Stolen Days

Date: 18.10

Time: 9:47pm

It started off with just a few bullets, nothing that was unheard of. It could’ve been anything, a person hunting in the forest, someone shooting a fox that had come to feed on their chickens, even just the sound of an old car starting up; no one was concerned. This is the stuff they hear every day, nothing out of the ordinary, just your typical country life; how were we to know that it would lead to the events that followed that day of spilt blood?

  They came in hundreds until their population well exceeded ours, and it wasn’t long until our small town was swarming with soldiers in uniforms, shooting anyone who went in their way. The only people that were being spared of death were the children, the ones they had come for, the ones being taken. I stared from my window, watching the people that I’d grown up with be murdered in front of me, or dragged away from their families if they were young. Before long the only things on the streets were blood-covered corpses of my neighbours, and those who had caused their deaths.

  They hadn’t begun searching the houses yet, so that’s where the survivors fled. I ran from the window and hid in a cupboard under the sink, heart racing and tears streaming down my face. I sat there, waiting for someone to come through the door. My mother hadn’t returned. She went out before the invasion began, and I hadn’t seen her since. My younger sister had gone with her, and there wasn’t any sign of her either. I sat under the sink, praying that they were both okay, I don’t know what I’d do if they weren’t.

  A gunshot erupted outside as a woman’s scream was heard just outside my house. It wasn’t a familiar voice, but whoever it was now slept in silence. A child’s cry destroyed the silence as running footsteps came stomping closer to the source and the noise gradually got further and further away. I crept from my hiding place and looked out beyond my window at the two soldiers that were dragging the young boy, kicking and screaming, away from his dead mother.

  I looked at the motionless woman lying on the floor outside my house. She was young, no older than 25. Her clothing stated that she was a tourist, or at least didn’t usually live here. That thought stuck in my mind for the remainder of the day. She wasn’t even meant to be here. She and her son were just passing through the time the slaughtering began. They have family somewhere that won’t know what’s happened to them, and are expecting them to come home, but they never will.

This is it, the beginning of the end for my town. So now I write the events of these days and nights in my book so that somehow, if anyone survives this hell, they can remember all those who died during these days, and keep them in memory.

Deaths Known:

Tourist Woman

Steve Harrison (Shopkeeper)

Sarah Walters (Neighbour)

Locals X2

People Taken:

Tourist Woman’s Son

Children X3

 

Date: 19.10

Time: 7:24am

The sound of cars outside jerked me awake from the room underneath the floorboards where I’d slept the night before. My dreams consisted only of gunshots and the faces of those I’d seen dead the previous day. The fear of soldiers smashing into my house and discovering me kept me from a peaceful sleep, but then again, how could any sleep be peaceful after the events that had changed my life in a matter of minutes?

  8:49am

It had begun again. The sound of screaming flooded the world outside my hidden room. Soon that screaming was silenced by death and another helpless soul became the victim of a merciless enemy. As soon as I was sure it was safe I rose from beneath the ground and looked at the new bodies that lay beyond my house. There were two more, a family that I knew, except one was missing. Their young girl was gone, but there were footprints followed by skid marks that could’ve belonged to the seven year-old.

  Another scream was heard and I fled back into my haven, I didn’t want to wait to find out who had become the victim of another killing, or become one myself.

6:30pm

There was crying from upstairs, but not from outside, someone was in the house. I waited for the sound of soldiers’ feet to drag the sound away, but there was nothing. Cautiously I moved towards the noise, stepping up the stairs that lead to the second story of my house. It was in my room, crying, screaming. Surely someone outside must’ve heard it by now, which meant danger.

  I looked in through the open door and tears started to form in my eyes. Hiding under my bed was someone who’d I thought to be dead, my sister. I ran to her and embraced her for longer than I ever had before. I wasn’t losing her again; I wasn’t going to let it happen. I still don’t know how she’d kept quiet for this long, it didn’t matter; she was alive.

  We crept back to the room under the floor, making as little noise as possible to protect us from whoever might be outside, but I knew we couldn’t stay there forever. Eventually they’ll start raiding houses, searching for survivors and supplies, and it won’t be long before they find our safe place. There was no-where else to go, everywhere was a warzone and everyone a potential threat. Maybe this was the safest place for now, and if they are to find us, I’m not going down without a fight.

 

Deaths Known:

William McKensy

Martha McKensy

Locals X1

People Taken:

Bree McKensy

 

 

Date: 20.10

Time: 9:45am

I awoke to the deafening sound of glass being smashed above us. The windows were being destroyed and kitchen supplies falling to the ground, breaking with terrible force. My eyes snapped open and I immediately looked around the dark room for my sister. Her figure was there, lying on the floor. For one horrible moment I thought she was dead, but as her chest slowly rose a feeling of relieve washed over me. She looked into my eyes and I put my finger to my mouth, telling her to be quiet. I crawled over to her, my hands and knees barely touching the wooden floor to avoid creaking.

  Above us, the world we knew was being torn apart, smashed to pieces. Shreds of light were breaking through the small gaps that separated each floorboard, shining brightly in the dark, concealed room. The sound of army boots could be heard stepping across the wooden floor, occasionally coming between the small glimpses of light that shone down in strips to the ground. My heart was racing and my breathing in short gasps, if I did breathe at all.

