Kites

• Lilah Ding, Grade 3, Ironside State School
• Short Story
• 2021

Finalist in the 'Play On Words 2021' competition

Before the attack, kites fluttered in the sky. Delighted children ran around with them, laughing when their kites crashed into each other. The kindergarten was filled with children drawing and playing. Josh, the kindergarten owner, smiled. It seemed like the perfect day, blue sky and sunshine bright, when suddenly, the sirens wailed. The laughter and chatter stopped. Some children looked at Josh questioningly. Small grey specks in the far distance whizzed into the sky, shaped like arrowheads. Josh realised what was happening. “The giant is going to attack the city! We have to get out of here!” He shouted. The children clutched the kites closely to their chests. Their parents had to still be at work. Josh hurried them onto the street outside. Looking around at their frightened faces, he knew he had to do something. He saw his van parked beside the kindergarten. He packed the children inside, while he heard a roar erupt into the air. ‘Just in time,’ he thought. Across the street, people were yelling and shouting in anxiety as families grouped together, holding anything they could pack into their vehicles. Josh leapt into the van and stepped on the pedal, the sound of the children whispering anxiously to each other echoing through the small space. The vehicle lurched forwards to join the steady stream driving towards the port, where a rescue ship was waiting for them. BOOOOOOOM.
A huge boulder smashed the road where the van was before. If Josh had hesitated for one second, they would be dead. The presence of fear filled the bus as children cried. Josh put the van to maximum speed. Hurtling towards the port of the town, he caught a glance in the window of a giant hulking shape amidst the smoke bombs the fighters above were firing. Josh felt a bolt of fear, urging the bus to go faster.
Josh could see the sky darken, like it was using shadowy shields to block the giant from attacking it. A large stone hurtled towards them. Josh twisted away just in time, but another rock, smaller than the first, caught the fuel tank. Precious black liquid leaked out. “Come on… Only one mile left…” Josh muttered. As if on cue, a large stone barreled into a line of houses, destroying them all. Josh felt another wave of fear and hurtled down the road to the port, where a large ship was waiting. Cars were already driving onto an open ramp ahead. ‘Nearly there,’ Josh thought desperately. They got all the way to the ramp, but then a boulder crashed onto the van, and Josh blacked out.
Bright light spilled onto him. He was lying on a hospital bed. Josh knew he and the kids had made it onboard safely. Kids were playing in a playground. The sea air whipped and whooshed around, perfect for flying kites. And that’s what Josh saw. Kites flying around, with children laughing, like before the attack. Kites, his sign of joy and peace.