BELONGING

• Aisha Jamal, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

As the sirens filled the area, my heart overflowed with fear. I was lost and they were coming, coming as fast as ever. I had to do something. I borded the copter and took off, yet I knew they would find me before long. I was horrified, terrified. The truth was always here. I regret it with all my heart but there was no turning back.
If only I hadn't sided with German navy , I would have never ended up in this mess. I could hear the whirring of blades not far behind, as I pondered on how to relieve myself from this mess. That was the last thing I did before it happened.

I felt a powerful surge as the rudder went up in flames. I were falling, tumbling and turning as the chopper sliced through the air with insane speed. My life flashed ahead of me as the essence of death entered my mouth. Clutching onto the nitrogen explosive, I prayed that I lived to tell this tale.
The collision was traumatising. Around me were scattered parts of the air ship. All barely visible due to the cloudy, dark and sandy atmosphere. The smoke and sand surrounding me thickened , trying to swallow me alive. I gasped for air as my lungs filled with contaminated fumes. The struggle to breath worsened but the possibility of survival was even worse as I finally realised my location . Dunes of sand as far as the eye could see. I was stranded in the Sahara.


After what seemed like hours the sand storm finally eased off. That's when it hit me . The atomic was missing. Havoc erupted inside of me as I feared the punishment I would have to serve if I escaped alive. My eyes searched till they poured and my feet walked on till they burned. As my eyes finally fluttered shut.
I awoke to the rumbling and clattering of a moving vehicle. Trapped in a barred, windowless compartment and cuffed to the wall. I sat there hopeless wondering what awaited me.

On the radio was the indistinctive chatter between navy generals. I could make out the voice of Franklin Roosevelt ordering them to demolish the atomic. That was when I realised it was in the hands of my nation's biggest foes.
When the vans finally came to a stop, I was finally let into sunshine, yet only a few strokes passed through the jute covering over my face.

I was then abruptly shoved into a solitary cell. As I was being tormented by the screams and yelps of neighbouring captives all hope was drained out if me.
Suddenly a blinding light was shone on me. "Where am I", I wondered. Reality became a blur and apon hearing my mother's voice, I was relieved, I was exactly where I belonged.