The days after the surrender of Singapore are still etched into my memory, clear as day. 15 February 1942, is that one day that will forever haunt me. The sounds of Japanese soldiers marching down our home, their loaded guns, a reminder that our home was no longer safe. My name is Nicole Lim and I am 11 years old.
Before World war 2, my life was filled with the laughter of friends, the feeling of the soft grass in the park and smell of noodles wafting through our kitchen door. My mother makes the best noodles. The most spicy, steaming noodles I have ever tasted. There was nothing like coming home to a hearty, warm noodle. But now, we only have one bowl of tapioca rice and vegetables from the backyard every day. That is a ‘normal’ life during war. No school, no food, no fun and no peace. I wanted the Singapore that I once knew. The Singapore that had laughter, fun, play and freedom. That was all before Japan took over.
August 6th started off like every ‘normal’ day. My sister, Sofia and I were getting dressed in the same dirty, reused shorts and t-shirt so I could go down to play in the mud, caused by the thunderstorm last night. My stomach growled as I only had 1 grape as a morning starter. I met my best friends , Hannah and Amy , outside my front door. We loved playing tag on warm, sunny days but today was cloudy. It reminded me of the time we were at school and there would be a thunderstorm so we all hid under the chairs and tables.
Now, Hannah and I aren’t scared of thunderstorms but we are terrified of war, fighting and death.
Today, we lay on the muddy grass. Our hands under our heads protect our hair from getting dirty. We lay under the same tree we always love. It’s mine and Hannah’s friendship tree. When we met, at the age of 3 months, our mothers sat here with us and me and Hannah would listen to their conversations. Even though we didn’t really understand what they were talking about. Me and Hannah saw Amy, a lonely girl with no friends and invited her to play with us. Now the 3 of us sit under the same tree and talk. We talk about our dream holidays. Where would it be, who would be with us and was there war or peace? Hannah explained how she would want to take her family, Amy’s and mine to a far away place where we would be sitting by a lovely beachside, with the sun paired with a graceful breeze and it was all just peaceful. No war, no fighting, no death. She told me how she would do anything to make her dream come true. We want nothing else than peace. The thoughts of dreamy holidays were replaced by shouting soldiers marching towards the neighbourhood, followed by gunshots and screams of pain. The three of us ran back to our houses and locked our doors.
I cried for my mom, dad and sister who were all sitting in the living room. I told them that we were in danger. All of them were really surprised, shocked and scared. Mom jumped to her feet, dad’s jaw dropped open and Sofia hid her face in the pillows. Suddenly my mother started to cry. I have never seen her cry. Dad put one finger on his lips signalling us outside the back door and to the shelter in our backyard. My mom sniffed, and took a deep breath and followed father. We tiptoed to the back door and dad creaked it open. I closed my ears, trying to block out the screams and shouts coming from down the streets
15 minutes in the backyard shelter were cold and dusty. But this was for our safety and I had no time to focus on this. What was really important is that we were safe. I counted 15 gunshots and 10 screams of pain. One of them was coming from next door. Hannah! Hannah was in danger. I was petrified to the point where I almost fell back.
I whimpered as I had a devastating and mournful vision of my best friend, dead. Tears strode down at my cheeks but I didn’t dare to make a single noise. That would just cause us trouble. After about 30 minutes of waiting, my father slowly got out of the shelter and creaked open the back door. Luckily the house was empty. The soldiers must have seen that we weren’t here. But luck was gone. A few hours later after we were sure all the soldiers had gone, I went over to Hannah’s to make sure everyone was okay. The site made me cry so loud I had a stomach ache. My best friend and her family are gone.
Hannah’s funeral took place in her backyard along with her parents 2 days after she died. My hands shook and I had to slap them against my thighs to stop them from trembling. I cried the whole time having flashbacks about the bloody body that used to be my best friend. Mother cried too. I understood why she was crying earlier. Mother’s best friend was Hannah’s mother. She loves Hannah’s mother like I love Hannah. I was furious at the soldiers that shot her, I was furious at Japan for taking over Singapore, I was furious at the war and I was furious that my best friend was dead. When we came home, my family had come to the decision. We had to be refugees, we had to be somewhere safer than this, we had to be away from all the fighting and War. My family decided to move to Sri Lanka. The teardrop-shaped island located just off the southeastern coast of India. I missed Hannah and the life we left behind, but very soon, once the war is over, I will come back to the place my best friend was buried. I will come back to the tree me and Hannah met. I will come home.