Chapter 1: Downhill

"Lena, come inside." "Yes Mama." I said. I stared at the night sky for a couple more seconds. "Lena, now." "Coming Mama." I told her. I quickly ran back inside and shut the door. "It is time for bed." Mama said "Yes ma'am" I said and quickly got into bed. I shut my eyes, but couldn't fall asleep. Tomorrow was my fourteenth birthday, I would get to go out with Mama and find a job like Fritz did. I was so excited! After a while I fell asleep, but in the middle of the night I awoke to a whistling sound. I slipped myself out of the covers and quietly looked outside to see what it was. It was so dark out that I could not see anything. I opened the back door and hear not only the whistling getting louder but I heard what sounded like a plane. "What is that?" I thought to myself. Finally, I saw something red coming towards our house. "BOMB!" I screamed and ran back inside. "Mama, Fritz, RUN!" Mama and Fritz came out of their rooms but it was too late. I heard a big explosion and saw red everywhere. I felt myself being carried through the air. I hit the ground with a thud. Everything went black.

I woke up to so many sounds. I heard people screaming. I heard their feet hit the ground as they ran. I heard all these things, but I could not see. Was it still nighttime? Are Mama and Fritz okay? I heard someone running towards me. "What is going on?" I shouted into the darkness. "Hello, my name is Lukas." he said. He didn't sound like an adult, he sounded like a kid. "Are you okay?" he asked "I think so, but I cannot see." I heard him mutter something to himself. "What is happening? Where is my familie?" I asked him. "I do not know where your family is, but the Allies bombed us and the air raid siren didn't go off." I finally remembered what had happened, the bomb. I gasped aloud. "What?" he asked "Listen, we do not have much time. They are still bombing us and we need to get to an air raid shelter." he told me. "Can you walk?" "I think so." I said. He helped me get up, but I still couldn't see. "Am I blind?" I asked Lukas "I don't know, I am not a doctor. Just hold my hand and I'll lead you to the shelter." he said while reaching for my hand. BOOM! "What was that?!" I asked him "Another bomb. We need to hurry." he said, his voice filled with urgency. We finally got to the shelter and waited out the air raid.

By the time we could come out, I was starting to regain my eyesight. Everything was blurry though. "Where do you live?" "I live on Augsburg." I told him "Um" "What?" I asked him with fear in my voice. "Augsburg is gone." he told me "What do you mean?" "I mean almost all the houses got bombed." he whispered "My Mama, My Bruder (brother)" "Are they okay?" I asked almost in tears. "I do not know." he told me. "You can stay with me and my family tonight, and once you can see fully we'll go to Augsburg and look for your family." he told me. He started leading me towards his home. "How old are you?" "I am fifteen." he told me "Could you tell me the date?" "It is Wednesday the 16, 1933." he told me. I gasped. "Why are you shocked? Is today important to you?" "It is my fourteenth birthday." I whispered. "Oh, happy birthday." he said to me. "Thank you, I guess." "Are we close? I don't think I can walk much longer." I told him. When we got their he introduced me to his mom and led me to the spare room to sleep.