I Wish I Had Listened

• Poppy Donnelly, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2022

I wish I had listened!
I sat in tears on the floor. I was sent out to do a simple mission, and I failed.
My older sister was sitting on the bed beside me, her leg oozing with infection. Next to her was the empty piggy bank, which held a whole $70 this morning. It took us a long time to save up for that, and it would be impossible to do it all over again. Especially with just one person. Elliana’s infected leg had only gotten worse. On Monday she was walking around with a limp, On Tuesday she needed a bit more support. On Wednesday, she just sat out. But today, she couldn’t even get out of bed.

The next few days were really hard. My days got longer and Elliana’s got shorter. I worked 9 hours a day as a cashier in Louis’ Veggie Store. I had two 10-minute lunch breaks and earned about $10 a week. Some would say I was under-payed. I was just grateful that we had something. We had many friends who struggled to put a good, nutritious meal on the table every night. We had some without a home. We knew everyone on the poor side of town. Which was home to about 60-70 people. All super down to earth, except for a few. On the south side of town, there was a black market. They sold everything from food to clothes to medicine. Everything we ever need is only four long kilometers from the village.

The next day was hard. I couldn’t decide whether or not to stay home and take care of Elliana or to go to work so I could afford her medicine. Elliana was ungrateful either way. She hated me. She said it was my fault that a dog attacked her. She said that I was her “unlucky” charm. I don’t care what she says. I know that deep down, she doesn’t actually mean it. In the end, I finally decided to go to work. The sooner I got the medicine, the sooner Elliana would be OK.

When I arrived at work, my boss was waiting for me. I offered to work extra hours because, at this point, we really needed the money. I didn’t know how long Elliana would last without the medicine. The piggy bank contained a total of $57.95 at the moment, only $13.5 left to go. The next few days of work were long. I was now working 11 hours a day. Which meant an extra $4 a week. I went from working about 63 to 77 hours a week, which was a big change, but about 2 weeks later, we could finally afford the medicine.

That morning I lay in bed thinking about what Elliana said to me.
“Always avoid walking through the black market, once you finish purchasing, find the nearest exit.”

But, once I had arrived home from the market, the medicine was gone.

I wish I had listened.