A Call From The Enemy

• Kimberley Tran, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2018

Abruptly pulled out of the depths of dreams by a piercing scream I turned over to see my sister, Felicity, fast asleep. Caught between debating whether or not I should return to the comforts of my deep slumber. I crept down the dark hallway of my creaky old house and immediately spotted by my Father carrying a glass of icy water.

“Go back to sleep, Chloe. Your Mother’s fine,” whispered Father in hushed tones.
My shoulders slumped over in defeat as my curiosity was shot down. Returning to my bedroom, I could see that Felicity had made an impressive puddle of drool. I pulled at distasteful face as I settled back into the warmth of my sheets. Once again, allowing the comforts of sleep take over my tired body.

A rush of adrenaline coursed through my body as I was once again ripped out of slumber, awoken to the blaring air raid sirens – a sound much familiar to me now-days. I comforted Felicity with a hug and dragged her away to our parents who were frantically running trying to find us in the thick fog of smoke. They then pushed us along with them quickly to our slit trench. A terrifying thought comes into my head.

“Mother, will Sam be okay? Is he still alive?’

“Yes, I’m sure Sam is okay. Your brother is brave, he will serve our country well and make us proud.”

The air-raids are becoming a common occurrence. What used to happen once every two weeks is now a daily appearance.

2nd February, 1942- there were more false alarms.

Although initially disturbing at first, I quickly grew accustomed to the panicked alerts of air raids. As they were merely false alarms – or so I thought.

Today I woke up, just per any usual day. The day was followed by a series of alarms – false alarms. The difference is however, the frequency of sirens has intensified dramatically. I still remember distinctively, I was brushing my teeth when I heard the same old sickening sounds. However, unlike every other time – today I ignored it. After all, is there really anything to worry about?
Suddenly, the floor starts shaking and every crashed to the floor. I looked around in shock and I gulped fearfully. My Father rushed in unexpectedly and draged me away into the trench. My Mother and Felicity were huddled in the corner of the trench and Felicity cried out in joy as she saw me approaching. I’ve never seen my parents so scared. I could hear the fear in their voices, as each word wobbled with a mixture of terror and desperate self-composure. This made me petrified. The thick fog of smoke makes my eyes go watery and I start to cough. My Mother and Father held us tightly against their chest as they sang as our nightly lullaby, desperately trying to calm us down.

However, the lullaby that once gave me comfort now only conjures pools of tears.