Tallangatta

• Maximus Van Leeuwen, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2021

A family of five were driving from Melbourne to see their Grandparents in Tallangatta for Christmas. This family had the Mum and dad and their three kids. It was early morning and everyone was freezing and preparing themselves for the 4-hour trip ahead of them. After a long 4 hours of fussing and complaining, they made it to their Grandparent’s house. Everyone was excited and happy to see each other, as this was the first time they have seen each other in 3 years.

The house was a wooden two-story house that had been around for many years even before their grandparents moved into it and it was located in deep bushland, and a sun-baked terrain accompanied with extreme heat. Throughout the day it started to get hotter and hotter so the family went down to the local lake for a swim. After hours of boiling hot weather, it started to rain so they headed back for a Christmas dinner, there was a giant chicken breast and salad all around. Before bed, they set up the carrots and cookies for Santa and his reindeers.

While everyone fast asleep it started to rain thunder and lightning, the trees were swaying back and forth, sparks were flying from the raging storm, the sparks were causing fires at the treetops, the roots were cracking. Due to all this outrageous weather, a tree falls down right in front of the house while on fire. The fire alarm inside goes off, everyone wakes up in panic, BANG! Another tree falls down on the house while on fire and goes straight through the middle. The kids are crying in their rooms unable to get out while the flames are blazing, the parent's door is blocked but there is a window so they jump out to get help, while the grandparents are too fragile to jump out their window, this makes them and the kids blocked. The parents left their phones in the room so they have no choice but to scream into the abyss hoping someone hears them, but no one would, they were in the middle of nowhere.

The Dad is left with no choice but to run into the house and attempt to rescue everyone and get help. He quickly grabs an axe from the sheds and runs in swinging to break through all the collapsing wood planks, he hears screams and cries at the top of the stairs. He sprints up the stairs slamming the kid's rooms door open grabbing them and bringing them safety. As soon as they get outside the whole roof collapses, while the grandparents are still inside, there is no way to get in as the whole house is destroyed and burnt to a crisp. The local fire department finally arrived, unfortunately, there was no apparent remains of the families grandparents.

They end up getting help from the local fire department, and they can't find the remains of the grandparents.