My Story

My Story Part 1

BAM! KAPOW! The sound of bombing awoke me. My name is Anh, and I live in Vietnam in the middle of the vietnamese war. My father, Bao, and my older brother, Khanh who was only nineteen, died fighting in the war. All we have left is me and my mum, Binh.

One day I saw some people getting on a boat. They looked all stressed and flustered, yet in some way relieved. I asked mum what they were doing.                                                                               "They're leaving to go to Australia, escaping from the war," she replied while waving her hand dismissively,                                                                                                                                                               "Then why aren't we doing that !?" I enquired, slightly annoyed that we were living in the war when we didn't have to.                                                                                                                                         "There's no point, if we did go we wouldn't have enough money to live, Vietnamese dong are much less valuable than Australian dollars, we would be poor," she pointed out                         "What if when we got to Australia, I made us money, then could we go?" I questioned            "How would a little girl like you make nearly enough money?" she said, a little condescendingly "Give me a week and I'll think of something, I promise" I retaliated                                                "Okay, a week" she answered," finally giving in.

at night, I lay awake questioning what my idea would be. I had no clue what to do, I wondered if I should just give up. No, I told myself I have to prove to mum that I am capable of this, and then it hit me. I would write a book! I decided that i would think of a story when i got to Australia. I told mum my idea the next day, and we agreed to seek refuge in Australia.

The next morning when it was still dark we got up to get on the boat. Mum told me that we were now 'refugees'. It was only a small boat and there were 11 other people coming along with us, some children, some adults and even a baby.

The boat was rickety, wet and scary. The waves were punching our little boat to pieces. We had very little resources, such as food and water, so we were pretty hungry and thirsty. When it got really choppy and frightening, I would throw my arms around her and bury my face in her chest. I felt safe wrapped up in my mothers arms, like nothing could hurt us. Thirteen days passed, I thought we would never get off that horrid boat, and then mum grabbed my shoulder and pointed to a small speck as far as the eye could see.

"Look, there on the horizon!" mum said excitedly. Mum had already explained to me that we would have to go and live in a place full of people who have also fled their homes. I asked how long we would be staying there. she ignored my question. I swear I saw a bit of uncertainty on her face, I tried to ignore it.

TO BE CONTINUED...