No, no, no. This is not good. Not good at all. Someone on the other side of town has gotten the sickness. King Kashmir the Great has shut down our borders. No one comes in, and no one goes out. He said people from different villages are not allowed to go to other villages. I'm going to begin putting up a wall around our property, try to keep people away.
We have plenty of food, and we have plenty growing, so we should be good for a long time. I hurried up and got my regular work done, then began on the wall. I worked straight through lunch, and only stopped once, which was when Melody brought me a glass of water. Then it was back to word. As I was working, I felt a sudden weight on my back. Then a sweet voice said, "Armen, it's time for dinner." I looked up at the sky. I hadn't noticed that it was getting dark. I lifted her onto my shoulders, and carried her to the house. After we ate, I had asked Melody to go outside with me. Once we were out there, I lifted her onto my shoulders, handed her doll to her, and walked to a clear spot in the yard. "Look up, Melody. Look at the sky." We stayed there for a while as I pointed out constellations. I looked over and saw Mother standing in the doorway. "I always wanted you to have a sibling. Someone to keep you company." She looked at Melody lovingly, as if she had been born hers. "I always knew that you would be a great big brother." I felt so happy. I could stay in that moment forever.
-Armen Nowak
YOU ARE READING
The Journal of Armen Nowak
Ficción históricaI wrote this because in 10th Grade, World History, my teacher assigned a project that was worth a lot of our grade. I think it may have been our 9 Weeks Test. But the assignment was to write a journal from the point of view of someone who was alive...
