Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” (Anne Frank) - Elsie Faulkner

I think of the words that my Mother told me long ago………

“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” She always used to tell me this at night. When the war started. She said: “Callie. Don’t be scared. We live in a world full of hate and treachery, and no matter what we do, we may never be able to stop this. But it’s okay. Because we can still try! And we can still admire our world, even if it’s from a great distance.” I never really understood what she meant when she said this. She was a strong woman though. Her beliefs meant the world to her, and she always stuck up for what she thought was right no matter what the consequences were. That’s what I admired most about her. Even though a lot of the time, I didn’t exactly understand what she meant. I understood why she meant it. Because that’s who she was. Before she died. That’s who she still is, even though she died. Someone who can make such a big impact on another person, that they don’t have to know what it means that they say as such, they just have to understand why they were saying it.  And that’s me. How I see it. …. My name is Callie Abate.  This is me….

I wake up to the pounding and wailing of the wind and the rain. It makes such a horrific noise that all I want to do is somehow get away from it all. From the peeling paint and the piles of rubble and bricks. From the broken windows and the mouldy wood.

All of this was what was left of my house. When the thing occurred, this was all that was left of it. And now me and my older brother, (Jaydon), were left here. All on our own. With a bottle of musty water, and the words my mother gave us. I tried listening to her. I tried to see the beauty in the frosty sea of stars, and the crumbling, cracked buildings, everywhere. But it was tough to see the beauty in other things. Like the anxious look on Jaydon’s face, or the angry look on mine. I tried my best though. Because I knew it would give me a good distraction from everything……..