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Thomas Oliver


I Realised it was My Responsibility

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Dust was thick in the air as I clambered through the rubble as chaos broke out all around me. Sirens were blaring in the horizon as paramedics were running to and from the catastrophe behind me, frantically trying to help people, carrying and supporting them on the way to the ambulances, fifty metres away. 

 

I stumbled as I came clear from the rubble, tripping over pieces of concrete. My legs were wobbly and my body was bruised and scratched. I felt the trickle of warm water run down my cheek. I reached and touched the liquid and held my hand in front of my face, my fingers red. 

 

My vision blurred, my mind suddenly overloaded with a cacophony of sounds, the shouting of the paramedics, the wailing of children with missing parents and the heavy beat of my heart in my temples. 

 

I felt powerless as I gazed passively at the chaos. My mind and my body rendered useless in the midst of this disaster. 

 

My mind snapped back to reality as I heard a muffled wailing to the left of me. Confused, I move towards the sound. The rubble was shifting ever so slightly, as I knelt down and started to move away large pieces of rock.

 

And there, two, big, terrified eyes looking up at me. 

 

A child. 

 

Too small to know, to understand what was happening around her. She was lying on her back with scrapes on her arms and face. 

 

I realised that this child was my responsibility now, I had to help her, and make sure she was OK, at least until we found her parents.

 

I stretched my hand out and offered it to her, but she pulled her hands back and clutched them tightly to her chest. 

 

She had now sat up with her knees pressed against her chest, her arms holding them in place. 

 

“It’s ok.” I said as gently as I could, trying to keep the rasp out of my voice “Are you hurt?”

The girl shook her head slowly, still curled up, shying away from everything. 

 

I sat down, as the girl was clearly not going to budge, for the time being. I wished the paramedics would help, but they were too busy with all of the injured people.

 

Our eyes locked, and once again I carefully offered my hand. She inspected it carefully, but then hesitantly reached out with one of her tiny hands, with which she clasped mine. She let herself be pulled out of the small crater, and then stood close to me still with a death grip on my hand. She glanced around feverishly at all of the chaos and stiffened.

 

“Come with me.” I said to her as we wandered to the ambulances.

 




Envoyé: 09:41 Fri, 22 March 2024 by : Thomas Oliver age : 15