The lake glistened in the afternoon sun, its turquoise ripples like liquid glass. It was so peaceful and beautiful that you would never have known what horrors lay beneath the twirling currents. I stood frozen, my hands clenched on the railing beside the road. I held on so tight that they throbbed, and my knuckles had turned white. Tourists mingled and chatted; some held cameras, taking photos of the pretty water as if it were always there; none of them knew what lay beneath the beautiful mass of crystal-like emerald water. None of them could see the small bakery where I got fresh, warm bread for my mother every morning.

None of them could see the old, crooked streets that are now water logged and mossy, and definitely none of them could see the small house with a red roof and a perfectly manicured garden in front of it. It was all gone now, never to be seen again. I closed my eyes, and the flashback hit me with such force my knees buckled. Suddenly, my whole presence was now once again in that terrible night. The sounds of tourists faded, and my mind now turned to the screams of young kids being yanked from their houses and parents crying desperately to find their loved ones. The dam above the tiny village was breaking.

The low, deafening booms as the dam fractured, water sliding down the mossy green concrete wall. My Dad's loud voice rang out around our tiny cabin, "Grab your sister and go!" His voice broke, as if he were fighting back tears. Scared out of my mind, I sprinted out the door and onto the streets - the town I knew so well was unrecognisable, with people rushing past carrying bags and children in their arms, some of them were still in their pyjamas. Dogs barked and strained at their leashes. Fear spiked through my veins, causing adrenaline to flush out any other feeling I had before. I screamed for my younger sibling Emily until my voice cracked and pain ripped through my throat.

Urgently trying to find my sister, I raced up and down the streets, almost bowling over Mrs Thompson, the baker. "Have you seen Emily?” I choked out. Tears streamed out of her kind eyes, winding their way down her wise, wrinkled face “ No ”, she sobbed “, but you need to get to higher ground”, she pleaded with me. I shook my head. No, I had to find her. Every block I checked, growing more desperate with each passing second. Hope flooded my chest as I spotted a little white bag that my mum had made for her laying on the ground, next to a pine tree.

I sprinted over, hunting around the tree for her, “Emily?” I said cautiously, not wanting to scare her. “I'm up here," a petrified little six-year-old voice floated quietly down from the tree. Relief flooded my limbs so intensely I felt like crying. "Come down," I called as calmly as I could, but panic engulfed me once more as the dam let out a huge crack, water gushed over the side, sweeping through houses and trees with no mercy, and we were going to be caught up in it pretty soon if we didn't hurry. As soon as Emily's feet touched the ground I grabbed her hand and we ran. We ran through the parks and past shops.

We ran and ran desperately trying to beat the massive flood of water hungrily getting closer and closer by the second. “I’m tired” Emily wailed on the verge of tears “Just let me sit down for a second” she pleaded, but we were too late, the water had already caught up to us. The merciless twirling black current slammed into our bodies with such force it knocked the air out of my lungs, I scrambled, desperately trying to find air while keeping a strong grip on Emily's hand. The side of what I thought was a fence slammed into my arm causing me to lose my tight grip on her hand.

I dunked my head under the water urgently attempting to find her, waves crashed between us as I fought against the currents “Emily!” I screamed, only to have my cry drowned out by the deafening crashes of houses giving way to the evil murky water. Someone grabbed my shoulder but I fought with every bit of strength I had left, I kicked and thrashed, but the arms steadily pulled me back “That's my sister” I screeched. But it was no use, the water had already carried her away, the last thing I saw was her small neon pink rain coat getting swallowed by the chaos. The memory haunted me for days, nights, months and years after.

Every night I dreamed of how I should have held onto her hand tighter and every morning I woke up knowing I had left her slip from my grasp. A couple days later rescuers searched for survivors, and weeks later they searched for bodies. After a couple years people moved on with life and forgot about it, they stopped talking about it. But I never could. My home was gone, my family was gone and my sister was gone, everything was gone. Eventually new houses were built, new parks were made and new trees were planted.

Life moved on for everybody else around me, but I stayed stuck in the terrifying moment that my grip gave way and the raging torrent welcomed her into its clutch. My grief follows me, even so many years later it still sits silently, a dead weight forever on my chest and it didn't ever leave me, not for one moment. It was with me for birthdays, and holidays. It lurks in old photos, it hides in familiar songs and sometimes it hits me with reality all over again, it brings me back to the place that now whispers quietly to me, beneath the big blue mass of water.

When I finally opened my eyes, I saw the beautiful lake in front of me, it was so calm and peaceful. A tourist boat gently drifted across the small ripples, caused by the wind. Children laughed and played in the water, skipping stones and learning how to swim. The water sparkled prettily in the afternoon sun. Nobody could see the town beneath it, nobody could see my family and nobody could see Emily, but I could and I knew I always would be able too. Someone touched my shoulder, bringing me back to reality. “You okay?” whispered my best friend, noticing tears rolling down my cheeks mimicking the raging flood waters that ruined my home and destroyed my family.

“Yeah” I sighed deeply, reopening a wound that I had kept covered for so many decades. I took one more torturing look across the staggering scenery, and the cruel destructive water. Beneath those gentle glittering ripples lay an entire world forever frozen in time. A world that had once been me and my sisters home, a world that created every single childhood memory I had ever treasured, a world that held my family hostage never to let them go.

The ache in my chest never truly disappeared but for the first time in years and years, I smiled, not because the torturing pain was gone, I knew I would always hold that but because as long as I remembered the house, the people and my family they were never truly gone, never completely lost. I turned away and walked slowly but purposefully to my car, my grief still and will always walk behind me shadowing my every move, but I carried the memories of them so dearly in my heart they will never be forgotten, not by me at least.