Oceana And The War

• Ava Frintzilas, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2021

Cramped inside the cave, her heart pounded louder than a lion’s roar, as she heard gun shots getting closer to her tiny hideout. Tears were rolling down her cheek, pain flowing through her body. Oceana's life was scarred by fighting, screams and injuries. Living half her life in the field was the worst decision of her life. The violence she had been exposed to, could never be forgotten. Four months ago, she turned fourteen, with her parents discourage she decided to pretend she was eighteen, so she could join the army and prove to her parents that she wasn’t the carbon copy of her brother Liam, but she was herself, her true self. Oceana was desperate to prove to her family that she was a brave and worthy young woman. Her courage was about to be tested on this day when she was faced with the ultimate fight for survival.


Camouflaged in the dark and gloomy cave, she took cover from the sea of bullets. The soldier crept closer to Oceana until he got to the opening of the hole. Before the soldier could ambush her, Liam threw a sharp rock at the soldier to distract him. Oceana ran as fast as she could, beads of sweat trickling down her cheeks. Her body felt as heavy as bricks and it took all Oceana’s energy and willpower to escape from the cave. Oceana’s life depended on this. No giving up now.


“Bam!” Her heart raced. Was that her brother? Tears bolted down the teenager’s face, in fear for her brother’s life. The words from her parents flashed through her head.
“You’re a carbon copy of Liam. Be better Oceana, you’re worthless!”
“I don’t know why we even try to help her. She isn’t going to ever be better than our Liam.”
She ran out of the tiny space and looked around. Her face turned a ruby red. She thought, this is what I want to do, this is what I came here for. She saw the soldier sprint to another rock ready to fire at her, but Oceana was prepared for this moment. She aimed her gun and Blast! The soldier collapsed to the ground.

She ran to look for her brother. Oceana searched for him in fear worrying that Liam was gone. She heard a loud breath of relief behind a boulder. Using all her might she carefully looked around the rock to see.... Her big brother, there he was. Looking into the distance and replaying exactly what happened in his head, when Oceana took the last soldier out. Oceana hugged her brother tighter than a bear. Suddenly everything her parents had said to her disappeared. Nothing mattered now, that she was ok. She had finally proven that she was an independent and fearless woman. She felt like she had just won 10,000 trophies at once. The weight had just been lifted off her shoulders. She is NOT a carbon copy of Liam and she could prove it!