A New Life

• Carson Chong, Grade 2
• Short Story
• 2022

I woke up in confusion, wondering where I was. I hauled myself up to see what was going on. I saw many other people lying in beds and I suddenly realised I was in a hospital. There were many tools around me and I saw doctors everywhere. I saw a doctor standing beside me.

“I am Dr. Meg,” she introduced. “Your house was struck by lightning, and you fell unconscious. Fortunately, there were no major injuries. Just a few bruises and wounds but they will eventually heal,” he told me.

“Where’s my family?” I asked.

“Your sister survived, however your parents did not,” he answered. Droplets of tears formed in my eyes and I started to cry, extremely depressed. I saw my sister in another bed, but that barely helped. I continued sobbing, harder than I ever had. Despite my sadness, I started to calm down. I was in mourning.

The doctor soon said, “You will have to stay here for a night and then you can go,” he said. Except, where was I going to go? My house had been struck by lightning. I guess I just had to wander in the forest.

A night past and it was time for me to go. I thanked the doctor with appreciation and left. I wandered through the forest for a while with only my backpack. It had nothing but pieces of meat in it. After a while, I heard barking, coming from far ahead. I kept walking to figure out what was going on. I started sprinting after a while, until I reached the place the barking was coming from. I looked down to see four dogs looking at me. They looked fierce, hungry and adorable. I fed them some slices of meat and they gobbled them down. They looked keen to be kept by me. I started walking but they followed. I actually was fine with them joining me. I did need a bit of company anyway. So I set off. I figured I could use them as my protection. As time passed, our bonds grew stronger. I could even understand them and they could understand me just as well.

This went on for years, and soon we were a strong pack. Even though my family was gone, I had found a new one.