Five years ago…
It's cold. Freezing cold. And dark. And rainy. It feels like it's been raining forever, and is gonna keep raining forever. And all I can do is stand here…despite the fact that it's soaking my hair and clothes, and pooling in the muddy ground around my already worn out boots….
We've been standing here for what seems like forever. My four sisters and I, just standing here, in the middle of this old, rustic abandoned town, just staring in the direction we last saw our dad go. Even though we could probably catch pneumonia if we stand here any longer, especially my sickly sister who I hear coughing, all I can think is…he's gone.
Gone. Our hero. Our protector...our father. After lovingly raising us for the first 16 years of our life; he's gone. And though none of us wants to admit it, we know we'll never see him again. He hid us a week ago…though it seems much longer. He hid each of us, separately, and went to go 'handle' our attackers. Memories of the gunfire, explosions, and angry shouting we heard as we remained concealed in our hiding places floods my mind; sounds that will probably haunt me forever. And if that wasn't scary enough, to top it all off, before he left, he put me in charge. Me. Of all people. They barely listened to me when he was around, especially two of them. And now that he's gone? I'm not optimistic. But what choice do I have really?
I can barely see in all this rain, not to mention its super dark, but still, out of the corner of my eye I can see the bright aqua blue eyes of my normally bubbly sister standing next to me, as she stares at me expectantly, upper lip quivering, rain drenching her pigtails. True to her emotional nature she turns to me and hugs me tightly, sobbing. I know she just wants to be comforted…and oh how I wish I could comfort her. All I can manage to do is put one arm around her; but I still feel numb. It feels mechanical. It feels like I'm not even here, like this isn't even reality.
She sniffles. "What do we like, do now?"
The dreaded question. I can see the others start turning their heads to me, expectantly. The startling realization that this somber moment is indeed a reality, settles into the pit of my stomach and almost makes me feel nauseas. My heart races for a moment, thoughts racing frantically; I wasn't prepared for this…but here it is, the moment of truth. The moment when I have to take over…
I looked towards the hills to the east of us. It was time. I gently pushed my sister off, glanced at the others, and took a deep breath. I had no room for these tears. I had no room for doubt. It was time to act.
I took a deep breath and pulled the hood of my scratchy, and now soaking wet, brown cloak over my head. "Hoods up." It didn't even sound like me, but more like some kind of robot. They slowly complied and followed me as I started walking, all of our feet in our tattered old boots, trudging through the muddy ground. We were weak now, but we'll get stronger. In time. In time.