Page 6 - Horizon Elementary Literary Submissions 2022

Keep Running
“Keep running” is what everyone tells you in this town... city... planet. No matter how anyone puts it, all you do is run. I lost my parents 7 years ago. I was 6 when my dad was ambushed in the Circuit Alley, and that's also when my mom died of a broken
heart. Ever since, my grandma took me in as her own, until she died of old age 5 years ago. I’ve been alone ever since Nona died, but surviving on scraps was normal anyway. Sure, it's been hard all alone, but some good things happened. Now, I don’t have to share my food. That means that I at least get somewhat full most days. Shelter is what’s hard to find. Maybe if my mom didn’t die, then it wouldn’t be as hard.
“Why did she die when I’m still here?” “Doesn’t she love me too?” Questions danced in my head even when I was happy with Nona. Now that I’m alone, they haunt me more with every step I take...day that goes by...every year that passes in front of me. For all my years of existence, it’s been nothing but war. On the day I was to be born, the confrontation lashed out. War is my life. Fighting to survive from no bad guys and no good guys is all I know. Will it be all I’ll ever know?
Dead. Knocked out. I woke up in a mysterious place. It took me a couple of seconds to understand my surroundings. I was in Tech City. First off, how did I end up here? This was the biggest trade center on the planet. This trade center also happens to be where SLAVES are TRADED. I sat up straight for a couple minutes, gathering myself, until big, strong hands lifted me and forced me to shuffle my way through the crowded narrow alley that branches out of the city. Being alone for a longtime taught me a thing or two, such as blend with your surroundings. In order to do that, I have to loosen the man’s grip on me. I quickly stagger so that he’ll slow a little and then shuffle to the side. He easily lost me in the crowd, but then something fiery burst through my back. It happened so fast, I couldn’t react. All I could do was watch as they carried me to a crate. They all had their faces covered so I couldn’t tell who anyone was. They slipped me into a big crate, and from that I didn’t know what surrounded me. Through that, the question that remained in my mind was, 'What did they want with me out of all people?' Why did they want this?”
Keshema S. Incarnate Word Academy Mrs. Traci Borden Seventh Grade