To many, the stories of fairytales have no meaning. The stories of elves and unicorns, fairies and nymphs, trolls and goblins, the stories of dark and light, war and peace, good and evil. It was all simply that; a fairytale, make believe, only the product of old wives' tales and children's stories. For Anna and Emma Conrad; however, these stories were about to become all too real...
The war had dragged on longer than anyone had expected. The city of London lay in ruin from the previous night's raids. No doubt they would continue for several more weeks. Demolished buildings littered the streets with their former contents. Shattered glass, bedposts, chairs, pictures in their frames; all scattered like a forgotten memory. Anna Conrad stepped carefully through the rubble, being careful not to snag her stockings or scrape her skin. Emma, her younger sister, stepped carefully in her elder sister's footsteps, staring dismally at photographs that lie strewn across the rubble. It was a grim sight for anyone to behold.
No one could deny that the war was progressively getting worse. The air raids had been going on for months and now the Germans were even brave enough to cast a raid in broad daylight. Anna's mind wandered to her father, who had been drafted to fight the war almost a year ago. She missed him terribly and she knew Emma had to miss him that much more. Emme and their father had always been close and since the day he left she had been devastated, always with a sad lost look on her face. Anna could only hope that her father would write again soon.
Neither sister could deny it. Times were hard. Their little neighborhood in West Norwood was ravaged. Ever since their father has gone, their mother was constantly worrying, and it was starting to show in her appearance. She had huge bags under her eyes, showing that she hadn't slept in days. She hardly remembered Anna and Emma, and when she did, it was like she wasn't even seeing them; like she was in some alternate reality, where everything was back to normal. She'd serve tea to their father's empty chair, like she always did when he got home from work. And she even set his place at the dinner table. Anna and Emma agreed it would be in their mother's best interest to just play along for the time being. After all, she was bringing no harm to either sister or herself. She was brokenhearted and missed her husband. Anna loved her father dearly, but even she could not imagine what her mother was going through. To have someone you love so dearly ripped away from you and to never know if the Messenger is going to show up on your doorstep one day with his helmet and a letter….
Anna cleared her mind of the previous thoughts. She knew she had to stay strong, both for her mother and sister. She just wished she could do more to comfort them. Sometimes she felt so useless.
The siren's started blaring uncontrollably. Anna looked around in a panic at how late it had gotten. The sky was already a deep orange as the sun sank dangerously close to the horizon. Anna's panic grew even more as she saw the black dots appeared over the horizon line. She grabbed Emma's hand and took off down a nearby alleyway. She could hear the plane engines roaring louder. Anna knew she had to think quickly before both her and Emma were buried under tons of debris. Anna spotted her answer in the form of a metal plated door leding into the ground.
"A bomb shelter!" she thought aloud as she pried open the door and flung her sister inside. Anna quickly followed, slamming the door shut, plunging her and Emma into darkness.