Highly Commended Story - Why It Has Happened?

“Why It Has Happened?” by Selvaganabathi R. Vamadevan, SJKT Kulim, Malaysia, is the Highly Commended story in the junior category of the second biannual Short Story Contest 2020.

Selvaganabathi R Vamadevan is an Indian boy from Malaysia aged 11 years old. Selva has interest in space related studies, general knowledge and history about the conflicts of the past. He is also very ambitious and looking for opportunities to improve himself. A humble and obedient boy. His easy-going character attracts people’s attention towards him. Reading is his hobby. He has won three awards in the innovative category in international competitions this year. His interest in literature made him win the poetry writing competition locally. He loves reciting poems, which he proved in UNESCO IMUN summer camp last August. His ambition is to be a successful human being.

Why It Has Happened?

It was a very gloomy day of August 6, 1945 in Hiroshima, Japan. Being the captain of the ‘Japanese Kwantung Army’ I feel so proud as Japanese who are ruling a lot of countries like East Indies, Singapore, New Guinea, Malaya and Philippines. We had the power to make people respect us either by willing or by force. Their head bowed for us. Some of them are scared to face us. That fear makes us feel more powerful as though we had conquered the whole world.

But still the proud was no longer stayed with us. A loud sound was coming from the sky. When I saw the sky, there was a big United States of America’s Aircraft named ‘Boing B-29’. Just in a while, I spotted that the aircraft was gone leaving a tiny bomb named ‘Little Boy’ which was falling as the ‘hissing’ sound of air carrying it can be clearly heard. It truly cleared over 80,000 people. At that moment, I was in Honshu Island. I hardly hear any sound of the bomb touching the ground of Hiroshima but saw the mushroom cloud. Our important embarkation port and industrial centre that was the site of a major military headquarters has been destructed.

Three days later, while we still in mourning for the total lost, we had in Hiroshima, another bomb called ‘Fat Man’ had touched the ground in Nagasaki, a major military port, one of Japan's largest shipbuilding and repair centres. A strong heaty air spread through Nagasaki. There was a violent storm crossing my face. 40,000 of people died immediately. What was their mistakes? I realised. The judgement had taken place. Now, I felt the pain of losing our dearest ones.

On August 15, 1945, our government decided to surrender. Our respectable emperor, Hirohito admitted that despite the best that has been done by military and naval forces, the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage. Moreover, he also admitted that the US possesses a new and terrible weapon with the power to destroy many innocent lives and do incalculable damage. That was the reason for the surrender.

Even after our surrender the effect of the bombing in our country still can be felt. Our unborn babies had birth defects, our children and elders had brain development disorders and cancer due to the radiation. This is the lesson we learnt by being cruel commanders.

Being one of the survivors, I am now counting my days to leave this world. Yet I am feeling happy to hear the news of ‘Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons’, by United Nations. It is a good move to safeguard our forthcoming generation including our loveable mother nature. We do not need these nuclear weapons which kills humankind.