The flood

• Elinor Irvine, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2004

The Flood.

Shouts and screams sounded around me, and I watched helplessly as smaller trees collapsed slowly into the brown water. I swayed dangerously, expecting to crash into the water myself, but recovered quickly and grabbed hold of a small tree, praying that it would hold. I felt terrified as I watched the churning, gurgling water sweep past me, threatening to pull me under with it. Hot, salty tears slid down my face as I saw animals, dead and alive, being pulled along with the deadly current. Some were struggling vigorously while others lay still. I struggled to pull myself up the tree I was holding, and cursing my self for not trying harder in P.E classes. I desperately wished I had stronger arm muscles, just enough to haul myself to safety. I knew I wouldn’t make it, but didn’t have enough courage to just give up. I cried harder as I saw a lifeless child being dragged along by the current, and wondered desperately when I would be like that, just a cold body being dragged along by dirty brown water, logs and other debris sweeping past me. Sharp sticks and jagged pieces of metal cut into my legs, while stones and other heavier objects crushed my feet. I saw a large cement block hit the tree I was holding. I forced my feet onto it and prayed it was high enough to help me up the tree. I jumped, hoping that my hands would reach the branch above me. They did, but my fingers were already tired from grasping the tree so tightly. I managed to hold on but only just. I pulled my bruised feet from the water and stretched my legs towards the roof of the toolshed. I pulled my exhausted body to a sitting position on the roof, and stared down at my bare thighs, thinking of how well my year ten formal was going until the rain got too heavy.

I recalled the joy people expressed when they heard the heavy rain battering the roof of the school hall. As the formal came to an end, some students were walking out into the rain, ignoring the yells of the teachers to stay inside. Jasmine and I collected our bags and walked out the entrance. I looked down at my black and pink satin dress, and wisely kept under the roof, remembering how expensive it was. Than Bobby pushed me forwards, expecting me to regain my balance quickly as I always did. But this time the ground was slippery, and I was wearing high heels. The next thing I knew my face was under the water and I was being tugged away by the strong currents.

A huge jolt shook my whole body, and I started slipping down the wet toolshed roof. The last thing I saw was the toolshed crumbling on top of me through the brown murky water, then my eyes closed and I stopped thinking.