National Adult Literacy Database

April 26, 1999

Our story this week is a special event, because we are launching three learners stories on the Internet, and you can read their stories as well as hear them. This launch takes place during the 1999 Learners Conference, organised by Yukon Learn on April 23 and 24, 1999.

This story was written by David Ausika. David is originally from Namibia, Africa. He has been in Canada since 1987 with his wife and two children. He has been in Whitehorse since 1993 where he arrived looking for work. After working off and on at different jobs, he decided to improve his education. He is currently seeking Grade 12 accreditation through tutorial correspondence. He is being helped by Yukon Learn.

Play an audio version of this story

The first time I saw snow falling

by David Ausika

It was four O'clock in the noon in Edmonton Alta, when this happened. For the reason of laying down, I laid on the couch with my wife sitting beside me. It seemed, it was a sudden silence of the world with little wind breezing. The snooze which was croaching on me ended abruptly from the yell of my wife. "Look out there!" She called on me.

From my snooze and confusion, I saw heavy white wide objects falling from the sky. I felt the building tumbling and the whole earth cracking. I even heard the terrible thunders from the sky.

"The end of the world has come!" I yelled out. "God don't forget me!" I mumbled out.

I expected to see Lord Jesus coming down as the Holy Bible said. Although we came to Canada by air, I couldn't figure out how the plane penetrated the clouds which I thought up to that time that clouds were wide hard ice hanging above in the sky.

My perception of thinking that clouds would one day fall and kill people and animals, misled me to accept at that very crucial moment that the heavy wide objects were going to kill us all.

The snow was so heavy when it was falling down. And when we saw that we were still alive, my wife called our friends to inquire if the type of things were happening in their areas. Through the telephone, our friends tried to convince us to go outside and feel the snow.

We refused to do so. We waited them to come to proof to us that the white things were not harmful. They came and explained to us that the snow is frozen moist or rain. It was a terrible event to me before everything later turned out to be illusions.