Volcano

• Josh Triplett, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2018

It was a time everyone had been dreading for decades. The eruption of the mighty mountain Vesuvius shook the Earth as a flash of silvery lightning streaked across the shadowy sky. Nature had finally decided that it would release its wrath on the world. A torrent of bubbling, blazing lava billowed from the volcano and descended down the mountain with increasing momentum. Ash clouds swarmed like bees around a flower. The sky rained lava and rocks, pelting down on anything in range, showing no mercy whatsoever.
I stood thunderstruck at the window gazing in awe at the volcano with my feet rooted to the ground. If it weren't for the dusty smoke rapidly filling my lungs I would've stayed there and watched. I scrambled up the rickety stairs and burst through my door into my bedroom. I grabbed my backpack and only put the things that I would definitely need in it. I cantered back downstairs to find my parents already halfway out the door. I bolted after them and when I caught up, I fired all the questions in my mind at them, "Is this the first time Vesuvius has erupted in your life?" and "Why did you leave without me?" They didn't answer a single question.
We had been running for what seemed like an eternity. My legs felt like jelly, my lungs were screaming for air and my head had a thumping headache. I was wishing that everything that just happened was a dream and that I would wake up warm, relaxed and safe in my bed. My dad signalled for us to stop which I did gratefully, then we turned on our heels to survey our town. Fire. Lava. Wreckage. Death.
We stood there for a few minutes hardly managing to take it all in. I couldn't believe it. My home was gone. I could see how dismayed my parents were despite their trying to hide it. "We have to find somewhere to shelter," my dad said breaking the eerie silence. We solemnly agreed and continued our trudging through the wilderness hoping to see a town sometime soon.
As the gloomy shadows began to lengthen and fade, the icy wind crept up anything, anywhere. Then, I saw it. A light. Barely visible, but there. It had to be a town.
"Mum, Dad!" I cried urgently, "Look over there, I think there are lights!"
My dad leapt to his feet with speed I never knew he had.
"What are you waiting for?" he asked my mum and I, "Let's go."
With my feet pounding the forest floor, my excitement immediately began to increase. Was this a new start? How would they treat us? I couldn't think anymore. ‘Just follow mum and dad,' I thought to myself.