Young Writers Society

The dirt made a squashy sound as Sofia and Anna walked behind their parents after getting off the train. Sofia was very upset.The life they had in Ukraine, the friends, the fancy dinners they hosted every now and then, was all left behind. Poor Sofia was only ten years old. While her sister was six. The family had to escape to Australia. They were on their way to Lviv, where they would catch a boat all the way to Australia

“Sofia, what is the matter with you?” Said Sofia’s mother, who was concerned.

“You don’t feel anything? We are leaving behind years of memories. Can’t we just stay here?” Replied Sofia.

“War is going on. We are lucky to live in a safe city. But we cannot take any chances.” Mother said.

“How will we speak properly? How will we live our new life? Where will we find money? You haven’t thought of that have you?” Sofia cried.

“Is that your priority? You are only thinking about our new life. But you look at your younger sister. If we stayed there, God knows what could’ve happened.” Father replied. As the family walked, they made their way to Lviv. At last, they had arrived. They saw the boat. Sofia’s heart sank. It was happening. In no time, they would be on the boat on their way to Australia. Sofia spotted her father talking to a strange man with a long beard.

“We need to travel to Sydney.” Father said in a serioustone.

“Sydney, eh? The boat that goes to Sydney doesn’t leave until next Thursday. Your way too early.” The man replied.

“But we were told it was today. Where will we stay until next Thursday? It’s only Friday.” Mother said, angry.

“Now that is not my problem. Go find one of those young boys to help you find a place to stay. They’re quite intelligent.” The man said.

Sofia stared at Anna, who was softly crying while staring at the cloudy, grey sky. It seemed as if it was about to rain.

“Anna, do you want to go get some chocolates?” Sofia asked. She knew chocolates were Anna’s favourite.

“No thank you.” Anna answered. Sofia could see that Anna had no craving for chocolate anymore. In fact, she didn’t have a craving for anything. Usually, Anna would be begging Sofia to take her to the chocolate shop. Suddenly, a young boy who was one of the people the man said to talk to approached the family.

“Do you need a dry place to stay until next Thursday?” The young boy asked.

“How did you know?” Father asked while nodding.

“Many people come here with their families. I’ll show you a place to stay if you pay me $2000 hryvnia.” The boy smiled.

Sofia had learnt about hryvnia. She knew that it was Ukranian currency. After a bit of thinking, she finally realised $2000 hryvnia was $79.72 in AUD.

“No, no. That’s too much. We need our money for food as well. We might as well find the place ourselves.” Mother exclaimed.

Sofia saw tears come out of the boy’s eyes. She thought about how he probably had a family too, waiting for him to return home. She was about to convince her parents to pay, but by then her family was already walking ahead of her. Sofia decided to walk as well. She turned to the boy who was yet still sniffling. She noticed her parents stopped to talk to another man. This gave Sofia an advantage to talk to the boy.

“I’m sorry that we couldn’t pay. But how come you are crying over this?” Sofia asked, smiling.

“I need the money. My parents are gone.” Said the boy, who cried even more after he had finished his sentence

“Gone? Gone where? Australia?”

“No, they passed away.” Cried the boy. Sofia comforted him, making sure that he felt okay.

“What’s your name?” Sofia asked in a hurry.

“Aleksander.” He smiled.

“Nice meeting you, Aleksander. I’m Sofia. Well, I better go now.” Sofia said as she ran. She felt delighted. After all of this, she at least found a nice person. But sadly, she wouldn't be able to see him again.