Old Bunker

By Ellery

“World War II took place more than eighty years ago, and lasted for six years. Adolf
Hitler was the person who initiated World War II, when he invaded Poland on the first
day of September. The war ended in 1945 on 2nd September. During World War 2,
many children like you and me, in a variety of ages, were sent away to the country in
groups, for their safety. They stayed with complete strangers, and they rarely saw their
parents. It was a trying time and I am grateful that we don’t have any more wars and
we have a calm civilization. Thank you!” Jenna, Halle’s classmate, read. The class filled
with applause, and Jenna smiled from ear-to-ear.

“That was a very good report, Jenna. You even explained who initiated the war and
how! Now, next up is Halle. Halle, where’s your report, or presentation?” Halle’s teacher,
Ms. Wendy, asked.

Halle slumped down into her seat. With her extra-curricular activities and other classes,
she hadn’t had any time to write her report on World War II, much less create a
presentation. All she had was a draft she had written on the bus that morning. “W-W-
Well, Ms. W-W-Wendy, I-I have had s-s-so many things t-to d-d-do, I had n-no time to
create a presentation or write a report. A-All I have is this draft I wrote,” Halle
stammered. She started to tremble but stood up and handed the folded piece of
crumpled paper with her draft written on it to Ms. Wendy. “I-I-I’m sorry.” Ms. Wendy
crossed her arms.

“You should be sorry, Halle James. You had two entire weeks to work on this! Yet, all I
get is this crumpled piece of paper. I am very disappointed in you, Halle James. You’re
supposed to be a model student!” Ms. Wendy had a stern look on her face. Halle’s eyes
brimmed with tears. She raced back to her seat and put the piece of paper back in her
notebook. Halle laid her head on her desk and sniffled. Occasionally, she’d raise a
finger to wipe her tears away.

Ms. Wendy looked back at Halle and realised what she had just done. She was
supposed to help students, not make them cry. She went to Halle’s desk and whispered
in her ear, “You have until Friday for your report, or else I’ll have to send you to the
principal, alright?” Halle looked up and beamed. She nodded and pulled out her history
book and flipped to the chapter on World War II. Ms. Wendy smiled.

When Halle got home from school that afternoon, she raced up to her room to start
writing her report. She had just written a paragraph when she heard a scream from the
basement. “What’s going on?” When she reached the basement and saw the horrified
look on her mother’s face, she immediately understood why. In the basement’s floor,
was an enormous hole, and it didn’t look down into the underground, it looked down
into a bunker, and in the bunker was an old man who was sleeping in a bed! Around
him was furniture, cupboards and other things you’d expect to find in a home.

Halle was bewildered, and had hundreds of thousands of questions. Who was this man?
Why is there a bunker underneath the house? Why is there a man living in the bunker
underneath the house? How long has this man been here? How long has this bunker
been here? How is this man surviving in this bunker? What is he doing in this bunker?

Suddenly, with an echoing groan, the man woke up and looked up. Somehow, even
though he looked old, he screamed louder than a whale. Halle’s mother didn’t think
twice before calling a contractor to fix the hole. However, when Halle’s mother
explained the situation to the contractor over the phone, they passed it as a prank call
and hung up immediately. “Obviously the situation wouldn’t sound believable,” Halle’s
mother muttered under her breath. “An old man in an underground bunker?”

Meanwhile, Halle decided to take the benefit of the doubt and talked to the man.
Nothing was particularly interesting, but when the man said that he was a child in
World War II, Halle had an idea! For her report, she would interview the man to tell her
about what really happened in World War II!

It turned out the man was quite nice and he answered all of Halle’s questions. He even
gave Halle his perspective on it. By the time Halle’s mother came back, the two were
actually good friends! Halle told her mother that they shouldn’t shut him back up in the
bunker, as he was actually quite lonely as he had been shut up in there ever since
World War II because he had been left behind!
Halle’s mother felt sorry for the man, and discussed the matter at hand with Halle’s
father. They agreed and talked with the old man once they had helped him climb up
out of the bunker. In the end, they decided to let the old man stay with them, and
covered the hole with glass, as sort of a World War II artefact. The old man was
incredibly grateful.

A few days later, it was time for Halle’s presentation. She had made a poster about
World War II with the interview answers. That wasn’t the best part though. Halle had
gotten permission from her parents to let the old man come for her presentation and
answer any questions her class had about World War II. Ms. Wendy was surprised, and
gave Halle an A!