Attack!

• Tanish Krishna, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2021

Boom! A bomb goes off. I wake up, shocked. I kick off my blanket and hurry to my parents’ bedroom. I kick open the door. I slam the light switch on and ferociously yell at the top of my voice, “Mum! Dad! Wake up, the Nazis are here!” They stir, unaware of the danger we are in. I shake them with all my might. “W-what?” my dad asks me sleepily, his eyes barely open. “We’re under attack!” I bellow. They come to their senses. Throwing the blanket ruthlessly to the ground, they follow me to the back garden Anderson shelter. We hurry into the confined and cramped space. Breathing heavily, we try to make ourselves comfortable. “Thanks for waking us up son.” my mum says to me, now wide awake. “No problem,” I mumble, trembling, a hint of horror in my voice. The incredibly deafening noise of the air raid siren starts. I can hear shouts from my neighbours. Suddenly, a machine gun starts firing. Aah! A blood curdling scream fills the night and suddenly stops. I look at my parents, terrified. Every inch of me wishes this was just a dream, and when I wake up everything will be normal. Boom! Another bomb explodes. My hands shaking, I take a black rock from the dirt floor. I toss it around in my hands, looking at it fiercely to distract me from the terror outside. I can suddenly hear creaking, a piece of wood from the dirty, small, and sodden wet shelter is dangling sideways. It lands with a crash suddenly, and everything goes black...
I wake up and look around, confused. Then it all comes back to me. I remember the terrifying events of last night. I can see my dad, tears rolling out his panic stricken face. “Dad,” I say. He avoids my stare. “Dad,” I repeat myself. He looks at me and says, “Your mum went to fetch water from the house a few hours ago, and she still is not back.” Determined not to accept this sad news, I snatch a gas mask from the shelf. “No son!” my dad cries. I ignore him, I am not going to rest until I find my mother. I head out. “Wait,” he says, “I’ll come.” He grabs another gas mask and we head outside. Will we find my dear mother, or will I just have to accept she is gone? I gulp. I look in shock at my neighbourhood. Most of the houses are damaged, lifeless bodies are lying down in the streets. I divert my eyes from this ghastly, tragic and terrorising scene. The sky is hazy, dust is flying everywhere. I look at our house. A chunk of the garage is missing, half of the roof is not there and some windows are shattered. The door creaks open. We look inside. Furniture is overthrown, and spread all over the room. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spot my mum. SHE IS ALIVE!