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1220 Words
Cassie woke up to a loud, thunderous sound that made her heart pound. It felt as though the earth was shaking beneath her.
She jolted up in bed, her instincts told her something was not right.
She glanced at the clock and saw it was only 6:45 a.m. Without wasting much time, she threw on a sweater and rushed to the window, pulling the curtains aside.
Outside, the street was filled with people. Some of the neighbors were still in their nightclothes, while others were clutching their phones or hastily packing bags.
The rumbling continued, it was now loud enough for her to make out the source of the noise.
It was big construction vehicles that were tearing into the walls of one of the nearby houses.
Panicked, she sprinted out of her room and down the stairs, nearly colliding with her younger brother, Danny, who was also running outside.
Their mother was there too, standing at the gate with her arms folded tightly across her chest, her face pale but defiant.
“What’s happening?” Cassie asked, breathless. Her mother didn’t respond immediately; she was too busy glaring at the bulldozers and the uniformed workers barking orders at one another.
Cassie followed her mother’s gaze. A portion of the neighborhood was already in ruins.
Walls that had once been homes now lay in crumbled heaps, and smoke and dust billowed into the air. The sight turned her stomach.
Danny tugged at Cassie’s sleeve. “Is it an earthquake?” he asked, his voice trembling.
“No,” Cassie whispered, trying to remain calm for her brother. “It’s not.”
As the noise subsided for a moment, Cassie noticed other neighbors gathering outside.
Some were shouting in protest while others paced anxiously with their children in tow until a man in a reflective vest approached a small group near the corner.
“What’s going on?” Cassie asked as she approached the crowd. Her voice was sharp, demanding answers.
A middle-aged woman turned to her, shaking her head in frustration.
“They’re tearing it all down,” she said bitterly. “The entire neighborhood. They say the landlords sold the land to some big company.”
Cassie’s mouth went dry as she asked, “What company?”
“Hudson Motherboard Construction Ltd,” the woman spat. “They’re building a mall.”
Cassie’s stomach dropped. “What? They can’t just do that….” she said in disbelief.
“What about the tenants? What happens to everyone living here?” she asked no one in particular.
Another worker, wearing a big hat, overheard the conversation and responded coldly. “That’s none of our concern. We’re just following orders from the CEO.”
Cassie felt her anger rising. “None of your concern?” she snapped.
”People live here for goodness sake! Families! Where are we supposed to go?” she replied back mirroring his tone.
The man didn’t even bother to look at her. “Not my problem,” he said flatly before walking away.
Cassie clenched her fists. She wanted to scream, but she knew it wouldn’t help.
The workers were just pawns in a much larger game. Arguing with them was a waste of time.
She turned back toward her mother and Danny. Her mother looked heartbroken as she spoke, “We need to pack,” she said softly. “There’s no use staying here.”
“But, Mom—” Cassie began, but her mother cut her off.
“There’s nothing we can do, Cassie. I called your Aunt Linda. She said we can stay with her for a while until we figure things out.”
Cassie nodded, though her chest tightened at the thought of leaving the only home she’d ever known, she knew better than retaliating.
She followed her mother back inside, where they began gathering their belongings.
They didn't have much belongings, with just a few bags of clothes, some family photographs, and the bare essentials, they were set to start moving.
Their mother had always been careful with money, and luxuries were a rarity in their household.
Danny hovered near the door, holding onto a small backpack filled with his schoolbooks and a couple of toys.
“Will we ever come back?” he asked quietly.
Cassie knelt beside him, brushing a hand through his hair. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “But we’ll stick together, okay? That’s what matters.” she said and patted his back.
The packing was quick, but every item they placed into a bag felt like a piece of their lives being ripped away.
Cassie couldn’t help but glance around the small apartment, the kitchen where her mother had cooked countless meals, the living room where Danny had sprawled out with his toys, the tiny balcony where she’d spent hours reading. All of it was about to be taken from them.
By the time they stepped back outside, the destruction had spread. Two more homes were reduced to rubble, and workers were moving toward their building.
Neighbors were yelling at the workers and pleading with them to stop, but their cries fell on deaf ears.
“Mom, look!” Danny shouted, pointing at the approaching bulldozer.
Cassie’s mother stepped forward, holding her hand out as though she could physically stop the machine. “You have to give us more time!” she yelled. “We’re still moving our things!”
A worker waved her off. “You’ve got ten minutes,” he said gruffly. “Then we’re coming through.”
“Ten minutes?” Cassie echoed, disbelief etched on her face. “You can’t be serious!”
The man shrugged. “Take it up with management.”
Furious, Cassie turned to the other neighbors. “We can’t let this happen!” she shouted. “We have to do something!”
An older man named Mr. Wilson, who had lived in the neighborhood for decades, shook his head sadly. “They’ve got the law on their side,” he said.
“The landlords sold the property. We’re just tenants. We don’t have any rights here.”
Cassie’s heart sank at his words. She wanted to fight back, but how? What could they possibly do against a company with money and power on its side?
The next ten minutes passed in a blur. Cassie and her family hurriedly loaded their bags into a borrowed cart while the bulldozer loomed closer.
Neighbors helped one another, but there was a shared sense of helplessness. They were being uprooted, their lives shattered, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.
As they left the neighborhood, Cassie glanced back one last time at the street she had grown up on with sweet memories immediately replaced with the nightmare scene in front of her.
Her heart ached for the memories they were leaving behind, for the life they had been forced to abandon.
But as she turned her attention back to the road ahead, she felt a flicker of determination.
This wasn’t over. Hudson Motherboard Construction Ltd might have taken their homes, but Cassie wasn’t about to let them take everything.
She didn’t know how yet, but she vowed to find a way to fight back for her family, for her neighbors, and for the community they had built together.
- Writer
