A War within (Combination Of War Stories)

Veitnam war

Vietnam war - the boat sinks, along with my hope

Goodnight darling." Cooed dad. It was late in the night and dad was saying goodnight to me. Quietly, he left the dark room closing the door behind him. He only let a little crackle of light seep through the old door. I heard the wooden stairs creek below me and the soft sobs of mum. Beung the curious little girl I was, I leapt out of bed and went to the living room without a sound and eavesdropped on what was happening. "It will be okay!" Reassured dad as mum continued crying.

"Are you sure? What will happen to you? What will happen to our kids?" Mum said still as sad as ever.

"It's going to be okay! I'm sure nothing bad will happen to me and our kids will be safe if they're with you" he replied

"How do you know that for sure? It's the war and you might die!!" She stuttered.

I froze dead still in the hallway.

Dad was going to die.

Why? What did he do to deserve this? I started to think for a moment but just as I was about to listen more, the floor creaked and I knew that if I didn't get to my bed in time, I would be caught eavesdropping. As quickly as I could, I jumped up the stairs, not caring whether they make a lot of sound or not. I sprinted to the door of my bedroom, hoped into bed and pretended I was asleep. My dad clonked up the stairs and peeped into my room as I snored and lay like a statue. He must have bought it because the door shut and more footsteps could be heard down the hallway.

I started to think of ideas that could stop dad from dying. He couldn't.. He wouldn't die. Maybe I could convince him not to go.. But mom already tried and it didn't work.  Maybe I could pretend to run away so that he may stay and help look for me, but how would that keep him from going to war? Maybe I could say I'm sick and he could stay and take care of me, but why couldn't mum do it? wait! I know! Maybe I could stowaway and follow my dad. That's it!!! I lay back down and pull the covers over my head, before falling asleep.

(time skip to morning)

"Good morning wonderful day!" I  smiled. It was time to put my plan into action. I got out of bed and packed what I would need. Just a few clothes, food bars, fruit and water - enough to fill up my school bag. Finally I was ready. "Good morning." Dad said, in a duller voice than usual.

"Morning.." I said making my voice sound sad. I knew that my dad wasn't looking forward to going away this time. Sometimes he would be away for months at a time and I would miss him terribly. This time though, unbeknown to dad, I had plan and I just knew it would be all right.

My dad was a marine - a soldier in the armed forces and his next destination was Vietnam.

Somehow we got through breakfast without too many tears and the family piled into the car. My mum drove the short distance to the harbour where dad's army ship waited.

Everywhere you looked, soldiers were loading the ship with supplies, saying goodbye to their families and crowds of people packed out the waterfront.

My stomach was getting butterflies - it was now or never! We said goodbye to dad and he quickly walked up the bridge onto the boat. He turned, smiled and waved and disappeared out of sight. While my mums back was turned, I nipped behind a group of marines walking up the bridge and slipped onto the deck behind a rescue boat. I peeped out to check if my absence had been noted but my mum seemed to be chatting to my aunty and watching my younger brother and sister. I had arranged to go to a friend's place directly from the wharf as it was the beginning of the holidays, so I didn't think mum would miss me for a while.

I joined a family that was doing a tour of the boat to check out where their son was going to spend the next the next few days and managed to get below the deck without being caught. There were so many levels and ladders and before long I managed to find a storage room to hide. I flopped down on the floor behind some boxes and breathed a sigh of relief - I had made it!

I must have nodded off to sleep because the next thing I knew it was nearly dark and the boat was rocking. Time to explore. I opened the door, saw the corridor was empty so I climbed the ladders to the top deck. Still no one around. I opened the door slowly and peeped out. On the top deck there was a big group of soldiers listening to my dad who seemed to be talking about plans for the next few days.

I couldn't believe it but as soon as dad dismissed everyone to go about their duties he looked up in my direction and I knew he spotted me. I watched his face show a range of emotions from disbelief to anger. Oh no!

He made his way toward me but just before he got to the door there was an enormous bang, an explosion and the boat lurched to the side. Everyone was taken by surprise and people were falling everywhere. Dad and I grabbed hold of the nearest rail and he yelled "Get below the deck" But for some reason I was star struck and glued to the spot. Loud, booming alarms raised throughout each end of the boat. Questions flooded through my mind. What was happening? Where do I go? What is going to happen next. My thoughts were soon interrupted by the loudspeaker yelling "ENEMY ATTACK!! Everyone to their stations!" Grey clouds of smoke bellowed through the left side of the boat, but the boat was somehow holding steady. The fire - deathly, hot, evil - was getting bigger and bigger

Soldiers were running everywhere, grabbing buckets of water to throw at the fire. It was just getting bigger and bigger. I wasn't too sure what was going on, but planes filled the skies and the enemy seemed to have been occupied by the joining air force. The noise was deafening and bombs were falling around the boat but miraculously no more bombs were hitting . The fire however, was out of control. Orders came in from the captain saying "Get to the lifeboats!!"

Through the smoke, my dad grabbed my hand and pulled me onto a lifeboat along with 20 others. It was lowered into the water "Are you coming too?" I yelled.

"Not until I know that all my men are safe" He replied. Then he vanished into the smoke and I feared that would be the last time I saw him...

The boat was sinking, along with any remainder hope I had, that dad would soon be back again

I sat on the lifeboat as soldiers were rowing it away. The army planes seemed to have left the scene of the crime and I wondered; is this what a real war would be like?

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