Nightmare

I woke up with a shake on my bed, an inexplicably strong shake so i jumped off of my bed and ran outside my room. No one was awake that time so i thought its just my imagination but i clearly heard a loud bang somewhere near. But then, no one heard it so its just an imagination, i really need to stop imagining things. Because of the shock, i wasn't able to go to sleep again so i did my daily routine.

As i was watching my favorite TV show, i heard my parents murmuring something. I cant hear anything but my mother looked worried and well, quite paranoid. My father was clearly calming her down but its no avail, my mother was always paranoid. I shrugged it off cause my mother was always like that, she's a scaredy cat. While i was so emerged at the TV show my father went out while my mother tried to stop her. What is happening? I went near to father and asked him what's going on but then he smiled at me and said he's just going to visit close relatives of ours down the street and i asked if i can come but then he refused. I looked at my mother who was sitting on the sofa silently praying but then again, i gave no attention to her.

I went out to play at the field. I always liked playing at the field with flowers dancing with me and the wind blowing on my face; i feel like i was on a fairy tale. So i picked up irises and put it on a bundle and smelled it. I ran on circles and hummed songs and swayed my dress. I danced along the flowers that kept on waving because of the wind and it felt majestic. I was alone but then i wasn't. The sun was smiling at me and it was warm on my skin, it was always kind to me and so i danced and danced for hours not knowing that anytime soon, a great tragedy will unfold.

As i sat on the field because of exhaustion, i noticed that there were two birds flying over me. At first i thought there were lovers but no, they're not birds. There were weird sounds like an airplane! Are those... they are airplanes!  And so i stood up and waved like crazy hoping that they can see me and pick me up just like how i imagined it. But they kept on circling above us and i wondered why. I just stood there looking at the weird thing flying over me when my mom called my name.

I went to her and she looked frantic and she told me things i cant understand. Pack.Run.Father.Help. What? And then it came. A loud deafening sound broke the sweet chirping of the birds and my mother's voice. I heard screams not that far from us and my mom held me on her arms like someone would get me. I tried to ask her what is going on but she just ran and ran. "PACK YOUR THINGS!" She yelled. Pack? Where are we going? I thought. But i still went to my room and grabbed my favorite bag and packed my clothes. I also brought Fufu, my teddy bear. Another loud bang was heard and i thought it was heard from our neighbor because of the loudness it gave. I started to panic as i saw my mother cried and her hands were shaking. She clasped my little hands and dragged me towards the door. I looked around and saw people running and screaming like drunk people but they aren't drunk. I looked at the sky and the airplanes were still there but they drop small things that fall on houses and it explodes. Are those bombs? But why? I tripped and my mother tried to make me stand. We ran and ran silently but the people around us were crying. Bombs. They're definetly bombs like in those movies. Bombs after bombs fell in our place and i was so confused. I was catching my breath when i heard gun shots, i know because i watched my father train. Gunshots were everywhere causing terror on my mother's face. I held her hand throughtout our escape and we spotted a car full of people panicking. We ran towards it and tried to get on. My mother pleaded and then they let us in. We drove down the city and people were asking for help. I looked around our city and houses were destroyed, then i saw my school; burned into ashes. I saw bodies. DEAD PEOPLE! My eyes opened wide and i screamed. A rough hand hugged me from my back and covered my eyes, i knew it was my mother. She was whispering in my ears. "Shhhh, its fine. Were fine, darling. Were fine." And then her voice broke, she was crying. I know its not fine, not when our city is bombed by those weird airplanes, not when people are dying, not when our homes are destroyed and definitely not when i saw my father holding a gun on his chest and screaming at people. And then he saw me, his eyes.. i cant make it out. Is he crying? Then he mouthed words i cant make out too. Was it, HI LOW YOU? i dont know. Then he ran and he was out of my sight.

That was the last time i saw my father, and now i know what he mouthed at me. Its not HI LOW YOU, its I LOVE YOU. He didn't came back, he was one of our brave soldiers who fought.It took me years to truly understand what had happened to our beloved city. I was traumatized and it took years for me to keep the trauma out of my system. Our city was attacked by terrorists and now our city is alive again. We fell and we rose from ashes, we rose but now we are stronger and wiser with hundreds of stories to tell.