I witnessed something as a child.
Something that will stay with me.
I saw my family being ripped apart.
I saw them dying.
I was 8 years old.
Too young to be noticed.
I stayed under the sofa.
Watching everything happen in front of my eyes.
They took them away from me.
My parents...
My family...
I didn't scream, mum told me not to.
I stayed under the sofa.
Stayed where I thought it was safe.
Until they finished with me parents.
"They have a little girl, I saw her in the photo."
"She's not here. Let's go before the cops get here."
"I will find her, she has to be here."
"Where would she be hiding then?"
"They didn't have a chance to move her out."
"Where would she be hiding then?"
"We need to find her, she needs to be found."
"If she's in the house she has witnessed too much already."
"We need to deal with her."
I gasped, I knew they were looking for me.
I didn't know what for.
I must keep quiet.
They were the words my mother spoke to me.
They mustn't know I'm here.
I closed my eyes, blocking everything out.
However much I tried, I simply couldn't block out their voices.
"Come on if's she's gone, we need to leave, to track her."
"SHE HASN'T GONE! SHE'S STILL HERE!"
"Calm down mate. Okay, we carry on looking."
I opened my eyes ever so slightly, I could see their feet.
They were standing in the doorway.
They were walking away from the sofa.
Yes! They were going to leave.
I just needed to hold on a little longer.
I just needed to wait for help to arrive.
Suddenly out of nowhere i felt a tingle in my nose.
The kind of tingle you get when your about...
No, not now. I can't not now!
I tried pushing my face into the carpet, even holding my breath.
But none of it worked. I sneezed.
Only once.
But that was enough.
"What was that?"
"That was a sneeze my friend. A sneezed from a little girl."
"She's still here then.
"What did I tell you!"
I stayed faced down in the carpet, hoping if I pressed down hard enough I would disappear into the carpet itself.
Hopefully they wouldn't see me.
I prayed for a miracle.
I prayed.
I prayed.
And I prayed.
"Come on little girl, where are you? I know your in here!"
I wanted them to leave.
I wanted this whole thing to be a dream.
But they wouldn't leave, this wasn't a dream.
They kept searching for me.
"Stop."
"No, we must keep searching."
"Mate, seriously stop!"
As the voices stopped, the house fell silent.
All I could hear was silent, but softly ever so softly.
I could hear the distant sirens of a police car.
"Come on we have to go!"
"We are not leaving without her!"
"We may have no choice but to leave without her."
"No, we have to find her!"
"But the cops!"
"They are not here yet, and I can only hear one police car.
I knew i just had to hold on a little longer.
I waited until they had gone upstairs till I made my next move.
I crawled out from under the sofa, stepping over the creaky floorboard.
I walked into the kitchen to find another hiding spot.
I opened one of the cupboards.
It was filled with food.
I tried the next cupboard and the next.
But still no empty cupboard.
I was starting to panic.
I didn't know what to do.
Go back under the sofa or empty a cupboard?