Ngaio Gulli

• Sienna Ellis, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2020

The hall was an eerie silent. The stillness of it all sent a sharp shiver up her spine. Sweat pooled down the sides of her cheek. She knew she was alone in this gloomy hall, but the doors beyond held her worst fear: Humans. They had destroyed her home, the place she had grown up in. They had pulled her away from her family. They had taken her to this torturous place, a place where she had no idea how to act. She knew she had no other choice than to escape, this night may have been her last chance. Summoning her last breath, she pushed the great hallway door open with a heave. Not daring to look back, she followed her feet out the door and ran, hoping to forget it all.

It wasn't that easy escaping the camp. First, held the impossible mission of scaling the walls. If, then, for some miracle, you made it past that, then there was the challenge of the dogs. If you accomplished all that, then, you would have to run. Hundreds of miles, all the way back home. For Lowanna, this was a walk in the park, compared to living a life in the concentration camp. The only thing that presented a challenge was that no matter how fast she ever ran, they would catch up to her and kill her. Ones that ran away were found, taken to the gas chambers and never seen again. This was no hit and miss, it was life and death. Lowanna pulled in a deep breath, collected courage, and started scaling the wall...

The towering concrete wall was no match for the sturdy legs and arms Lowanna was gifted with. In the blink of an eye, she was at the top. From the height, she could see ten ravenous rottweilers circling th’e ground. They looked starved, and Lowanna knew all they needed was one glance at her and she was mincemeat. Quietly, she walked on the wall, searching for a spot not featuring the murderous dogs. Seeing a spot, she whizzed down the wall, and her and her tiny feet ran as fast as she could. She had a head start on them, but they would know she was gone. She had to hurry.

Australian bushland flashed by her and she heard the sounds of horse's hooves galloping behind her. They had found her campsite; they knew she was nearby. She was hungry, thirsty and beyond tired. But she was close to home. If they didn't find her now, she was as close as ever to her to seeking the safety of the Aboriginal community. With one final burst of energy, Lowanna flung herself onto the open plains, and seeing her family, shouted “Ngaio gulli!” Strong hands lifted her up, and she knew she was safe, at last.

This is a story about the stolen generation, in Australia, in 1910-1970. Thousands of Half aboriginal, half English children were forcefully taken from their family’s and taken to work and learn to be “Proper people”. This was only stopped in 1970, only 50 years go. This tells us how we need to treat all people right.