The Path that Lay Ahead
Kennedy School , Gunning Garcia , Eva – 10
I
stood there shaking . The planes overhead dropping an unknown object . Getting a glimpse of the white flag in the distance . I remembered learning that white was a peaceful color but this white had a red circle in the middle . Maybe running away from the orphanage had been a bad idea . I trembled at the memory of the whip and the ruler that very morning ; we had been treated unfairly and inhumanely in that forsaken place . The war had been going on for a number of years now and to most people it felt like it was never going to stop .
I could feel the bombs getting closer . It was raining heavily and I was getting wet and cold as I had been walking for a while now so I thought I could maybe take a break . I inched away from my hiding spot in the corner of the local restaurant , well it used to be a local restaurant until a bomb had hit it , square in the center , where people used to get proposed to on a chilly Valentine ' s day evening . Just thinking about it makes my heart shatter into a million pieces .
Scanning the land like a radar I found possible areas to hide . I finally detected some debris high enough to shelter me from the rain . I did not want the bombers to see or target me . I sprinted as fast as I could to get under the shelter . Out of breath , I felt around in the hole in my coat looking for the locket that my mother had given me before she died during the horrid wars of Shanghai . I felt terrified , and the picture made me feel strong again .
I tore my eyes away from the image and started looking longingly at all the families running away from the small village we lived in ; they all had parents . I quickly snapped out of my sudden daydream and , coming back to my senses , out of the blue I realized that I was not getting hit by the rain . I looked around astonished : I was in a temple . The temple that my mother was buried in . I could feel the tears welling up .
How had I ended up here ? In my mind this temple had been so far away from the orphanage : a short rickshaw ride with one of the supervisors . In this flattened , other-worldly place , now in pieces- that journey had been halved . Exploring , I spotted a cracked mirror taking a glimpse of my reflection and thinking to myself that I was no longer the little sweet boy in the orphanage ’ s annual photo . I made a beeline straight for my mother ' s gravestone . In that one place , and one moment I knew I was safe . Safe from the bombs , the war and the soldiers and that ' s when I knew I was going to make it out alive , for my mother and for me .
Just then out of the blue , a shadowy figure jumped out from under the rubble .“ What do you want ? I don ' t have anything ” I stutterd . A woman ’ s figure came out of the shadows at a leisurely pace dodging all the bits of stone and debris on the ground . She was walking haltingly , and you could see the blood oozing out from her fleshy skin . “ Hello ? Who ' s there ?” The seemingly young women croaked .
“ It ' s just me I ... I won ' t do anything ” I said reproachfully . The woman just looked at me with her unspoken eyes . It felt like they were tearing into my skin . Just as she inched closer to me and my mother ' s grave there was a big crash and a bomb hit the smooth temple floor flattening the women and my mother ' s grave .
I just watched as all of this unfolded , like the oragami paper we used to do back home . The tears were spilling uncontrollably like a waterfall . “ Why ?” I cried , questioning my sanity . I lifted my frail legs and slowly started dragging my body towards the exit . I finally reached the exit to the temple raised my head hoping to feel the fresh breeze of Shanghai but instead breathing in the smoke and the fog of the once beautiful city .
Shaking , I lifted my body and started limping , not knowing where I was going , but determined to go somewhere . As I was going , well hell knows where I was going , I had a faint deja vu . I looked around and yes , there it was … the orphanage . I was shocked . I did not perceive that I was going to end up in the orphanage . I looked back at the journey I had made . Not recognizing a single landmark . Then I thought to myself , how about if this was my fate ? I stepped inside the orphanage , just to find out that it was deserted . No one was there . I looked around and found one of these leaflets , probably a propaganda poster . But to be sure I went ahead and stepped closer to read it . And to my surprise I read it and it stated : The war is over . We are saved !. And I just grinned .