Paper Cranes

• Lyra Gibbeson, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

Gemma was a lovely kind girl but she had a sad story to tell. Her Dad sadly died when she was a baby so she lived in a house just with her Mum. Gemma and her Mum struggled because they didn’t have much money and they lived in a tiny, cramped apartment. She loved art and craft as her hobby and on her tenth birthday she got some origami paper, and she learned to make paper cranes.

Gemma’s Mum helped her to make paper cranes when she was feeling sad, lonely or afraid, so that when they made the crane the sadness floated away. Making the paper cranes made Gemma feel happier and she always dreamt that they would float into the clouds and her Dad would receive them and hold them close.

Every birthday she would make a paper crane, make a wish and send it to her Dad hoping it would reach him so that he could hold it close. When Gemma turned 12 she found out that her Mum had cancer and she ended up very sick in the hospital. Gemma was really sad but she visited her mum every day with a paper crane in her hand so that she could hold it close. Gemma’s Mum passed away a couple months later, with a paper crane in her hand.

Gemma moved in with her Uncle and Aunty, and every birthday she would still make a paper crane but this time she would send it to both of her parents so that they could hold it close.

The years went by, and now Gemma is a grown up with a husband and three kids of her own. Gemma still makes paper cranes but this time with her family, all the time talking about her wonderful parents and her fondest memories. They all make the cranes together and watch them float away so that her parents can hold them close.