BritSoc Children's Writing Competition, 1st Prize, Juniors
What Did Harry Do Next?
This story is about Harry Stewart when he was a young boy in World War II. The story begins 65 years later, with Grandfather Harry sitting alone in his house because Grandma past away. When the door opened, Harry said to his granddaughter, “What a pleasant surprise! Katrina come here.” Katrina ran toward Harry while saying “Grandfather!!!” She jumped in his lap and hugged him saying, “Tell one of those stories about yourself, please, pretty please, pretty, pretty please.” Grandfather agreed and he started telling a story about when he was a young boy.
“It was World War II in London and the bombing Blitz made the city a very dangerous place to be. My family and I were trying to get out of London on the last boat. The harbour was full of people pushing and screaming to escape the bombs. We lost our parents in the crowd. Me and my sister, Kelsey were knocked on the ground by desperate people trying to push their way to the boat. We finally made it up to the dock to see the worst thing that could ever happen. The boat was pulling away and we were all alone wondering what had happened to our Mom and Dad. What terror, an eleven-year old and a nine-year old stuck in London by ourselves.
The bomb sierens were going off and Kelsey and we were scared to death. We looked for a safe place to hide and then a bomb came falling from the sky. We ran in opposite directions and the bomb landed right in the middle of us. There was a big cloud of dust. You couldn’t see anything. I wondered if Kelsey was still alive. There was a big pile of rocks where the road used to be. I didn’t know what to do. I had lost Mom, Dad and sister all within the last hour. I started crying and couldn’t stop.
A family was running by and heard my crying. The mother grabbed me by my arm and pulled me to my feet. She said, “Come with us! We’ve got to get to the shelter quick.” We ran into this giant house, to the last floor, she picked up a rug that was on the ground. There was another door under the rug. The door leaded to a bomb shelter. It had every thing you need, plus even more. But I couldn’t be happy because Kelsey wasn’t there. Years went by but it seemed ages ago that I had seen my sister. That made me fell guilty because I thought that she was dead. Finally, the day came when the war was over, we got to see the sun again,and to my surprise, Kelsey and I reunited again. I was speechless. I was so happy that tears rolled down my cheek. Nobody ever has heard this story.”
This was the last thing that Harry Stewart said before he passed away. A letter fell out of his hand. Out of curiosity, Katrina started reading it this is what it said:
“There was no reason to live anymore. But I’m happy I told this story to you.”
And this is the way Harry’s life ended.
(538 words)