  At any moment the invaders above us could find the entrance to our safe spot, and we would be gone; killed or taken… or worse. My sister would be dragged off with the rest of the young children and I wouldn’t be able to protect her. I didn’t know where my mum was, but while she’s gone, I have to be the responsible one, the protector. I can’t look into my sister’s scared eyes with the same expression in my own. She needs some hope that everything will turn out okay, and if I can’t give it, then no-one can.

10:30am

They’ve left the house, but nothing remained in one piece. Supplies were stolen and belongings smashed on the ground. Now there was no way we could stay here. Without food, how were we to survive? My sister was young and weak; she wouldn’t be able to last for long without nutrients, and the food that remained would barely last a day. We had to leave, or at least try.

1:05pm

Nowhere was safe. The houses were practically falling apart and people armed with weapons surrounded the streets. We were almost seen several times by men on the streets, and even now we’re not fully hidden. We’ve made it to the forest that surrounds our town, but the fear of being discovered still lingers in the air even now. At least we have running water from the stream and fresh fruit that rests on the trees to keep us alive, for now.

  I guess all we can do now is wait, pray that this nightmare will end, and try to stay alive. I looked at my sister sitting by the water, drawing pictures in the sand with her finger. She’s still so young, so pure. People always used to look at us and say how much we look alike, I always use to deny it, but it’s only now that I really see the resemblance. The same dark skin and flat nose that matches mine, and most of the community’s, but she had my eyes; brown eyes that looked like bark growing on forest trees. There were some differences of course, but none of those were relevant now.

  Is it weak to be hiding? To be cowering in the forest while my neighbours are defenceless and being slaughtered in a town that was once my home? I feel selfish; looking out for my own life while others are being taken from them every minute. Why is my life any more important than theirs, and since when was it okay to abandon my people to save it?

Deaths Known:

Locals X3

People Taken:

Children X1

 

Date: 21.10

Time: 11:29am

Silence. Not even the sound of birds was to be heard amongst the trees that surrounded us. The past few mornings I had awoken to the exploding of gunshots; and now the quiet was almost more threatening than the soldiers themselves. Something had scared the wildlife into leaving, and the thought that they could still be here was lingering in my mind.

3:25pm

My hands were drenched in blood and the pain that was rushing through my body made me wince every second. Their faces were still clear in my head and the noise from the weapons continued to ring in my ears. We weren’t prepared, we didn’t even have a way to defend ourselves; it was an ambush. They came from all directions, closing in on us. There was no escape, not even a chance. My sister was ripped from my hands, screaming and crying. I tried to reach her, to get her back, but they… they were too strong. I was wacked down, and that was the last I saw of her.

  I should’ve followed them, not let them hit me down. Maybe I could’ve gotten her back. I promised that nothing would happen to her, she believed me, trusted me. Where do I go from here… and why should I bother?

People Taken:

Tarina Rhodes <3

 

Date:  __.__.__

Time: Unknown

Seeing the destruction that was to follow those days of spilt blood was worse than I had imagined; the destroyed homes, burning trees and corpses of those that I once knew. No one had survived. Everyone that I’d grown up with were gone, dead or taken. The soldiers had moved on, I guess after they’d demolished my town there was nothing left to do here.

I can’t leave, because the soldiers are everywhere. Not in this place, but outside who knows what destruction lies. Maybe amongst these ruins there’s another survivor, someone else who is just as scared as I am. No, not scared, determined. There was nothing to be frightened for anymore, nothing to lose or gain. Families have been torn apart, parents from children, brother from brother, Tarina from me.

   I’ve failed her once, but I won’t do it again. This time, they’ll be the ones to pay, and I don’t care what I have to do to make them.

Deaths Known:

Tourist Woman

Steve Harrison (Shopkeeper)

Sarah Walters (Neighbour) 

William McKensy

Martha McKensy

Locals X6

More Unknown

People Taken:

Tourist Woman’s Son

Children X4

Bree McKensy

Tarina Rhodes <3

More Unknown

 

Epilogue

  Pages from this diary were found, burnt in several places and covered in dirt. Small traces of blood stains were evident around the paper which suggests that whoever the author was had been injured while writing or reading over his/her entries. It is hard to tell when the diarist wrote these words since the year was never mentioned in the dates and he/she wasn’t found. I guess the time-frame doesn’t matter now, only the facts that are seen.

  It is clearly a modern setting, a small country town that once existed somewhere, but was destroyed by soldiers. The residents also had guns, shown in 18.10 since the firing of bullets wasn’t a shock for the diarist. Adults were being slaughtered and children taken from them to an area that is unknown to the writer. Entries are written in past-tense which shows that he/she isn’t writing as the events are happening, but after they’ve happened, recalling on what he/she can remember. There had to be a way to check the time since one was always written above a new entry, probably a watch since it had to last without batteries and (most likely) electricity. The mother never came home and no father was mentioned, suggesting single parent.  

  Similar events occurred in the past, so unfortunately it is likely that the writer never saw his/her sister again and that most of the captured children won’t remember their life before the event. Further research was conducted and it was confirmed that the children being taken were of Indigenous heritage, as were most of the town’s residents. A modern version of The Stolen Generation; why must history repeat itself?

Author's Note

An assignment for my year 11 English class, so feedback would be appreciated if anyone wants to. Thanks :)