The Bunker

“Come, come,” Elizabeth said.
“I’m going to tell you a story,” she said. One of my adventures she added silently
“Yay!” the kids exclaimed.
“Roar”.
“What was that?” she asked, 12 year-old Elizabeth had never heard anything quite like it.
“It was a dragon,” her mother said. A what?! “We must go into the bunker”
Bunker! Since when did they have a bunker? She wonder-screamed in her mind
“Bunker?” she asked.
“Yes” her mother said, pulling up the carpet to reveal a metal hatch, her eyes grew wide, her mother grabbed the chain on her neck and pulled out a key. She had always wondered what the pendant on her necklace looked like. Her mother climbed down the ladder and then Elizabeth followed. The bunker was dark and metal, her mother clicked on the light and she saw everything, everything meaning weapons, food, masks, even hazmat suits.
“Woah,” she marveled. “How long has this been here?” she asked.
“Since we moved in,” her mom said. Elizabeth stepped over to the food wondering if it was okay to eat.

“Woah” one kid said, stopping her mid-sentence.
“Cool” another remarked.
“Is there more?” The kids were really wrapped up in the story.
“I wish dragons were real,” one said,
“Continue.”

She kept telling the story until she got to the peak part. Elizabeth's mom had just gone out to find food because they had eaten all of it. Elizabeth heard a furious roar, she gasped, was her mom okay? She climbed out of the bunker and found a dragon! Facing away from her She muffled a scream. The world was on fire, everything was scorched to ash.
“oh my gosh,” she couldn't stop herself from talking.

Someone gasped. Elizabeth was surprised they liked the story so much.
she continued and continued. “More more” the kids shouted, even if it was after their bedtime she continued, she got lost in the story, or memory she wasn’t sure what to call it.

She stabbed her spear into the fire breathing monster that had killed her parents, dragon blood spatter on to the ground, the dragon fell thumping on to the ground, shaking it, knocking Elizabeth down, she picked herself up, and ran, hoping the dragons companions wouldn’t follow her, did dragons even have companions? She wondered

“And then she walked to her home, awaiting the arrival of more dragons” Elizabeth said “the end” she said.
“Aw” the kids moaned, she had to cut the story a little short due to the parents watching from the hallway. The kids walked to their parents, and then left. The end.

Story by Helen Poe, 10, Main Street Middle School, Montpelier, submitted by Lauren Chabot