Journey Back Home
Shanghai Community International School , Atladottir , Jiang Tara - 9
I n a small village , a little girl was running away from home . There were soft whispers in her head , “ Why are you running away ?” Honestly , she didn ’ t really know . Maybe it was because she just wanted a break from her normal life , but back to the story . This little girl ’ s name was Charlotte , and on this day , she was running away . She was just about to reach the forest when she heard someone shouting her name .
“ Ugh . Not again !” she said . You see , she had tried running away many times , even though she was only eleven years old . She was always stopped by her parents or one of her three older brothers when she tried to get to the forest . This time her father stopped her . “ What are you doing Charlotte ?” he asked , as if she had never run away before . “ Running away ,” she replied casually . “ Never ever do that again !” said her father , but he had said that many , many times . Charlotte never listened to him . “ I won ’ t ,” she said . Her father raised an eyebrow . “ I promise ,” she said .
Two days later Charlotte broke that promise and ran away again , but this time she didn ’ t run towards the forest . This time she ran towards a lake on the other side of the village . “ This is going to work !” she said to herself confidently . She stopped at the lake and thought about how to get across . Her jet-black hair shined as the sun and the moon switched places . She finally settled with the idea she liked best : she swam across the tiny lake .
That night she slept uncomfortably under a tree with the sweater her grandmother made for her on her tenth birthday as a blanket and her hat as a small pillow . The next morning , Charlotte woke to the sound of birds chirping and decided to keep moving . She ran for a while , not realizing how far she was going . She decided to take a break and look for food . Then , in the distance she saw a train slowing down . Taking her chance to get in , Charlotte ran towards it . Not knowing what she was doing , she decided to climb onto a part of the train that matched the color of her black hair . She crawled into a corner and looked at her surroundings ; she had to admit that she was a bit scared ! Inside the train were boxes . Charlotte searched the boxes to see if she could find food . She thought about her family and wondered if they were worried about her and if they went to look for her in the forest . Finally , after checking many of the boxes she found one that contained food and water . “ Where do I put the food ?” she thought . She looked through a few more boxes and found sewing equipment and fabric . Using the skills her grandmother had taught her , she sewed the fabric into a bag and thought of her family even more , and how they laughed together at times and how they all loved her . She suddenly missed them so much ! She ate the food and kept the leftovers in the bag .
Charlotte was silent until the train stopped , and she quickly climbed out and started running . She stopped when she came to another lake that , unlike the lake in her village , was very wide and long . She couldn ’ t swim across it , and she had to stop for the night . She was about to lay down by a tree when she saw a small cottage . Without stopping to think , Charlotte ran towards it . She stopped at the front door and knocked very softly — nobody answered . She knocked again — still nobody answered ! Then she knocked on the door with all her might — BOOM ! CRASH ! The door fell right down ! She slowly and carefully walked into the very , very small house . It was only one room ! “ Hello ?” she said . “ Hello ?!” She repeated it a little too loudly the second time and woke a tiny creature inside . It was a cat . Charlotte thought the cat was ready to attack , and she panicked and held her bag in front of her . Then , she slowly tiptoed towards the cat and patted it with her fingers gently . The cat seemed calm and relaxed . All of a sudden , Charlotte felt super tired , so she laid on the floor next to the cat and fell asleep . She dreamed that she was running back home to see her parents who had turned into monsters .
Charlotte woke suddenly from her nightmare and realized she hadn ’ t eaten any food since the train ride . She took out the left over food from her bag and ate it slowly , not forgetting to give the cat some . Strangely , as Charlotte looked down at the cat , she thought she heard it say three words : “ Journey back home .” Charlotte could tell that the cat was trying tell her something , but before she could understand , the cat disappeared .
To calm herself down , Charlotte sang her favorite song to herself in the mirror . She put her hand against it , but instead of feeling the hard cold mirror , she fell right through it ! She felt herself falling and then in a split second she was laying on the ground . She slowly stood up and saw a winter wonderland in front of her . The snow was soft but cold against her skin . The delicate snowflakes were falling , and each one was different .