Without one, losing another – Charlotte.

Today, after 2 and a half years, they finally step outside of their bomb shelter and let the light of the sun, high in the sky, reach their cold, filth covered faces. The grass they once played on, felt like sharp, malleable knives. their house, which they had spent a majority of their lives in, now stood in shambles. Bricks were missing, windows were smashed and the roof that once protected them from the cold rain, seemed as if it were about to fall to the ground. The light, though bright and welcoming, had them at its mercy as their hands covered their eyes, protecting them from further harm. They took their first few wobbly steps into the road. The neighbourhood was in no better condition. These destroyed homes, which were once a symbol of safety, were now something to fear. The roads were filled with holes from the explosions of bombs. Trees had either toppled over, or burnt to a crisp, which blew through the wind.

‘Daddy, when will I go back to school?’, she said.
‘Soon…’, he replied.
‘When’s that, Daddy?’, she persisted.
‘I don’t know, okay?’, he responded.
‘Can we go see the school, Daddy?’
‘Sure’, he replied with a forced perkiness.
Her face, once with rosy red cheeks and a smile that warmed anyone’s heart, had been deformed to a permanent expression of fear, disappointment and confusion. The spark in her heart was extinguished many years ago, when she watched her Mother sacrifice her life to save her family from imminent death at the hands of the Soldiers. He was grief-stricken. Even now, he had an empty look in his eyes, as if he had never lost anything, or he never had anything to lose.

But he had his daughter, who was always there for him. Today however, she didn’t seem to understand what had happened…She just had a confused, blister-covered face.

Walking down just one road seemed to take an eternity to them. Debris was strewn everywhere, bomb shells could be found scattered around the neighbourhood, cries and screams of people finding their relatives and friends dead. Truly, this was hell on earth, filled with the screams of the damned sinners. But these were the screams of the innocent, Hard-working citizens that had no influence on what happened, but took all the experience.

The school was in no better shape, if that was possible. The roof had collapsed completely, allowing rain and rays of sunlight to enter. Police tape blocked anyone from entering the desolate building. The trees, that his daughter and her classmates had planted were uprooted, blown away by an incendiary bomb and left to rot, all that was left was an ashen patch of barren ground.
His daughter, with glistening tears running down her dirt covered cheeks, turned away. And ran. And ran.

Her father, calling out for her to come back, ran after her.

His legs, though tired and weary, managed to catch up to her. Taking hold of her hand, He pulled her towards himself and held on tight. She was all that he had, the last thing he needed now was to lose her. Throughout, she wore a blank expression. As if all her emotion, her essence of feeling had been sucked out of her from the traumatic experience. He was in no better shape. Much like her, he too found it hard to feel for something, whether it was fear, sorrow. God forbid joy. All that was distinguishable from her face was where the tears once ran, the cuts that only reminded him of the years cowering in fear, and her eyes, which still sparkled like they did before any of the troubles began.

Noticing that the sun was beginning to descend behind the empty husk that was the school, he wondered to himself, where they were going to spend the night, and whether or not there would be any food available. But he didn’t much care for his own well-being, he only wanted his daughter to be safe, warm and have a meal inside of her, that wasn’t canned food.

Walking around aimlessly, with the moonlit sky giving them minimal light didn’t get them very far. If anything, they were lost. The often screams that could be heard from grieving citizens were starting to frighten her. She walked closer to her father, as the screams became louder, and louder.

In the distance, a large shadowy figure could be seen, moving. Shifting. Wobbling. Upon closer inspection, he realised that it wasn’t a large shadowy figure, but a crowd of citizens, huddling around something of interest. Grabbing her hand, he pushed and shoved past the commotion driven group to the eye of the crowd. Where he saw a small puddle of blood, and a disfigured shape. It was something that he would never want her to ever have to endure the sight, and memory of.

One woman, pushed her way past the other side of the crowd into the centre. She took one quick glance at what lay on the ground,  and her eyes glazed out. She collapsed to the floor and wept over the limp body that was once a child.