Aria of France
Thursday
I don't know how much more I can take. General Lamarque is soon to be dead. The only man who cares about the common population of France, gone. Talk of revolution is flying around. My brother, Enjolras, has been rallying people from as far as St. Gabriel to fight. A new revolutionary, Gavroche, his name, is only 12! This revolution worries me. Enjolras, my only living relative, is putting himself up atop a barricade, waving a flag! However much I tried to deter him, he persists on fighting. Woe me! Don't they know it will never change? The 'law' comes from Lucifer himself.
Friday
The only thing that hurts me more than pain is injustice. Poor children stand in the streets, looking for scraps of food. Their mothers wash clothes in basins, trying to make do with a tiny sliver of soap. But look into the window of the inn, the officers have a feast laid out before them. I am beginning to understand Enjolras' reasoning. After this, I started to walk home, unaware of the danger I was in. As I walked along the street, waving to the young children, an entire building collapsed into the street, crushing me. I would've died, but a man I recognised as one of my brother's revolutionaries, named Marius Pontmercy, saved me. He dug through broken door frames and window panes to find me. When I was found in the rubble, I was coughing catastrophically, my lungs filled with sawdust. A woman, I did not catch her name, gave me water and helped me. Though I was fazed and hazy, I noticed Marius Pontmercy staring adoringly at her. Then, and only then, a policeman burst out of the inn, and arrested me! He somehow thought I, a 12 year old, caused the rubble! It was an outrage. Marius Pontmercy and the unnamed woman bailed me out, but the policeman was reluctant to believe Marius. As he released me, and ran back home, crying, into Enjolras' arms. We both knew, then, that revolution was the only way. Oh, how long until judgment day?
Saturday
Oh, why does this only happen to me? Today, as I walked home from the market, I heard a loud noise coming from the Thenardier's inn. Gavroche the revolutionary ran out of the building, an angered look on his face. He yelled to whoever was in the building, "Thieves!" I didn't know the inn, but it had a known reputation for charging more than you bargained for. I shoved the thought out of my mind and ran home. Today, Enjolras and I were starting a protest! This was a desperate move for us ( Since the building incident, I had become the chief strategist of the revolution) and we needed to recruit more and more people. I hoped it would work, and it did! We chanted hard and strong, but not without me (and Gavroche) getting more than a few stares because of age. We obtained about 40 new recruits, although I almost got shot in the process... Sill, quite a success!
Sunday
I smile proudly as I walk. People compliment me for my organization and recruitment skill. I wanted to compliment someone else, particularly with a strong accent... Did I just write that? Never mind. Lamarque is not faring well. Soon, we strike. I walked into the ABC café, which was our base, and some new revolutionaries walked up to me and asked how old I was, they assumed 15 or 16 because of my eloquence, and when I told them I was twelve, the seemed amazed. In the back of the café I saw my brother teasing Marius for some reason. I started working on my plans for structuring the barricade that we will build, and that's what I'm doing now, along with thinking about lovely accents... I didn't write that! Am I going insane?
Monday
I miss the days long ago. I passed my tutor when I was younger, Eponine Thenardier, and she waved. I almost remember the days when my life was perfect, no worries, no revolution, no impending death, good times. Life will soon improve, but not for me. I plan to go down fighting. The sun never seems so warm, until you know you'll only see it for a short while longer. Revolution comes soon, I assure the people.
Tuesday
I survived (Just barely) a minor skirmish today, but it was worth it. I broke a bone in my ankle, but I saved a life. We started chanting around the inn where the officers feast, and they burst out, firing a couple warning shots, but one of them wasn't quite a warning shot… I ran up and, without thinking rationally, shoved the barrel of the gun upward, and tripping, broke my ankle. I passed out in pain, and I am told that there was a skirmish. At the cafe, I am treated as a hero. It was almost too much, so many people calling me "general". Today I am stuck in a chair, pain overcoming me, but tomorrow, it will be as if it never happened, and I will be back up, fighting alongside my brother's soldiers. A telegram arrived today, telling that Lamarque is… almost gone… This is it.
Wednesday
Lamarque is gone. Today we fight! With a broken ankle...
Friday
No… NO! The sun doesn't deserve to shine, the grass shouldn't grow. My brother, my only relative, Gone. I cry, not wanting to live anymore, as I sit alone underground. What the… As I write, I see a light down a corridor, I will return.
Friday Night
How can I express my relief in words? Enjolras is living and well! I still grieve, but I must praise! I will try to describe our conversation as well as I remember it, starting from when I first realized he was alive.
Me: ENJOLRAS! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!
Enjolras: I thought the same of you, Aria!
Me: Everyone thinks we're dead!
Enjolras: Shh… Aria, This was my plan from the beginning. I never intended to end the revolution, but start it. The survivors will eventually start a war, and it will happen, but not soon. We need to stay dead because any survivors will fight to avenge us, trust me. Actually Aria, we're both dead to France. It's time to leave this life and start anew.
And now, as I sail to the Americas, my eyes fill with tears, thinking about the people I will never see again.
The End