A short story by my amazing 12 year old daughter

The Blaze

Stars studded the inky dark blanket that smothered the land; that replaced the scorching summer sun that glared in our eyes and baked the Earth. The moon that pierced the night sky cast an eerie glow over the small, country town. I closed my eyes and lay back and listened to the warm breeze weaving through the leaves of the withering tree’s, making the leaves gently rustle. Sweat trickled down my cheeks and down my neck, slithering down my back. My thick fringe was pasted to my forehead. I looked up at the stars again, they winked back at me, as if they were telling me they understood; understood everything that was happening in my life. I felt as if my life had been plunged into darkness and was spiralling out of control. Sometimes I felt as if I was sinking, sinking into the inky depths of despair and falling into the gaping mouth of a broken soul. I felt lost, like broken fragments of my fragile life were sprawled across the floor, and when I tried to piece them back together, there was still one piece missing, and my life slowly fell apart again. I know a carry a scar, but I often wonder – will it always have to hurt? I was tangled in a web of lies, betrayal, and despair. I felt some gnawing me … gnawing the life out of me. Sometimes I felt like spidery hands of anxiety were reaching out for me. And it scared me. In my dreams I could almost feel their cold, bony touch. The thought made me shiver. I didn’t like it. Not one bit. I felt alone, and miles away from where I truly belong. But where was that? Where do I belong?

Sleep washed over me like a gentle wave. I fell into a dreamless sleep. I woke up early. Really early. The birds started to awaken, I could hear their distant, friendly early morning call. I yawned and stood up. I felt weary, like all the life had been sucked out of me by imaginary leeches. I cringed. I had a fear; a fear that haunted me every day. That continuously engulfed me. I tried to stop thinking about it, but it stayed with me. Within every minute, of every hour, of every day. I had Bdellophobia. The phobia of leeches. It wasn’t just a pesky little fear; it was an intense fear. A fear that almost took my life. A fear that almost tore my family apart.

The sky bloomed reds and pinks and oranges like flowers swaying in the summer breeze. Cumulus clouds sailed low. They were like boats sailing the ocean. Birds soared like jets above me. The stars had disappeared and I felt sad. Sad because the stars were the only thing to guide me through the darkness, and sad because many of the stars I saw last night were already dead. Their light just takes millions of light years to reach the Earth. From here, they looked so peaceful; so full of life. And it was hard to believe that their life was already over, that they were lifeless and gone … never to come back.

My dark hair spilled over my face and hung limp down my back. I brushed it, tearing through the tangles and knots. It was a matted mess. I pulled on my favourite tattered T-shirt and shorts and scrambled downstairs. “They say there’s gonna be a high fire risk today, Leila.” I jump at the surprise of my sister’s voice. “So, no roaming far away, okay?” her voice was shrill and high-pitched and somewhat annoying. My sister was bossy and boisterous. She was a surly teenager, she looked a lot like me. Same pale skin, same dark eyes the shape of ovals, the same thick dark hair, and the same crooked and cunning smile. “Looks like,” she said, “You’re just stuck with me for today.”

“I don’t really care, Skye.”
“You will, Leila. Because I am going to make this day miserable for you. It’s a chance I never get, you’re always disappearing. Going out to the middle of nowhere … alone. No friends, nothing. You’re like … weird. Yeah, weird. Like a ghost,” she laughed, thinking she was funny. I was sick of her mocking me.

She was right though. I did tend to slip away unnoticed; like a silent silhouette. The problem is, she was the only one that noticed. Whenever I wanted to escape, to hide from all my problems. She’d know where I would go. And she’d follow me and tell me off. I hated that furtive gleam in her eyes, and that twisted smirk, and that cunning expression smeared across her face. In some ways I thought I hated her, but that was only because she hated me.

