WHAT A STRANGE DAY IT HAD BEEN ....

IOANNA TSIVANIDOU

It was a hot summer morning when I got up, washed and dressed to go to work as usual. I had breakfast and then I left home.

When I opened my car door, I heard somebody saying: " Get out of the car and leave immediately". Oh my God! There were two Albanians with guns! Real guns! I got out of the car and I started running. I didn’t have any time to go to the police station. How could I get to my work? " They will fire me ", I thought. What should I do? My house keys had been stolen! My money had been stolen!

I decided to go by bus. I thought it was the best thing I could do. I went to the bus stop and I was waiting for the bus when I realised I had my ticket and I couldn’t afford another one. Anyway, the bus arrived and I got in. I was sitting next to a young man when I saw a gun in his pocket!

I was terrified and I was about to leave the bus when the ticket inspector stopped me. " Could you show me your ticket? ", he asked me. I was about to tell him my story, when the young man stood up and screamed : " Everybody down or I will kill all of you! ". I fainted!

When I recovered we were in a place I had never seen before. We were going to Albania! That was the young man’s "wish". All of us were obliged to go with him and if we hadn’t agreed we would have gone to meet our maker! After 4 hours we heard the police coming.

We were so happy; but not for long. The young man killed an old lady and threw her out of the bus to make the police realise his intentions! The police shot him and he was killed. But I was wounded because I was sitting next to him. So, a helicopter took me to the hospital and my doctor told me that I had to stay there for a month. What a strange day it had been!

IOANNA TSIVANIDOU is a fifteen-year-old student at the Fourth Lykeio in Katerini. She enjoys travelling – she has been to London as well as many other European cities, and is also interested in music and films. She has passed the Cambridge FCE English exams, is waiting for the results of the Cambridge and Michigan Proficiency exams.