Terror

• Micah Baldwin, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2018

The sun sank below the dust bowl of a town ending yet another day of struggle. Their small town on the outskirts of Afghanistan had been cut off from food and water supplies for months now. Ever since the Taliban had taken over things had been different, the town used to bustle with business, travellers from foreign regions appeared regularly providing the town with unique culture from foreign lands but now all of that was gone. Most villagers returned to their homes exhausted from a lack of food and a rough day of hard labour. The minority of the village stayed outside trading what they had for warmth and food.
Slowly but steadily a faint buzzing noise filled the open night sky. People stopped talking to stare at into the sky in terror. Parents snatched their children from bed and the light was cut leaving the town in a dark silence. The buzzing grew louder and louder before it the sound took shape of a large plane. The attack was highly anticipated and evacuation drill was practised almost daily but now the moment was here there was nothing but chaos. Babies screamed, and a cacophony of shouts smashed through the silence like a sledgehammer. The planes began the final stretch.
Early the next morning the aftermath of the town was a smouldering wreckage and yet another example of the fear and terror that surrounded the world.