Truth by Nora Kushner

  Truth by Nora Kushner

 “But I don’t want to go, Mom,” Emma said.

 “Kate, take care of Emma and Mike.”

 “Yes Mom.”

” Mom, what's going on?”

 “There's no time to explain, Emma. Mike, you’re second in charge”.

“Mike’s only one year older than me! How come he gets to be in ch-” I stuttered.

Bang, bang, bang the door was breaking. I burst into tears.

“They’re coming! Follow the brick wall until you get to a stone building. The stone building is seven floors high and is a orphanage. Kate, be confident.” Mom kissed all three of us on the head.

Bang! The front door burst open and Mom pushed us out the back door. I knew this would be the last time I smelled the different aromas in our cozy cottage.

We ran to the woods outside our cottage. I could see creatures with long black noses covered with warts that were oozing yellow pus, running in our cottage, my cottage, my home.

I saw my brothers face wet with tears. Kate was holding the necklace her mom gave to her when she was four. I knew she could feel the spirals etched on the base of the necklace. “Kate?” I said.

 “Come on,” Kate said.

 She grabbed me and Mike’s hands and I ran like the wind but Kate was still practically dragging me and Mike as she ran.

Then I said, “What if we get lost or we fail?”

Kate stopped, kneeled down and looked into Mike’s green eyes that were the color of fresh grass. Then she looked into my chocolate brown eyes that always make my stomach grumble when I look at them in the mirror.

Then she finally said, “Always keep going. If something bad happens, continue on. Hope will be with you. Try hard till the very end.”

 A tear streamed down her cheek, making a path through the dirt on her face.

Thud, thud, thud.

“They’re coming! We have to leave,” said Kate.

 I found myself screaming and woke up.