My Personal Narrative

Thomas Maher
Oct. 5 2009
The day I Nearly Got Killed

Coming back from school my dad was down at the pool reading his magazine. I say “hi” to him.
He responds “Hey Thomas you know what I found this morning?”
“No” I told him.

"This is what I found," holding up a bullet from the air attack last night
"Where did you find that” I asked my dad.
“Down over there by the playground” he told me.
“Awesome” I replied.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!!! “Thomas get up!!!!!” everyone was shouting in my house. The LTTE has come and The Government is firing back. Still asleep I didn’t know what to do so I walk to where my mom was standing. Everything was blurry for me and things were ringing in my head.

“Quick Thomas hurry up or do you want to die by bullets flying through the windows” my mom shouted. Once I heard that I sprang into action running as fast as I could to get behind sleep through the air attack, but it was to noisy with the guns outside making a walls. I finally got there and I was extremely scared, so I tried to racket, tourist laughing and my mom shouting through the radio to the security of my dad’s office.
“Thomas get up we are going in here so we are safer” my mom told me once I was awake. We went into the bathroom and the noise of guns firing was even louder because it echoed and echoed so loud we could not stand it. By now I was fully awake and was trying to think straight and not thinking that I was going to die. We were now inside behind walls, when all of a sudden the shooting stopped for about a minute.
We looked outside to check if the air attack was over but we were wrong, an airplane had just crashed into a building 500m away form my house and The Government army thought all the airplanes were down. We could see a fire in a shopping mall and in a building right next to a hotel were an airplane crashed and then exploded. Then all of a sudden, The Government wanted the last LTTE airplane down and started firing again but this time with all they had. Now The Government sent their airplanes out but the airplanes were to fast for the LTTE airplanes. It was funny. So the Government stated firing again but this time randomly into the air hoping that they would the airplane.
I heard the phone ring and my mom picked up “hello” she said. My friends on the 9th floor were all alone with their parents out partying.
My mom told them “to stay behind walls and as far a possible away from windows”. They did as told, but they were still very frightened.
We called my dads office and said “what on earth is happening?” my mom shouted ant them.
They said “to stay behind walls and just stay calm’. We did every thing correctly but still scared of the war.
My friends called again and asked “if we could call their mom?” We called their mom just when she started driving to her apartment. The Government said no lights were allowed on so it was all dark outside and she was driving in the darkness.
My dad’s office called up and said “stay behind walls and you will be safe” we did as told and we were safe for the rest of the night. Every time I heard fire crackers I jumped out of my seat and ran for my life thinking it was an air attack. Also that day on the best newspaper in Sri Lanka said “What a Failure” in big bold letters, under the title it said 12 dead and 81 one wounded. I was laughing my head of be cause that is not a failure. My parents agree and my dad showed it to our driver and he also laughed and told his story of his family in the air attack.