This was published as part of the first edition of the Primer Papers, a publication created by the kids at the Primer Newsroom. Primer is building the world’s first home for ambitious kids. Learn more here and find out how your kid can publish too.
Hi I’m Syd! I love dogs, music, writing, baking, coding, and reading (mostly about history). I want to be a teacher and a botanist (at some point). I might be a botany professor. I love making friends and Primer has been the best opportunity to do that.
“Oh ba oh ba oh?” is what I wake up to. I looked around. I realized I was not in my home. The walls were bright orange, not light purple. The floor was carpet, not wood. And most of all, there were beds on both sides of the couch. In front of me was a short, white woman who was yelling at me in a strange language. She had black hair and green eyes.“I don’t speak your language; do you speak mine?” She looked at me like I was an alien. Then she went back to yelling at me. I ignored her, and got up from the lavender couch. I walked to the window and looked out. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was my city, because I saw the town sign, but all of the buildings were burned down. The only one left was the one I was in. I was crazy confused. The last thing I remember was sleeping in my bed. And now I'm here. What happened?!
I ran as fast as I could to the door. I pulled hard on the doorknob but it would not budge. It was locked. I crumpled to the ground crying. Thinking “did my parents survive?” I found enough strength to walk to the window to try to find my house. I found it, but it was burned. I stopped crying and started thinking, “how did I get here?” I found out that I said that out loud. I think the woman understood. She came over to me and gave me a hug. I felt a bit better until a strange man broke into the apartment.
“Stop right there!” I backed up against the wall until I realized he was not pointing the knife at me. He was pointing it at the woman. I looked at him hard. He was wearing a black ski mask, but I could see his bright green eyes. All of a sudden I knew who he was. My dad. “Dad, wait, she helped me!” The man dropped his knife and threw off his mask. It revealed a scar on his left cheek. It also revealed that he was definitely my dad. He came running to me and hugged me very hard. Then he pointed to the couch. We sat down. He said, “I know you have a lot of questions, so let me answer some.”
To be continued…
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