Faded Memorys

• Bridie Camm, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2021

The mud squelched under my worn leather boots. A stone path coated in a thick layer of faded green moss and dark brown mulch guided the way. The sticks and leaves snapped and crunched with every step. My legs were soaked to my knees. The stone path thinned until it was no more, signalling that I had reached my destination. The dull flickering torch was barely bright enough to reveal the wreckage of a building that I once called home. The windows were blackened with dust and cobwebs darker than the night sky. Pine trees swayed in the wind. Figures raced in the corner of my eye. Tears blurred my vision making it difficult to see, but my memories guided me to the front door. I had finally made it home.
The place where everything had felt warm, the place where things made sense. The place where my imagination would take me away to amazing new worlds. Our loungeroom would become a palace ball room, our kitchen, would become a 5-star restaurant and my bedroom would become a motel with the best room service! The memories of my beautiful Mum who always brought me ice cream! The memories of a perfect life, until that evening. Red and blue lights lit up the porch. Those dreaded words still echo in my mind. In that moment, my life and everything I'd known was ripped from underneath me. As I stand in amongst the wreckage of all that once was, I wished things would go back to the way they were, but I knew they couldn't, all I have to hold onto now is faded memories.