It was a typical Saturday. My
parents and I are having breakfast. Everything went good, none of the british
colony disturb us because my dad and them are okay living together. When I was
about to take my drink, a neighbor burst out in front of the doorstep and
shouted, “A Nyungar was shot! Right in the head!”. My father stood up looking
very furious. He didn’t finish his breakfast, he went out of the house without
saying a word and I saw him walked to a house surrounded by so many people. I
assumed it’s where a Nyungar was killed. I was so curious and decided to
quietly follow my dad. I heard my dad arguing with the British Colony. I’m like, “Isn’t dad friends with him?
Why are they arguing?” I was so confused. Then I asked my bestfriend; the daughter of the man dad is arguing with.
“Hey, what’s wrong with our
parents? Why are they arguing?”, I said to Nicole in confusion.
She sighed and replied, “A
neighbor of yours stole some potatoes out of my dad’s garden. It’s shocking
really...”. She rolled her
eyes as if she was disgusted at me.
I looked more miserable than ever.
How could Nicole think
that it’s called stealing? I
mean, it’s the aborigines’ land! We are supposed to take the land resources of
ours. It feels like this land isn’t ours anymore. The British colony has
overtaken the land we own, the land we call ‘home’. Without a single word said
from my mouth, I gave Nicole an I-am-so-disappointed-at-you look and walk away.
One incident changed my friendship with Nicole forever; we’re never friends
anymore ever since. I went back to my house immediately after I talked to Nicole.
I told my mom about everything. She was so angry at the colony and she felt
sorry for what happened between me and Nicole. I cried when I told my mom the
stories. I leaned onto her shoulder. She erased my tears and said,
“Maya, I know how sad it is to lose a friend but if she’s a good friend
for you, she won’t look at you like that and she won’t think that our neighbor
stole the potatoes. Everything on this land is ours since the very first time.
I assume it’s a misunderstanding and I’m sure dad will clear things up. Cheer
up sunshine!”
I cried a little more but this time it’s because my mom actually made me
cry a tear of happiness. I love her. We smiled
and we hugged. She looked at me and said, “Now, have you done the chores I ask
you to do before?” I giggled and say, “Nope, I haven’t done it mom. Hehe :D”
She smiled at me and told me to do the chores. She’s never angry at me. I like
her a lot; I think she’s my favorite person ever.
I have done the chores and I waited in the living room for dad to come
back home. After I waited for hours, dad finally arrived home and I was so
happy he wasn’t hurt by the british colony after the so-called-stealing
incident. Dad didn’t look very happy. He told me and mom that the british
colony still see it as “stealing”. And dad said that he tried to tell the
colony about the land resources so there won’t be any misunderstanding. But the
colony said, “I’ve seen these people stealing from my garden quite a lot of
times! At first I let them do it but this has crossed the limit.” Dad was so angry
but he tried to calm himself. Dad sighed and said, “I’ve argued with the
british colony many times but they aren’t debatable and I must say they’re one
of the most stubborn people I’ve ever met. Not the best people to be friends
with.” The last sentence dad said reminded me of Nicole. I tried not to care
about Nicole anymore. Dad continued his sentence and said “The worst thing is,
they are now trying to kill me. They have offered people big awards for anyone
who found my head. So now, I have to hid myself and runaway. I probably won’t meet
you two ever again.”
In a moment of silence, I stared at mom and dad and I began to
cry. I can’t believe dad has decided to leave us. I felt so sad now I don’t
know what to do with my life anymore. Two people left me that day; Nicole and
dad.
I’ve never heard any news about dad or his whereabouts. But I saw the
daily news paper saying my dad has been captured. I cried after reading that, knowing
that my dad’s head will be chopped off after he’s captured. I cried almost every
day because I feel so lonely because my dad is a fugitive and I will never meet
him ever again in this life. The next few weeks, I saw the newspaper saying “Yagan
escaped from where he’s captured! A greater reward offered to whoever found his
dead!” I told my mom about this and we both cried. I told you I cried almost every
day don’t judge me you don’t know how it feels to live a life when your dad isn’t
with you. But for 12 months, there were no news about dad. I think he managed
to avoid being captured. I could finally
paint a smile on my face but life seemed to hate me. I read the daily newspaper
and said, “Yagan’s head was finally found! A great reward was given to the man
who achieved this struggle to found Yagan and shot him. Congratulations!”
CONGRATULATIONS? It’s not nice saying congrats for murdering someone! Ugh, I
literally hate my life. I have never felt this sad before. I lost my friend and
now my dad. It was tragic. Why won’t life give me a rest for a while? Why doesn’t
my life have a proper happiness? I hate my life and everything and anyone in
it. Why is my life so tragic and so miserable? Oh, because life isn’t a fairytale
where you don’t lose people you love. I guess I’d be happier to live in the
fairytale world then. Impossible, I should stop dreaming and get back to
reality.
My mom and I decided to ask the colony to give us the chance to at least
see dad’s head. After a long talk the colony finally let us. We saw dad’s head
and we cried. We can’t take the head home so we went home without dad’s head.
We cried for days after dad’s tragic death.
I’m actually quite proud being his daughter because he didn’t die in vain. He
died as a true hero in helping the Aborigines. He truly is the Aborigines hero!
