Once And Forever

• Umayeer Alam, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2020

Out here, there is no hope, it is not a part of our culture to believe in such nonsense. Life here is rough, difficult and it is not what it used to be. Here I live with only my family, 3 large buildings divided between the 7 families. I still remember the beginning of my childhood, when things used to be fun, when we could have fun. But ever since that day, everything changed. We used to be able to run around outside, chase chickens, catch butterflies, and do the things kids enjoy the most. Now we are stuck indoors, not even allowed a centimeter outside of the front door. I can only imagine what life would be like if things were still normal, if my mum hadn’t stopped believing in hope.
I remember the stories my mum used to tell us, they were always about hope and believing in a good future. When we heard about the fire tearing up our nation, my mum would tell us not to worry. She would say things like, “we just need to stay strong and there will always be hope” or “don’t worry, the fire won't come near us, we will be safe, I know it”. She always had hope, and because of this, she was able to strive in life. She always had faith. But that day, when the fire was at our doorstep, things changed. Our home was gone, everything we had was gone and with that, everything we believed in perished. Hope was burnt to the ground, all that remained was fear.
Am I different? My siblings, my cousins, they all learned to follow the ways of my mother, to live in fear. However, do I want to be different? I can not help but wonder what adventures I would be going on if life was different. I like the thought of being different, and I am not afraid of believing. All my life I was taught to believe in hope, to have faith. Faith is about believing; it always has been about believing. You don’t know when or how it will happen, but you know it will. I don’t know what happened to my family, I never will understand why they chose to live in fear when they could have started a new life.
I sat down by the window. I noticed a beam of light come through and shine upon my feet. This brought me to remember who I am, and what my name means. Dillon means a ray of hope, and I’ve got a dream to make a change, to change how we are living, because I know hope is not a dream, but a way of making dreams become a reality.