A Boy’s War

• Alexander Kitto, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2021

Blaring sirens were coming my way as I snatched a bike from the rack, with sweat pouring down my face. The sound of gunshots rang out in my bleeding ears. Screams of terror echoed through the alleys followed by a deafening “bang!” The fire seemed to be alive, hunting the people down like a lion. I could hear windows shattering as I saw tall skyscrapers collapsing onto vehicles and people in the street.

A man yelled out a warning from his upper shop window, “The Nazis have come! They are back again and are hunting us down like wild tigers so beware of the soldiers! Take care of yourself!”

My entire face was covered with thick dust as I pedalled like never before. Suddenly, I saw a gigantic man with a gun, standing in my way. I begged for mercy “No! Please spare me! I will do anything!” The sound of his heavy boots came in my direction as I covered my face with my arms. A gentle voice whispered “Oh, are you afraid? You can come with me!”

I felt a little more relaxed until his voice went rough. “I am not who you think I am!” With that, he pulled out his pistol and fired several bullets at me. My eardrums were in agony as I just leapt out of the way and sprinted like a cheetah towards a ruined house. The Nazi fired more bullets and I felt one stab into the skin of my arm! I let out a scream of unbearable pain as I heard evil cackling right behind me. I shut myself in an old wardrobe and I could feel spiders crawling around me and cobwebs brushing against me.

I heard loud thumps against the building door. “OPEN UP!” a Nazi outside roared with an ear-splitting order. I then heard gunshots and shattering windows. I made a daring escape through the back door, jumping down into the yard. When I got to the road, I heard a loud BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A large Nazi tank was firing rounds down the street in quick succession as it trundled along. Groups of adults and children were rushing and screaming for their life and people were lying on the ground unconscious and bleeding! Every building was a ruin. Motor cars in our street were replaced with deadly machines of war, and people unable to escape were losing their lives in large numbers!

My situation could not get any worse, until I saw a large black jet flying over our town. I didn’t know if it was friend or foe. As it flew over the city centre about a kilometre away, the bottom of the jet opened and out came out an enormous bomb! A mushroom cloud of smoke was seen over the destroyed office buildings, and the heat and blast ripple started to come towards me! I closed my eyes and realised that in a few seconds, it was Armageddon for our people.