Up In Smoke
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Evie Scoble, Grade 9
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Short Story
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2018
You may think you understand how I feel but you don’t, you don’t get how bad it can be, you think you do, but you just don’t. I lost my house and all my belongings in a fire, so I really do know what it feels like for someone to lose their special things, their special memories in a matter of a few hours. I used to live in a home but now I live in a house. Will it always be like this, I just don’t know. I saw things that I never thought I would ever see, it was scary and maybe I was dreaming. But soon I realised it was real, the smell, the colours, the sound of nothing from our front yard that normally had a healthy orange tree and children playing was different and weird. It was strange that how one day can make a difference. I woke up in my home and never returned to the home that I grew up in.
I soon learned about the history of the house meant, others who lived in the home before me felt a similar feeling. They lost memories too. I also learnt the hard truth about that saying, “Things can happen for a reason,” because all that stuff - the toys and things we had are not that important, it is family, being safe. Having too much is maybe not what life is about after all.
People told me that stuff you can replace but family you can’t. So, I still have the memories and my family and what makes a home, people or things?... I think PEOPLE do and I am thankful in a way for the experience.