Sole Tender

Her

Joshua has always been my friend for life since the day my mother decided to surprise me with a present of having a companion. I wasn't much of a people friend type of person; humans depicted me a lot as a sheepish, lonely girl. I enjoyed my time alone in my room, which was also a paradise of a library. I would read, or sketch in most of the days. I adore it most when it rains; I treasure the sound of the rain. Fearing of me being lonesome, perhaps my parents thought it would be a good idea to grant me a lifetime companion, if anything.

In my point of view, I could see myself succeeding in life in the future. I would like to grow up to help others in time of need. I may be alone most of the time, to the point where my parents got concerned for my state of health, but I didn't feel too bad for myself. In fact, being an indoor person, I was pretty sure I would entertain myself better inside than outside. I had my loving parents, I had my best friend Joshua. In this loving family, I was certain that I could live comfortably like this until the end of my breath.

However, that wasn't the case.

You could say that was the case in probably two months back. Though not anymore. Instead, I found myself roaming around the ruins of a few houses just north of my own house. It all happened in a blink of an eye. It was too late to do anything. I tried my hardest to not get my gown dirty, which was unbelievable for me to do at this time of dire. I slightly poked my head to remind myself about the situation around me. The main reason I was wandering around here was because Joshua ran away into one of the collapsed houses, he disappeared somewhere in between the crevices. I chased after him because that time was obviously not a good time to scatter around a field of a war zone, anything could kill us. I tried following the sounds of his bell, which he still had on his collar. I could only follow the clanking of his bell but I couldn't really fit myself into every part of the ruins. I squeezed in as far as I could, hoping that I wouldn't get stuck one way or another; getting out of the mess and saving myself was more important, I reckoned, but I didn't want to leave Joshua alone. He's the only family I have now.

I tried to imitate a cat sound while trying not to be too noisy, the men in uniform might hear me. I saw the things they could do; they just kill everyone, the old, the sick, the children. My parents including. I think I will be forever haunted by that horrific incident in mind. By sheer luck, I escaped my chamber before they forced themselves in. I am familiar with the map of my house like the back of my palm. Surprisingly, my parents had made a secret passage for the family to flee, if anything ever happens. Things like this I would assume. As if they prepared for it and could see it coming. They always told me that I should escape beforehand if something happens to them. As I said before, it happened too fast. Before I knew it, I already heard shootings and shouting outside my bedroom. I knew something bad happened. Without a doubt, I ran away through the passage which was hidden just under my bed, along with Joshua. I did manage to quickly grab my brown boots, my light-blue gown, and a straw hat. I changed my clothing while I was underground because it would be illogical to run in my nightgown all over the place. All I ever did then was fleeing but I had nowhere to go. I just wanted to escape and survive, but as I emerged from the passage, I witnessed the world turning dark and scarlet, I noticed dead bodies all over the place, extremely shrill screaming of innocent souls being taken away from its figures covered the crimson dawn just before my eyes. My brain was befogged for that split moment until my natural reaction was to dash for the sake of my life. I was sure some men in uniform would have noticed me running away. However, I did not care, who would if you know you're surrounded by dangers all around you? I had nowhere to run. Before I knew it, I was already hiding in the bushes behind a house I came across by, just under its closed window. I couldn't stop the tears streaming on my face. It was too much to see. I squeezed Joshua tightly that I was sure he let out a faint mew under his purr. I laid down by the bushes, hoping no one would spot me, while burying my face in Joshua's orange fur, almost covering my head with his whole body. Joshua laid there with me. As time passed, I could hear nothing but his purr. It calmed me down and I eventually fell asleep, aside from being tired of crying after taking a glimpse at humans' monstrosity towards one another.