Sample answer:
I began by throwing out all the unnecessary woods to the bank of the nearby river. It was getting colder as winter would start in about two weeks from now. Father asked me to collect as many woods as possible for our fireplace at home, so it would be a good preparation to keep our house warm and comfortable. I chopped some logs and picked up those woods from the forest to be brought back home and this wouldn’t be easy without the help of my younger brother, Alex. After we finished, I exhaled my deep breath as a sign of exhaustion from all the work. The clear warm smoke was puffed out of my lungs through my nostrils and mouth. It was such a relief that the task for today had finally done.
‘Let’s head back home’ I spoke to Alex and he nodded obediently.
We hopped on to our father’s carriage full with the woods we collected earlier and I kicked the seat to give a signal to Black, our beautiful horse to start riding us home. As we were heading to our small cottage, I just realised how depressing and sad the environment was getting as the trees were mostly bald with barely some leaves left on. The breeze was very chilly when it blew to my bare face, it caused me to catch a sneeze and my body shivered a little. I hated that autumn almost came to an end and winter would arrive sooner than I realised as it reminded me of something. A dark, cold and vicious moment - a terrible memory which I wished I never had. Alex noticed that I caught a flu and said ‘Surely it isn’t your favourite season after all.’ I looked away and pretended that I was fine as I didn’t want to show my little weakness to him. It was my true nature to appear stronger and superior to my other siblings as I was the eldest son in the family even though I would doubt myself sometimes.
From far, I could see the grey smoke went out from our little house’s chimney. After half an hour of riding, we safely arrived home. Then, I ordered Alex to put and arrange the woods we collected in front our small barn beside the house so that they could be reached easily whenever we need them soon. I entered the house and saw my youngest sister, Lily, was busy cooking us dinner. She looked at me and smiled. ‘How’s everything?’ she asked. I didn’t reply her immediately as I was taking off my thick jacket then hanging it on a hook that attached to the wall. ‘It was fine’ I answered briefly. But deep in my heart I knew that I hid something miserable. The fear that I would never be able to unleash just because I was a grown-up man, the hope, the jewel of the family.
The sun was about to set and the dark sky was ready to take over the day. While waiting for dinner, I had a dark flashback about that unforgettable memory, 16 years ago during winter. I could see vividly how my mother was struggling with her own life to give birth to our little sister, Lily. It was fresh in my mind that the house was freezing cold as it was snowing heavily outside that had hindered the midwife to come by to assist my mother’s delivery. My mother was shouting in pain and she was getting weaker as she had lost a lot amount of energy and blood. Yes, the thick red blood was all over her bed. My father was there beside her, trying his best to calm her down and accompany her patiently to pass through that critical moment. I could see tears swelled up in my mother’s eyes as she suffered enough from the pain. I couldn’t help but to cry over her suffering but I got to be strong and I tried to look after Alex who was only 3 years old and understood nothing. A few moments later, there was a loud sound of crying baby and it gave us a moment of relief. It was the sign that I knew mother had safely delivered our little sister. But little did I know that she did not make it that long after she held Lily in her arms…
‘Brother let’s eat!’ uttered Lily to me and I was taken aback to the reality.
‘Are you okay?’ Alex asked as he puzzled.
I took a little time to adjust my feelings and I nodded weakly, hiding my sorrow away from my siblings.
Then, I looked at the window to only realised that it was totally dark out there. A quick question jumped out of my mouth ‘Where is father?’ I asked nervously. Lily and Alex shrugged and looked at each other, noting that they did not have any clue. ‘He probably went out for hunting a deer’ replied Lily positively. My mind was tangled with many possibilities. He never went out from the house this late and it was too dangerous to be alone in the forest at night. I began to feel worried and a spine-chilling thought had crept into my mind. I started to think that the worse nightmare could happen again this time. He might be kidnapped by a group of evil horseman for ransom or worst he might be killed and eaten by a wild beast. My whole body felt numb and I hardly breathed as usual. 'Is father gone too?' I asked myself. My heartbeat stopped and the house seemed to be dark from every corner like the same situation I had when mother left us...
A sudden bang of the front door swept away all my unwanted imagination. It was father carrying a small deer to the kitchen. I closed my eyes to restore my faith. The silly thought of losing everyone I love was too overwhelming whenever winter was coming. But now I was beyond grateful to God from the very bottom of my heart and said a little inner prayer ‘Dear Lord, I’m not ready to lose him like I lost my beloved mother and I’m afraid that I still in need of him to build me as a man. Don’t let him leave us too early. I love him..’
‘Father, let’s eat. Dinner is getting cold’ I said to my father warmly and I grinned at him from ear to ear. He looked at my odd face with full of questions. Surely he had no idea how anxious I was just now.
Roman Bath, UK
