Lest We Forget

• Charlie Tei, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2019

“Hey, Grandad,” asked Oliver as he sat down beside him on the squeaky veranda. “What was the war like?”
“It was the most horrible time of my life,” began Grandad as he peered over into the distant horizon. “All I wanted to do was to go on an adventure around the world, but it was not what I thought it was at all. My spine shivered with agonising pain as icy cold raindrops slowly trickled down my back as we raced to the battlefield. The thunder boomed at us as if it was telling us to go back. Fear was rushing through my aching bones as I thought this might be the end.

I could smell the odour of thick smoke and fresh blood as I dashed around to avoid the deadly balls of lead shooting across the sky, and the explosions that seemed to be coming from everywhere. There was a deafening sound in my ears and they seemed to be ringing.”

“That sounds awful!”exclaimed Oliver.
“It was but that wasn’t the worst bit of it,” continued Grandad. “My hands trembled with fear and guilt as I harshly pulled the trigger of my gun. It felt agonising as I watched the man slowly stagger to the ground with dark red liquid leaking out of the side of his petrified face. Tears were streaming down my cheeks mixing with blood as I stared at man who’s life I had just ended. And then it happened BANG!! I felt a sharp blinding pain in the side of my back. I’d been hit! I doubled over and screamed at the top of my lungs the pain was so unimaginably unbearable it felt like I’d been stabbed over and over and then burned alive. My heart was beating faster then a metronome at full speed and my lungs were taking in oxygen rapidly. This is it I thought to my self, this is how I’m going to die. I thought about giving up, but then I thought about Mary and the kids, I couldn’t leave them. I started to get up, but then everything went black…”
“What happened?” asked Oliver.
“I blacked out,”answered Grandad.
“Oh, what happened after that?” wondered Oliver.
“I had been captured,”went on Grandad. “They took me into an underground bunker and tortured me for information. That’s how I lost my two back teeth, eventually they gave up and put me in a cell.”

After two years of being imprisoned there I had finally had enough and thought of a way to escape. Unfortunately some of my cell mates that were helping me escape were caught and shot immediately.

After that I came all the way back to England and spent the rest of my life with Mary.”
“War sounds awful,” stated Oliver.
“It was awful,” replied Grandad. “It was the worst experience of my life.”
“I hope I never have to go to war,”worried Oliver.
“I hope so to but I’m afraid to say that the world’s forgetting again.”