World War 3

• Mason Catto, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

I hardly remember how to write it’s been so long but I’m glad that Madam Wilson gave me this book to write in. It’s been 11 months since the war started, my home was the first place they attacked. The Germans rounded us all up, they told us not to mess around otherwise we will be shot. They raided our homes and stole everything. Everyone had to empty their pockets. There were only 2 Germans, but they were armed, but I didn’t think twice, and I kicked one in the back of their head knocking him out. That was probably one of the dumbest moves I could have done. The other German grabbed me by the neck, I kicked out and he dropped me. I could only say one word to my town: “Run.” Then I kicked the German in the head and ran off. I found an abandoned home where I hunted to survive for the next 11 months. I started a spy network here, I heard it had travelled all the way to England. It was called the Last Wish or LW to keep it safe; you only know very few people. I lived there until I heard Germans rounding people up, I came out of hiding and ran. I heard footsteps behind me but they ended up giving up. I ran for 2 days before collapsing at this village. Luckily Mary found me and brought me to Madam Wilson. Shortly after that I woke up. I told Madam Wilson and Mary everything; they decided I could stay. They introduced me to everyone, there were 9 people including me. The other people were Madam Wilson and Grandma (Germans made sure we called anyone over 60 Grandma or Big Sister and Little Sister when they’re under 60, but the only one that stuck was Grandma). Mary was my age 10, Walter was 12, Edward and Alice were twins and are 8, William is 14, Dorothy is 6 and me Charles. Hopefully I can write in you tomorrow. Today I had to go to school, it’s different from how I remember - you have lunch there, you still learn the basics from school like Maths and you go to school on Sundays, but you can just play games all day. We have food at our house but just not enough to have 3 meals each day. As I slept, I wondered what had happened to my family, had they died, had they lived; for now I will have to live on. Today is Saturday so we decided to collect chestnuts, berries and wood for a fire. This night I notice Grandma, Mary, Walter and William sneaking out at curfew. I decided I would follow them, they went inside a house where I confronted them and it turns out they are part of the LW organisation and are sharing news about a new weapon the Germans are bringing to war to fight Australia.