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Chapter 1
The dust was thick.
The coughing was continuous and never ending. Whimpering could be
heard from small children who could not understand the darkness..
Isabel
Mum when will it end?
Mother
Don’t worry
it will be over soon. I just hope yir Da and wee James made it on
time
The sirens were
ear piercing. The noise of thunder was in the distance. The room
began to shake..I could feel mother’s heart beating and her
hands were shaking. I grabbed her tight. I knew what she was feeling.
I was terrified too. We never knew whether or not Da and James made
it tae the shelter..They must hae but the black oot happened so
fast. We didn’t know if anyone but the people who were already
oot on the streets made it to the shelters. The cries of small children
got louder. I could hear a young woman singing a bonnie lullabye
in the distance. The man sitting on the bench just a bit away from
us said he thought it was going to be bad tonight.."Retaliation
from Monty’s strike a few days prior." Another man told him
to shut up because he was scaring the wimin folk and wains.
BOOM!!! The floors
began to shake and dust fell from the ceiling. Screams of desperate
terrified people echoed through the shelter. I could barely see
the man who was sitting to my left it was just so dark..He was quite
calm. I was shaking so hard that my teeth were chittering together
and making a noise that would have been funny under different circumstances.
I felt a hand reach out and wrap around me. It was warm, secure
and comforting. I felt a strange presence. Immediately my teeth
stopped chittering and I could feel a calm feeling come over my
whole body. Who was this person? I tried to smell him..to sense
him.. It was hard with all the dust floating around. Hard to concentrate..
BOOM!! That one
was close! We fell over onto the floor. I fell on top of a body.
God only knows who it was but as we reached out in the darkness
to regain our positions I felt the hand again reaching out and holding
me. Surely one of the tenement buildings got hit. That was close
enough to have been our own. The curiosity was raging inside me.
Shite..Here I am inside the shelter in the dark..I don’t know
whether my Da and brother are deed or alive and I’m curious!
What the hell! I held on tight to him and wrapped myself around
his waist. I looked up to where I thought his head might be and
said ..
"Thank you"
Jet (Chinese accent)
Shh..it’s okay. We will all be out of here
shortly. It will be over soon.
I held onto him
closer. I felt so completely safe with him. Mum reached over to
make sure I was alright.
Mother
Are ye alright lass?
Isabel
Aye Ma..I’m
fine..
The bombing subsided
slowly..you could hear the thundering move to the distance..The
people in the shelter could tell from frequent visits that the lights
would return soon.
Bodies began to shuffle towards
the doorway..One woman was crying so hard I knew she was going to
collapse. Some people could tell they said when loved ones were
lost..she must have had that chilling feeling tonight. Her cries
told that awful story that I had heard over and over..
The lights came
on and bodies rushed for the double metal doors. I desperately tried
to look around for my mysterious asian friend..I couldn’t see
him..Damn!!
Next Chapter
Written by Isabel Hodge
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