A Danger Rock

• Ruby Robertson, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2019

The Bridge collapsed. It happened so suddenly. The poor old bridge standing for hundreds of years, so many generations was gone, snapped clean in two. Their poor, dear bridge that the Aelle's had drove, or walked, or climbed over so many times was gone. So many families and people alike all died, leaving three survivors, two grown men, fishermen, toughened up by the sea and, Luna, Luna Aelle. Somehow Luna survived, a mystery to everyone, it made the townsfolk of her small-town talk and rumours and whispers travelled around the place like wildfires.
Luna had passed out during the ordeal leaving her memory of the collapse, cloudy and foggy. Slowly the world came into focus and Luna found herself in hospital with a broken leg and a nasty gash on her arm. Then a nurse came in and told her that her mother, her father and her baby sister were not with the few survivors. Then for her the world went dark again.
When she finally woke up she found herself dizzy and disoriented but she managed to stumble out've bed and saw she was no longer in the hospital and was in the middle of a jungle and the so called 'bed' was nothing but a rock, cold and jagged. "Someone's out to get me" thought Luna. "But who?" Soon she was about to find out. A deep rumbling voice seemingly coming from everywhere yet nowhere, "LUNA, LUNA SO GLAD YOU COULD JOIN US" boomed the voice. For one of the first times in her life Luna felt afraid but she put it behind her and hid her fear that made her want to run, scream and cry at the same time behind a mask. A mask of bravery and courage, of valour. she mustered all her anger and cried out
"what do you want?"
"Oh Luna, dear, so much more than you could give us"
"Then why am I HERE? Why ISN'T MY FAMILY!?" Luna wasn't afraid anymore, she was angry, furious. She'd put two and two together and figured these were the notorious villains which killed her family, then they stepped out of the shadows.
"Oh, We are."
"MUM! DAD? HOW? BUT... AND- MAGGIE!" Luna couldn't express how betrayed she felt. how much shock and anger and hatred towards her family. "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!!" Luna then remembered the news how the murders and arsons, it was all her family, even her cute little sister.
"Yes honey and we are here risking our safety for you, this is all for you so, what do you say will you join us?"
"I CAN'T"
"I think you can, because you don't have the guts to hurt your family and I'm sad I can't say the same thing," her father's mouth twisted into a mocking smile.
"Oh yeah," screamed Luna. "Then take this and die!" She was sobbing now as she pulled a rather large jagged sharp rock and made one of the most rash decisions in her life, she flung it. None of them died but 20 minutes later an ambulance took the family to hospital to get treated before going to jail. Something, something on that had changed Luna Aelle for the worst or the better nobody knows, just like nobody really knew what happened on the night where she found herself carrying the burden of her families betrayal. Except now, you do.