I stared at her, rooted to the spot. “Um,” she said, staring at me. I shook my head and slipped on my dirty shoes. I slammed the door behind me. “You forgot breakfast!” she sang. And her words came chasing after me, along with some nasty insults until I slammed the door on her and her voice was muffled and gone. Like it never existed. The wind was strong and I felt that it was going to whisk me away, and half of me wished it would. My hair billowed in the wind and whipped my face. The trees swerved from left to right. The humidity in the air wrapped around me like a long, thick winter gown. I made my way into the eerie and most forest. The tree’s loomed over me, their shadows stalking me as I trudged through the dark tunnel of trees. The tree’s were so tall that they reached up and up like hopeful hands to embrace the sky. I reached the creek and then I sat down. I placed my head in my hands and started to sob. No one could hear me cry. I was alone. Grass tickled the backs of my legs but I ignored it. This was the place I almost died; the place where my fear was born. I still remember the day clearly. I was seven, and Skye was nine.

I couldn’t stand looking at it. The ugly, murky water curding between those slimy rocks. The brown, disgusting water that trickled down to somewhere I didn’t want to venture. I looked over at Skye, she was sucking the end of her long plait. Fear pulsed through me, pummelling through my veins. She crossed her arms and looked at her non-existing watch. “I’m wating,” she said impatiently.

“No Skye,” I said, trembling with fear. “I can’t do it. I just can’t. Not here. This is where he died, Skye. This is where Trevor died.”

“Just do it. Do it or I’m going to call our brother, Riley up in England and tell him you’re being bad,” she frowned and her face scrunched up in disgust and she glanced at the water. “Just do it.”

So I did, I had my bathers on underneath my clothes. I tore my clothes off and sat down at the bank of the creek. I could almost feel the scene buzzing around me. I felt like I had taken off into another world and I was standing at the scene. Watching our dead brother being murdered. I couldn’t stand it. I felt bile rising in my throat and I stood up. Anger surged within me, I’m not going to do it. “NO!” I screeched, ripping some weeds out of the mulch.

“What the heck, Leila. Just do it for God’s sake. C’mon.” She ushered me till my toes were lightly brushing the grey, foul water. I closed my eyes and stepped into the water. I looked up at my sister. She beamed and a wide grin was smeared across her face. “You can do it, Leila! I know you can!” she said encouragingly. And then something happened, I lost my footing and slipped. I was eaten by water. I didn’t know which way was up or down. I was suspended in the water, thrashing my arms. There was no pool of light to guide me; only darkness. “Skye!” I called, but what only came out was muffled bubbles spilling from my mouth. This is where Trevor died, I thought. Next it would be me. I let myself sink. Sink into the unknown darkness. All I could hear was the strangled yet deafening silence. My lungs burned and I felt life draining away from me. Was I dead? Is this what death felt like? Quiet and painful? Sensing my distress I felt arms lift me up from my watery grave and I felt my lungs burst with new fresh air. I opened my eyes; they stung. All I could see were black leeches, crawling all over my skin. Blood oozing out of the spots they clung onto. I wailed and screamed. And then everything went white, and all the sounds started to fade away. And then the white turned into blackness that I couldn’t escape from. It was like I was a caged bird with a broken wing who couldn’t fly. I felt half dead and half alive, trapped in darkness. And it was terrible.

The next thing I knew, I was in a hospital ward. Skye had been grounded. She glared at me, her eyes cold and full of hostility. She looked at me as if it was my fault. And somehow it was. She might of dared me, but I couldn’t swim, and I agreed. It was my fault, entirely.

I shudder at the memory. Here, at the creek, I feel closer to Trevor. Closer to my dead brother. He was stabbed. Murdered. By his friends; or by the people he used to call friends. What traitors. I must of let time slip away from me because suddenly smoke filled my lungs. I began to gag. Smoke filled the air and I felt light flicker in the corner of my eye. I turned, paralyzed with fear. A fire was climbing up the trees, and lugging itself all across the forest. I began to run. A searing pain burned through my thighs but I ignored it. I ran until I felt my heart stopped. When I got to the house, it was already swallowed in flames. I was trapped.

