On God's Trail to Freedom

Chapter 1

I could smell the stew feet away, boiling, steaming, and imagined it warming my empty stomach, my frail body, and most of all my cold heart. War has been hard on us all. Mother could no longer practice law. Father could no longer help to support the family. My brother was unable to play games with friends. My sister was stuck inside the house unable to run outside to pet the cute dog across the street. For me, this wasn't right. It wasn't fair. It was torture.

Just then a knock rang throughout the house along with the muffled shouting and barking. This meant one thing. Nazis. 

More fists pounded on the door. There was more than one of them. My hands began shaking as horrible thoughts ran through my head. A crackling sound flew through the air as my mom whipped off the burner and grabbed my siblings' hands. I followed inches behind, my breath on her neck, both of us with the same thought in our head. "God help us." I just left my school work just lying out on the table. A math problem sat there unfinished. Nothing had ever felt more surreal. 

A deafening BANG! rang throughout our flat as the sound of the front door slammed into the wall. Uninvited feet stormed in and there was absolutely nothing we could do, but try and get to safety. My feet followed my mother on autopilot, but my head was elsewhere. Most of all I thought about what would happen. And I was worried about my father because I hadn't seen him since he got home. I hoped he was alright. My feet crossed the threshold into my parent's bedroom and my mother scrambled to the floor. Her fingers shook as she tried to find the loose floorboard beneath her four-poster bed. 

BANG! There it was again. Please don't let that be meant for someone. Finally, the floorboard was lifted and I lowered myself down. My siblings came after both worried, but uneducated about what was happening. I didn't feel the same way. I lifted my head towards my mother. She looked beautiful even though her eyes were puffy and her face was worn from war-life. I could still see the old her beneath this invisible vail she now wore.  Her blonde hair fell just short of her waist. People told me I looked identical to her young self, but I couldn't see it. How could someone ever look so beautiful? The light in her bedroom glistened off her eyes which were teary and red. I waited for her to come down, but he never did. I had just enough time to get one last glimpse of her before the light of the bedroom was cut out by the board and my life was thrown into complete darkness. What was she doing?

Then and there, I pulled my siblings into a hug, thinking I may never let go. I couldn't see what was happening above, but I imagined. I imagined the worst. And I thought a lot. About many things. WOuld this be the last time I ever saw my parents? What was happening to them? Would I ever be able to live through the thought of their death? What about my siblings, were they okay? That thought just made me squeeze tighter. I kept thinking, trying to push out one thought, but it just wouldn't give up. Just like I wasn't going to give up. there was no way that I was dying now. Not after my parents left me to take care of my siblings. Not after they sacrificed themselves like that. 

Scuffling and muffled yelling came through the thick, oak wood floors. My arm rubbed against the wall surrounding us and I repositioned. We needed to stay silent. One movement, one noise and they would find us. Would this ever end? 

Sounds were moving closer. The floorboards creaked. Moaning underneath the weight of death and murder that these people carried with them. Where was my mother now and my father? What were they thinking? If I was alone in this spot, I would have burst out of my shelter right then and there, but it wasn't fair to put my siblings at risk like that. 

SCREEEEEEEEECH! The foot of my parent's ginormous king sized bed scrapped across the floor like nails against a chalkboard. I squeezed by siblings tight, practically suffocating them. What would happen if they found us? I didn't want to find out.