Alone

• Isra Ahmad, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2021

The feeling that all the people around you are wild hyenas who have just taken away your entire family was the worst one that a seven-year-old boy could have ever felt. He was alone, very alone in the wilderness of the amusement park, and little Timothy Brown knew it.

The whole place stopped in time as Timothy, tears rolling down his cheek like pieces of glass, pushed dozens of people out of his way. His voice was cracking with every step and breath that he took. All he really wanted was to have a nice birthday and ride the bumper cars, which he was now old enough to drive. But now, to Timothy, the cars were fierce jaguars that had made this special day unliveable.

It was a millenium before the fading paint on all speakers came to life and explained that there was only ten minutes left until the enormous park closed and that everyone should immediately head towards the exit gates. Disastrous thoughts were running around Timothy’s head. “What if they left without me? What if they thought I was already in the car? What if they got zapped to a different dimension by aliens!”

The feeling that all the hyenas and jaguars that took away your family gave them back because your brother won a wrestling match against a lion was the best one that a seven-year-old named Timothy Brown had felt in his entire life. As the gentle hand of his mother landed on his shoulder, Timothy cried and cried tears of pure happiness and relief. Never again would he decide to leave his mother’s grasp and wander around the amusement park alone because now, Timothy was safe.