‘Quick, quick, hurry up; it’s almost time,’ Mila exclaimed as she pulled her older brother, Miles, into the crowd.
‘Alright, alright, I’m coming,’ Miles said as he tried to keep up with her.
They were heading to the fireworks show that will start in a minute, but they were getting closer to the viewing platform.
‘We’re almost there,’ Mila said, raising her voice over the sea people.
‘Can we even make it?’ Miles asked, doubtedly.
‘Yes. But only if you hurry up,’
‘Ok, ok!’
Finally, they made it, just in time for the countdown.
‘10, 9, 8…’ screamed the mob of people.
‘7, 6, 5, 4,’ Miles and Mila shouted as they tried to keep up with the crowd. Mila was so excited because she had never seen fireworks before. Then everyone roared.
‘3, 2, 1… Happy New Year’s!’
The fireworks were beautiful. Hues of blue, green, and red filled the night sky as everyone celebrated with joy and happiness. The fireworks sizzled and popped, but it didn’t bother Mila. She looked at her brother as tears filled her eyes. It wasn’t the sad and miserable type of tears, but rather the gentle, happy tears you have as if you are seeing someone for the first time in ages. She hugged Miles so tight that she almost squeezed all the air out of him.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered.
‘Anything for you, Milly,’ he replied, as he hugged her back. Miles has spent all his life savings to book some tickets to see the fireworks. They both looked up at the colours in the sky, admiring them like it was the first and last time they would see them.
‘I wish Mum and Dad were still alive to see this,’ Miles said.
‘Yeah, me too,’ Mila sadly replied. ‘I miss them.’
Their parents died 8 years ago in a car accident, and now Mila and Miles live on the streets. Mila was only four, and Miles was only seven. Although the ticket was cheap for some people, it was expensive for Mila and Miles. Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough money to stay the whole night, so they slowly made their way out of the viewing platform. Suddenly, Mila spotted a bright, white light in the sky.
‘Do you think that thing is part of the show?’ Mila asks, pointing to the glamorous thing in the sky.
‘What thing?’ Miles replied.
‘That thing. It seems to be getting bigger,’
Miles squinted his eyes so he could see the thing Mila was pointing at. But once he was able to see it, he had a sudden realisation. ‘Oh, no. Run,’
‘What?’ Mila asked, with curiosity.
‘Run!’
‘Why?’
‘Just run, Mila,’
Miles pulled her through the crowd, pushing through every person in the way. He ran so fast that he was almost dragging her.
‘Slow down, Miles. Why are you running so fast?’ Mila asks as she tries to run and talk at the same time. Miles had finally come to a stop. They were standing on top of a bridge where, underneath, the water ran freely.
‘Jump in the water, Mila. The guys in suits can’t handle swimming,’ Miles struggled to say. His voice started to break.
‘What, no! I’m not doing that! The water will wash me away before you even know it. What on earth is going on?’ Mila said, pushing him away.
‘It’s the only way for you to survive,’
‘For me? What about you?’
‘Don’t worry about me. Just keep swimming; I hold them off.’
‘Who is ‘them’?’
‘Same aliens who killed Mum and Dad. No car accident killed them; it was all them. The last thing mum said was to look after you, so that’s what I’m going to do,’
‘Wai-’
Then, Miles threw Mila into the water, cutting her off before she could stop him. The freezing cold water was the only thing that broke Milas fall, but it stabbed her into the chest like hundreds of mini knives. It was so painful that she could hardly breathe. She was in so much pain, until her brother got taken away by weird guys in suits.
‘Miles!’ Mila screamed with her last breaths. Then everything went black.
……………………………………………
When Mila woke up, she was on the shore, clueless of what was happening. She still felt cold. Every bone in her body was aching, and she felt like her arms and legs were about to fall off. She slowly got up. The last thing she remembered was seeing her brother with those people in suits.
‘Miles,’ she croaked, looking around the shore.
Then she realised that she was at the beach. She climbed the stairs to where the view was, but all she could see was a useless wasteland. It was so recognisable yet so different. She carefully walked through rocks that were once cafeterias and jumped over the cracks that were once footpaths. Finally, she made it up to the same platform that she stood on with her brother to watch the fireworks. Then she took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Miles,’ but it was all silence.
Then, once she thought all hope was lost, she heard a voice.
‘Hello?’ the voice said. Mila gasped.
‘Hello? Who’s there?’ She said, looking around the platform. Then she felt a tug on her pants. She looked down and saw a little boy by her feet. Mila was surprised. She thought that she was the only person there. The boy couldn’t be older than her. He looked like he was four or five.
‘Where’s my mommy?’ He said, looking at her with baby eyes. Mila struggled to reply.
‘Umm, well.’ she muttered. She wasn’t good at handling children, so she just asked for his name.
‘Asher,’ he replied confidently. ‘What about yours?’
‘Umm, Mila,’ she said.
‘Where’s your mommy?’
‘Umm…. I don’t want to talk about it. Well, come on, you can come with me to find somewhere safe to hide. After all, our homes are really destroyed,’
‘Ok, Mira.’
‘Actually, it’s Mila, with an L.’
‘Oh, ok’
Mila helped Asher down the stairs as they looked for traces of people. After searching for a while, Mila saw footprints. They weren’t big though; they were kids’ footprints.
‘Oooooh, let’s follow the trail,’ Asher said, pointing to the direction the footprints were heading. So, Mila and Asher followed the trail until they saw a tunnel. It was dark and smelly but they heard children’s laughter. They felt like they had no choice but to go in. When they reached the end, they couldn’t believe their eyes. Children, lots, and lots of children. They were all happily playing around. It looked like they had no idea what the outside world looked like. They looked like they didn’t care. Then, they saw a tall person emerge from the background. He was a teenager.
‘More survivors! I can’t believe it. Come in and stay. You guys are perfectly safe here. My name is Calix. I gathered all these kids so that they didn’t have to suffer the great pain that is out there.’
Calix explained more of his story, but there was one feeling that they were safer there. Mila decided that she would rest there for a bit before going out to find Miles. Mila felt safer and happier.
About the Author
Marianna Janae Sindanum Winfield
Marianna is an 11-year-old incoming Grade 6 student. Aside from reading & writing, she also loves swimming, singing, dancing, and just goofing around with her younger siblings. A lover of nature and animals, she wants to be a vet when she grows up.