Then I heard a blood curdling scream. I knew instantly it was Skye. “Skye!” I screamed, but my urgent, anxious voice was swallowed by the deafening sounds of the fire. Terror was buzzing around the in air. Smoke was wafting ubiquitously around the area. I found my sister and hugged her. “Where’s Mum?” I cried. She shook her head and took my hand and we ran. Ran away from the fire and the house and everything that was precious to us. The fire was catching up. I screamed and she held onto my hand. We reached a busy road with fire trucks and police cars. Skye cursed. “Where’s Mum?” I asked, panting. I didn’t bother asking where Dad was. Dad had gone with my other brother, Riley, to England. Dad was sick of us, too. “She left to her friend’s place,” said Skye, “she had no idea that there was a high fire danger. Leila, I’m sorry. It was my fault. I’ve been so bad and disorganized. We would have a higher chance of surviving if I told her. She probably thinks we’re dead.”

I felt raw and bitter sadness twist and churn in my stomach. I wanted Mum. My mother. The person who had gave me hospitality all these years I’ve been alive. Then the fire stopped crawling through the bushes and coming nearer and nearer to us. They had it under control. “Excuse me!” Skype panted, breathless. A police officer looked up but didn’t see us. Skye swore and lead me by the hand to an old shack. She told me to wait in there. And then I saw a mini fire caused by embers creeping up. It soon started to creep over the shack. I flung my body out and screamed my sister’s name. “SKYE!” I screamed, shielding my eyes from the harsh light. But she was nowhere to be seen. Something burned my arm, something unbearably hot. Tears welled up in my eyes. I was traumatized. A fire had caught onto my arm. I screamed and cried and bellowed and wailed. I clawed at the ground and flailed my arms about trying to get the fire off me. Eventually, it did. But my arm was damaged. Probably for forever. As the day grew old and weary the fire started to calm.

To my relief rain started to shoot down like bullets. And angry black storm clouds blanketed the sky. I looked up at my gaping wound. I felt it burn and throb with pain. I cried out every so often when a huge pang of pain jabbed in that spot. I ached all over. I had lost Skye. I was out here all alone. Once the smoke had cleared up a little, I ventured out to find the police cars and the fire trucks. But I couldn’t see anything. The fire had been put out. The damage was devastating and I felt at loss for words. The land had been scorched and baked black. The tree’s were nothing but skinny, starved and mangled skeletons free of leaves. Everything was so depressing, so dark … So vulnerable. I was the only living and breathing thing, standing here, in this area. And the thought scared me. Where was Skye? Where did she go? The pain in my arm grew and grew until I couldn’t bear it any longer. Hunger pains shot through me and thirst burned my throat. There hadn’t been a passing car for ages. I felt weak. I suddenly stood up and I felt the world swerving from left to right. I felt this feeling somewhere before. And then all I could see was blackness. And I was trapped in a cage, beating at the cage bars to be set free. But I was never freed. It seemed like forever till I awakened and when I did all I could feel was the heavy burden of loss.

Bright lights. Bright lights were shining everywhere, stinging my eyes. Everything was white and clean. Frequent beeps annoyed me. My arm was bandaged up and it felt a little better. “You’re awake,” said a kind, patient voice.

“Mum? Skye?” I asked. My head felt heavy and I felt my world swerving from left to right again, and then I was lost to the world of darkness. The name “Trevor” escaped my lips and then all I could see was darkness swallowing me up.

When I awoke again I was still in the same place I was before. “Where’s Skye?” I asked, frantically.

“I’m here,” a voice choaked. It was Skye. Dirt caked her face and her lips were cracked and dry. She started to cry, her tears spilling on me. She grabbed my hand. “I’m sorry … I thought, I thought you were dead.” And then Mum came over and put her arm around me. My arm seared with pain and I flinched. She didn’t say anything, and she came over to me and just sat there. Her eyes looked empty and blank. And then they filled with something I couldn’t recognise; And then I did. I looked over at Skye, her eyes were filled with it, too. It was love.

“I really owe you, Leila,” my sister said, seriously. My sister? Saying she owed me something? And then I laughed, and Leila and Mum started laughing. It was a sound I had bottled up for too long. We all started laughing and let me tell you, it was the best feeling in the whole world.

After we had lost everything, there was still that small glimmer of hope. A hope that had never really been there; until now.