I was staring at some of the foods in the frozen foods aisle, so absorbed in what I was doing that I didn't notice my father and brother had disappeared.
When I came out of my trance and realised what was going on, I was in a state of confusion. 'Where were they?', 'Why had they not taken me?', 'Had they left me alone here?' and 'Why?' were the most popular questions whizzing round and round my head, so much so, that I began to feel dizzy. I wasn't sure what to do next. I wasn't sure if they were going to come back for me or not. I didn't know if I should go up to somebody for help, or if I should look for my father and brother right away. I ran about like a headless chicken. I could feel my stomach churning with dread. My mouth became itchy and dry, with a lump forming in the back of my throat as I struggled to find them. My eyes, too, became itchy, and anything but dry. I could feel the tears welling up behind my eyeballs. With every step the place became ten times bigger. I now understood why they called it a supermarket. I could never find them here, ever. I was lost.
'Oh why wasn't I concentrating?!' I kept on thinking. I knew that they were going to be around here somewhere, but a significant amount of my mind was in turmoil. My mind just kept on doubting the fact that I was going to find them. I was determined not to cry, but I so desperately wanted to. I was frustrated, not only with myself, but also with my father and my brother. 'Where were they?' The question just kept on pestering at my head. 'Where were they?' The fear of being alone in the world was just too much for me. I wished that they would magically reappear just as they had suddenly disappeared. I couldn't get rid of the feeling of being afraid and I couldn't help but feel sorry for myself. I wanted to crawl up into a ball until it was all over. As I wondered aimlessly through the supermarket, I felt the sudden prickliness of the hairs on the back of my neck, as if they were standing on end. My heart was beating out of control. The panic was affecting my thinking. 'Oh please God, let me find them.' I thought. Everything was moving so fast and I couldn't keep up. I began to whimper quietly.
I could see the hefty trolleys clashing against each other, almost as if they were waging war. The noise, of the trolleys and the bustling, crowded supermarket, was quite deafening.
As I looked carefully at each and every aisle, they all began to look exactly the same and I started to lose every last hope of ever getting home, safe and sound. Feeling scared and extremely alone, I searched everywhere, trying hard to blink back the tears. The brightness of the lights were too much for me to take. I was so lost and confused and disorientated. I couldn't hold it in any longer. The tears that I had tried to keep inside, just came out like a flash flood.
When I was on my last shred of hope, I caught sight of something that had seemed so very familiar. My father's jacket!
I ran, giddy from the thought of being found. They were by the confectionery aisle. Feeling rather overwhelmed, I hugged my father affectionately. My father and brother were confused at this point, but I didn't worry about trivial things like that.
"Where did you go? I couldn't find you anywhere!" I said.
"We didn't go anywhere..." My father tried to explain.
"What?! I thought that you had left me."
"We just thought you had gone to look for something. We tried to find you but you were nowhere to be found," he answered. So they hadn't forgotten about me after all! They were even looking for me! I had never felt such happiness, such joy. I was finally safe and sound. I felt that I had grown six feet from my shrunken state. All anger that I had ever felt, just suddenly flushed out of my system. For some reason I could feel my throat drying up again, with the lump too, and the tears forming behind my eyeballs, but I wasn't afraid or anxious this time. I was happy. I felt kind of numb from all the relief. I was going to be all right.
SHIVANI PATEL
ENGLISH ESSAY
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