002 - Memory Share

[minus1twin]

The scene that began to play was an innocent one.

A family sat around a small table in a small one room apartment. They aren't rich by any standards but they were happy. Two children sat at the table, twins, laughing and eating as they told their mother and father the story of their adventures that day. The boys arms were up in the air as if to indicate that it was 'this big!' while the young girl giggled at the exaggeration.

The point of view flickers between the girl and the boy as if unable to make up its mind on who to watch. Static echoes gently as a soft whistling sound begins to rise above the laughter.

That's when the first shell hits.

A loud bang reverberates through the building as the floor beneath their table quickly cracks. Screams could be heard as the table tilts, the floor quickly falling, disappearing in a cloud of rumble. The scene is now from the little girl's point of view. She's reaching out towards her mother and screaming, nearly falling into the large whole in the floor in the process. There is a hard tug on her waist as her brother picks her up but she doesn’t notice. She just watches as her parents disappear into the hole.

The view point switches again, now looking out from the boys eyes as he rolls him and his sister beneath the bed. The entire building is coming apart and you can feel it beneath your palms and knees, hear your sister's cries, "MAMA! PAPA!" You hold her tight and hold back the tears stinging your eyes. For a half second the echoes of the falling building seem to settle. You wonder if it's over. If your parents are somehow alive.

That's when the second shell hits.

It slides through their home and stops three feet from their faces. The crying has stopped but voices rise in the distance as people begin to search for those who haven’t died. The bed is covered in debris. There is no way out and the air is choked with dust.

You both lay there. Ten years old. Reading the one name that haunts your nightmares for years to come, 'STARK' painted in large letters on the side of the shell. You both call out and there is a rise of voices speaking in another language trying to find you. The rumble shifts and the little girl curls beneath her brother's arm as the shell remains in view. Another shift of rumble and another. Each one sending trickles of dust and cinder down on top of you.

You know that it will take time to clear away the rumble and at any moment the shell can go off.

The views switch again and you hear your brother's voice speak gently in your ear. The words are in another language but the meaning is clear. "I'm here."

Comments

[lovelylaica]

You don't have to apologize for him, darling. His actions are his own.

And you don't have to explain it to me. I was offering sympathy, nothing more. I meant what I said when I told you I know how it feels. Grief isn't always pretty, or in a straight line, and is angry as often as it is sad.

[minus1twin]

I know but he is young.

[They've spent all that time yearning for revenge but it hadn't really accomplished anything.]

And thank you for your sympathies. [Her voice is soft and kind.] These things are hard. I never thought I'd have to relive this here.

[lovelylaica]

[ Is it always the fate of elder sisters to be excusing their siblings' behavior long after they should know better? Laica has done the same so many times she suspects it might be. ]

It is a remarkably unpleasant aspect of life here, isn't it? I wonder if there's any way to prevent it.

[ Maker knows she has more than enough hard times in her life she would just as soon leave in the past. ]

[minus1twin]

I don't think so but it would be worth looking into.

[Most of her life is dark stories like this. She doesn't want her son to see it...]

[lovelylaica]

[ Laica frowns in thought and taps her lips with her fingertip. She can be clever, but she knows she's not as good at this sort of inventiveness as some of her friends.

But they aren't here. And one thing Laica always has been good at is making do with what she has. ]

Do you know how these things get out on here? Is it through our dreams? Or something like it?

[ If it is, well. That's a place to start. ]

[minus1twin]

I don't. I haven't been here very long.

[Wanda has a lot of other problems to worry about like her family...]

[lovelylaica]

Oh.

[ Well. That's that. ]

I should probably leave you to it, then. Sorry to be a bother.

[minus1twin]

You aren't a bother.

[Wanda assures in her a confident tone.]

I just wish I could tell you more. I will see if I can come up with anything and let you know.

[lovelylaica]

[ Laica nods. ]

I'll look as well. Worth a shot, anyway.

[minus1twin]

Sounds good.

We'll talk again soon.