Flash Fictions College Ernest Chalamel Classes de 3ème. 2018

FLASH FICTIONS COLLEGE ERNEST CHALAMEL CLASSES DE 3ème 2018

N°1 VALENTINL

If I were …
a refugee (In 1940)

-    I would hide to save my life
-      I would ask good people to give me shelter
-      I would be afraid, I would be nervous
-      I would not have a house
-      I would not see my brothers or sisters
-      I would not see my family
-      I would not play football anymore
-      I would not do what I want anymore
-      My future would be unknown
-      I would have a bundle of food and clothing

-      I would be like a mouse before a cat
-      I would be happy for being a jew in my heart
-      I would not be free
-      I would be lost
-      I would not speak the language of the country
-      I would look for a person like me, a refugee
-      I would not go to school
-      I would be stressed when I am on the bus, on the train …
-      I would try not to see the police when I am in a public place

FelixM
What would I do If we were in 1940?

I would hide a refugee.

I would try to save Jews.

I would be a resistance member and I would hide in the “maquis”.

I would have to change my name.

I would not be happy.

I would have to fight for freedom

I would enlist in the free french forces

I would look for refugees to help them

I would try to makeFalse paper I would help the refugees

I would go to England….

THE BARBED WIRE…
BY SOPHIED

When Esther comes back from school, she can see the signs. Panic-stricken, she feels her face heat. She quickly walks back home but her parents aren’t here. She starts crying although she must not. She calls her aunt to tell her that she should come without delay. After that, Esther remembers the last three days, her parents came to search her to school and crossed the Drancy park to avoid the signs. Now it’s sure, her parents have been deported. She can’t refrain her tears.
She tries to gather all the things which reminds her of her parents. When she enters in her bedroom, she sees a small note on her pillow. She takes it, opens and reads :
« Hello Esther. Don’t worry, please. We have been deported to the Drancy camp. To see us, pass in front of the barbed wire fence when you go to school
We love you !
Your parents »

The door slams. Esther jumps and runs to hide. She stops breathing. And she can hear her aunt screaming « Esther! ». She is relieved. Her old aunt has arrived. She embraces Esther and starts cooking. She doesn’t speak.
During the night Esther can’t sleep, she thinks.

When the sun comes up, she hurries to be ready and she runs to the barbed wires to see her parents. She stays there a long time but her parents aren’t here. She goes to school but she can’t focus. She doesn’t know what to do. She decides to give them a week.

Three days have passed but her parents aren’t still here. After six days, she begins to despair, she doesn’t run to go in front of the barbed wires, she’s afraid of what’s out there. When she arrives, she sees her parents waiting for her. She kisses them and for the first time in a long time, she smiles. Her parents don’t know how long they’re going to be there for. Her father gives her his necklace and he says :

« - It’s an heirloom, don’t lose it please !
-We can’t stay here long with you otherwise they’ll find out who you are ! And you have to go to school, it’s important for your future ! her mother says. »
« My future… but who knows if I’ll still be alive in two weeks ? But if I stay here I will be like them. »she thinks. Esther hugs them the best she can and she leaves. It breaks her heart to see her parents locked up behind the barbed wire.

Two weeks later, living in freedom becomes more difficult. When she arrives in front of the barbed wire, her parents aren’t here. She knows it’s not for the same reason as the first time and she knows she has to leave without delay. She quickly walks back home. She takes a small bag and she puts the stuff she needs in there. She takes some stuff that reminds her of her parents and money. She leaves Drancy alone. Her head is disconnected from her body. All she does is acting. She is not a little girl anymore, she is a person trying to survive. She knows that to cross France on foot is not imaginable but in the present circumstances she has no choice.

The first step is to go to Orléans. As the crow flies, there are 120km so it’s a thirty- hour walk. « If I walk ten hours a day, I’m there in three days »she thinks. She takes her compass and she goes to the south. She has to stop often because her head is spinning, she doesn’t drink enough. At the end of the first day of walking, she can sleep in a youth hostel. She eats a small piece of bread. She steals sugar and a bottle of water for the rest of her journey. Then, she falls asleep tired in her bed. She knows she will not have a bed every day. The next morning, she's going away well rested.
The next two nights, she sleeps outside, sheltered by trees and away from the people who want to hurt her.

The second step is to go to Bourges as the crow flies, there are 100km so it’s a twenty five hour walk. « If I walk ten hours a day, I’m there in two and half days but if I try to walk twelve and half hours a day, I’m only two days away! » she thinks. Esther avoids the cities because security is surely more reinforced. After two days, she arrives in Bourges, exhausted.

The third step is to cross the border into the free zone and go to Madranges. As the crow flies, there are 191km but when she will be in the free zone, it will be quieter.
When she arrives at the border, she sees soldiers who are checking the identity papers. Her heart’s beating like hell. She doesn’t have any papers with her. Luckily, a mother of a family calls her in. She explains to her that her daughter of the same age as her died, so she’s willing to pretend that

she is her daughter.