Old Days

• Sophie Mchugh, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2018

“Ahh, I remember when we lived on the ground,” said Noah as he reminisced.
“Have I ever told you about that story Liam?”
“No, I don’t think you have Grandpa, why? Wouldn’t it have been so boring anyway?”
“Clearly you haven’t heard anything,” Noah stated.
Noah started to tell his tale. “I remember those days like it was yesterday. They were filled with fun, joy and trouble during the 30000’s. My best memory was when I would meet my mates Timothy and Jeremy on a Saturday for a regular boxing match against each other. We’d usually do it on the trampoline until one day…..Jeremy moved away. It was devastating and it was his trampoline that we used so Timothy and I had to create something else.”
“At first we started to use mattresses; well at least before Tim got stuck under it! By this time both Timothy and I were 16 years old so we started to use the boxing ring at the gym, and we each had a personal trainer.”
“Wait a second are you talking about Great Uncle Tim?” Liam questioned.
“Yeah,” Noah replied.
“Anyway, it was getting towards the end of the year and we were organising a big match that the whole town would be able to watch and when it came the day everyone was there and Tim and I were as excited as we could be. During the match I caught a glimpse of a person I recognised, but I didn’t know who. As soon as I turned my head back to Tim he had a full forced fist in my face. He had given me major concussion and knocked me out cold. I woke up a day later in the hospital and I saw the person from the crowd standing right in front of me and I realised it was Jeremy. He came to give us good luck for the match which didn’t turn out that well. Jeremy had been studying architecture over in Sydney and he had seen the match advertisement on ‘HoverHouse’ or as we used to call it ’Facebook 10000’. This was our first meeting in five years and he had changed a lot. Unfortunately, for Tim and I he was no longer a close friend.”
“But Grandpa. How did you get up here then?” Liam asked
“Good question, over five long and tiring years Timothy and I pursued our career in boxing and eventually the government approached us and offered us and our families a free ticket to the new sky community. They said there could be risks but Tim and I were willing to take them.”
“Wow, it sounds awesome to live on the ground. Could we visit there Grandpa?” Liam wondered.
“Of course not. Earth died 20 years ago,” Noah sighed.
“I wish I could go back there every single day and I regret skipping chances when I was there,” Noah stated with tears running down his face...