•This was a story I wrote in class the other day for digital photography. We were given a eerie photography of an abandoned house and had to write a story. After a while this came to me and I'm proud(?)•
"It was April 26, 1986 - The Chernobyl disaster. The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded at 1:23 in Pripyat, Ukraine. Surrounded by a community with many families, small children and elders; there was no expectance or warning. The town was evacuated. On that day there were 31 direct deaths and from then, 100's linked back to the incident." Read Katie. Today it is April 26, 2016 - exactly 30 years after the Chernobyl explosion. "I say we go to the town and see what it's like now, you know, abandoned and all.." says Jake. Thinking about it right off my head, it seems amazingly fun and very interesting. What if there are still remaining toxic chemicals? What if we breathe them in or they seep through our skin? Oh well, I mean after 30 years there can't be enough to even really harm us, can there? We all decide that we will go anyway and just take extra precaution and not spend too much time in any one place. "Hannah? You coming?" Jake pipes in. Realizing that I was zoning out, I snap back into reality, grabbing my camera and heading out the door with everyone else. I feel nervous, yet excited - really anxious I guess, the closer we get the stronger and more intense the feeling gets. I feel the car lurch to a sudden stop, realizing that we were parked in what seems to be the parking lot to the Chernobyl Plant, itself. Making sure we all have water, snacks, cameras, and chargers we get out of the car.
Katie and Jake both walk towards the power plant, but I linger back. Quickly pulling out my camera and snapping a shot of their silhouettes heading towards the building. We walk around the perimeter of the building trying to find an entrance. Once we do, after many attempts and tough pulls, the heavy metal door opens and Jake slightly stumbles backwards. I take a deep breath and make the first step in. "This seems to be the main entrance." I say quietly, almost as if I'm scared to interrupt the long stopped and uncompleted jobs of the workers. "Guys! I found a stair well, going up?" Katie says in a lingering creepy voice. Jake and Katie start heading up the stairs at a quickened walk. Again I linger back, remaining with in ear shot and eye sight of my two best friends. I like staying back in the quiet, it gives me more time to look around, think about what things might have been like, and get some great pictures. After snapping some photos of the staircases, covered in rubble and old disintegrating papers I catch back up with Jake and Katie. Once at the top, it feels like a tower. When you look down all you see is the power plant or what is left of it. When you look out you see a community - where children played, families lived, couples loved; a community of memories, shattered and taken away. "Guys this is the most creepily beautiful thing I've ever seen." I murmur under my breath. We are all caught in a sense of such amazement, speechlessness, and awe we just stand for a while and look. Jake breaks the silence "What do you think it was like to be living here before, during and maybe even after the explosion?" "Well, why don't we go find out?" I suggest slightly nodding my head towards the town no more than a 20 minute walk from our exact location. "Lets" Katie says.
We all head back down to the entrance snapping pictures here and there. After exiting the building we stop for a minute sitting against it and pulling out some snacks and water. We eat a bit and rehydrate. After we clean up because according to Jake, "its human decency" and "we don't want to hurt this area more than it already has been". We head towards the town, it seems to all of us that the closer we get to the town the more eerie everything feels, the heavier the air feels. We come to a tall apartment building surrounded by about 45 single family homes. " I want to go to a home first" Katie says. Jake and I willingly agree. Outside of the desired house I see a little tricycle, almost in perfect condition, like it hadn't ever been touched. Everything behind it is in ruins, rubble and destroyed. 'This is a great photo opportunity!' the little voice in the back of my head chimes in. It is a great idea, I get myself in a crouching position placing the camera a tad lower than me. I snap a few shots and continue into the house with Jake and Katie. We enter what appeared to have been the living room, there are torn up couches, smashed family photos and dirty rugs. I pick up a family picture in a golden frame shaking the broken glass off. "Hey, I found a family picture, they probably lived here." I called out to the other two who were busy exploring the rest of the house. They come in and lean over my shoulder looking at the picture. "And that tricycle we saw outside probably belonged to that little boy." Jake says point to the little boy standing in front of a medium height woman and a tall man; probably his mom and dad. I swear the farther and farther we explore the creepier and more interesting this gets. After exploring the house and taking more photos, which is considerably bigger on the inside than it appears on the outside. We decide to head back to Katie's car as its getting dark. We put everything in the car and lay on the hood and roof of the car for a bit recapping the day. I can feel my eyelids getting heavier and heavier, Katie and Jake are already asleep so I figure were spending the night here. It'll be nice, the weather is warm the sky is open and beautiful and there's no bugs! I close my eyes, still having a weird creeped out feeling yet figuring I'll sleep it off and go home in the morning just fine. I feel my breath slowing and I hear Katie and Jake giggling and laughing telling me to come with them, so I do. I didn't think that when I "went with them" not even a minute later I would be there, with them, all 3 of us, looking down at our dead, lifeless bodies. At least I went with people I love and those who love me.
The date is April 26. 2076, 90 years ago today was the Chernobyl disaster. Three teens roll up in a black jeep and climb out bearing water snacks and cameras without a care in the world. I was okay with what happened to me up till now, when I wish I could warn them: Although its many years later, there is still enough radiation and chemicals left to kill. There always will be. I hope they don't fall asleep too. I hope they leave before I did, and of course now how Jake, Katie and I left. Katie, Jake and I watch over them protectively. Oh wow I see so much of us in these three teens. Three teens, please don't be like the last three teens.
