“ Lived a hard life .. But never give

up ..“

I was walking along Centennial Park and my dearest mother said “ Oh look son , the six British colonies in our country are officially declared a federation! “ All we could hear was screaming and shouting of other people and then .. We saw our First Governor-General, swear in the new Federal Government and Australia’s first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton.

“Creating a nation requires the will of the people! “ – Edmund Barton

It was January 23rd . I was walking along George Street and I had stepped in horse manure .. I try looking for the nearest toilet but by the many people blocking my way i had never gotten to reach one. I had reached the end of the road and noticed flies are hovering around my feet. My dad was at work and My mum was in the house and was looking after my little sister Elizabeth . We lived a very difficult life as our clothes were washed by my mums hands. As i came home I saw my mum cooking me and my family an evening meal.

We had our food kept in our Coolgrade safe. I had school the next day and my Older brother had finished primary school .

He’s name was Nathanial he is now working with my dad as a factory worker, but unfortunately we couldn't afford for him to go to secondary school .

Nathaniel was 15 Years old he didn’t really look like me . He was more like on my fathers side and I was more on my mothers side of the family just like what my friends said. I had forgotten i still had manure on my foot and i hadn’t washed it out yet , I try washing it out with the tap just at the front of my house but it wasent making a difference so i just left it and maybe i’ll throw it away later . As my mum was screaming at me that the house started smelling bad.

I walked back inside as our evening meal was ready. Which wasn't very pleasant . Im still stuck in this house of mine .. “ i wish i was rich and wealthy “ My little sister , Elizabeth said to me . “ i wish that to , i wish that to ... “ as i said with my head facing the floor as if i was sad and wanted to live a good life. Me and Elizabeth quickly ran out of the room as i heard a loud bang outside of the house. i looked outside the door and saw a man pointing pointing a gun at my face. With eyes wide open, i wait anxiously ...My eyes spead wide and as i wait until he pulls the trigger. My lovely mother , brother and sister are terrified.

Since my sister was quite small , as i wait in front of the door with a gun pointed at my head .. My sister sneaks off to the telephone and tried ringing the police but we were about 20mins away from town.I heard my mum , “ Please don’t !, I beg you “ she said crying in tears . When I look down with my own eyes : seeing a bottle of beer in his hands and by this assuming he was a mad alcholic. I tried to question him into his actions, but i failed to understand his speech.

I was still standing there, thinking i was goingAs i clasped my hands together to pray , my mum collapsed. I quickly turned around at this instant and ran, nearly being hit by the bullet that was released by the man’s gun. As the bullet went through the wall of the house, the man escaped outside.

I was trying to wake my mum up .. But i couldn't. Eventually me and Nathaniel carried her to her bed and waited .. Until she woke up she had a fever .. We were all thinking , she might have a disease.

My brother felt her forehead and said “Her head has been quite warm recently. She has also had frequent visits to the loo “ ... We didn’t know what to do . So we just kept waiting for her until she said a word .. Until i noted her lips were going dry .. And i mean very dry .. She stood up and gone to the loo again . We could now assume out of these observations that she had diahorrea.We all looked shocked and didn’t know what to do . It was now about 7:00pm at night and my father had came home . He tried making his own medicine to cure my mother but still nothing.

We were all scared fearing the death of our dearest mother and caring wife. We tried giving her drinks so she wouldn't get dehydrated .. We were running out .. My dad had gone to fetch some of his friends and asked for help .. But still nothing .. All us ... Me , my brother and Elizabeth would do nothing but stare at her.. and keep our hopes up

My dad had come back with a big tub of water and put it in a cup each time we thought that she wanted to take a drink.

Since we couldnt afford to go to a doctor to receive treatment, we could do nothing but create home made remedies. But we could not trust these, risking the fact that they may be harming her instead of curing her. I was getting worried .. i didn’t want to lose her. I went to lay down next to her and hugged her tight and whispered in her ear “ i don’t want to lose you “.

And i fell asleep while my dad was taking care of her.

The next day has arrived. The sun is shinning bright and thankfully my dearest mother is still alive.. It looked like she was getting better but not very healed up yet . I feel like if she goes .. I go with her to .. i knelt down and prayed to God that to make sure she is safe in heaven if she goes away . “ I SHOULDN’T BE THINKING LIKE THIS “ i said and started crying in front of everyone . This time i wanted to be strong and i wanted my mum to live .. And i would do anything to keep her alive.

We started panicking and “ we need a doctor “ – my dear father was saying under his breath ... “ we don't have enough money .. “

Nathanial had said to my father . I tried convincing them if we could borrow some money from his friends but it would be un necessary because mostly all of us were poor around our area.

A few days later , we are still doing the same routine .. but three hours later .. my

dear .. ... mother passed away .. a

tragedy in the family. . I felt like i should go too . but i had to be strong and fight my obstacles

Now that my mother was gone … i felt as if i was a man now but she was still looking over me

IT was now the second day after my dearest mother had died in front of me.it was about 3pm when i was staring at the bed where my mother had died right in front of me . We couldn't afford to get her a coffin so we just buried her ourselves .

What a sad day to remember .. I wanted to just forget about it but i am still recovering from it.

My dad had went to work .. And he had to be chosen to be a rat catcher because of the Sydney Bubonic plague crisis.

In my head i was saying to myself “ i hope my dear father doesn’t die to or else my family will have to be watched since we are all minors and Nathaniel is still 15 years old “

Every night we prayed that my father doesn’t die from the rats that came from other countries by boat.

“ AT LAST!” Nathaniel said .. “ Father is home ! “ Elizabeth screamed .. Our prays have worked .. Our father is home now and he has no signs of disease from the rats. We are all happy.

It was Sunday already of the week .. I had already forgotten the date . Every Sunday was important for us because it was the Sabbath day which means all the shops were closed.

After church we would always go on a picnic with the rest of the family and have a fun day at the park.

After a fun day at the park we would go home and play with the piano since we actually did afford to get one . Elizabeth , Me and Nathaniel would always to dance to my dads talent.

Sundays where always a good day, but we wish that our mother would be here with us every Sunday .. at our picnics and .. dancing with us.

“ I really miss your mum “ dearst father said to the family . Elizabeth started crying and i went up to her to give her a big hug .

Speaking about my mother. I went to my room and hugged the stuff toy what she had gave me when i was small .. “ i really miss her too “ talking to myself.

My dad had gone to the cassino to gamble and win us some money so we could be rich and wealthy .. But he would always lose money .

Me and Nathaniel would try get him not to gamble no more because on one day he lost all his money and we had to try find our pocket money that we were saving and then just try use that.

While me and my siblings stayed at home, we could tell each other stories

My brother’s story would always be the scariest and Elizabeth’s stories were always funny to me . All my stories were weird so I wasn't a big fan of telling my siblings a story unless it was real.

One of our families culture was every time we had a birthday party , the whole family would come to gather at one house and help cook traditional foods that tasted pretty good, in fact the best!

Well now to end my little story of mine .. Just to recap our family lived a hard life ever since my dearest mother had died .

All our Sunday picnics were full of joy and my brother finally afforded to go to secondary school.

I am now on the last year of primary school and saving all my money to go to secondary school.

My little sister has just started primary school and my dad is still working in a factory.

“Dedicated to my mother”

The End

Created by Arvin Caraos . Parramatta Marist , Westmead

Homeroom 91.