave swept me under and I tumbled uncontrollably. Finding it hard to breathe as my life painfully diminished, I fought to resurface and looked up one last time to the falling moon, preparing myself to let go of all the pain. Enraptured by the storm; a deadly beauty like this world, I wanted it to be my last memory. As I was about to give up, to finally let go…
I caught a glimpse of light through the endless darkness and in an instance was pulled to a new beginning; a second chance to find the true meaning of home and a life full of hope.