I flinched when Papa’s moaning intruded the deadly silence. He was asleep on the broken couch in the undersized living room. For a blanket Papa used his special brown jacket. He would lie on his side, fold his arms to use as a pillow, and covered himself with that old jacket. He always wears that jacket no matter what. I don’t know why he is so fond of it, but I think that it must be something pretty special to him. I think Papa’s only weakness would be if something happened to his jacket. Sometimes I wish I could be like him, fearless and heroic.

I had just started to relax again. I put my arms behind my head and stared out the window to look at the old abandoned building. Every time the street lights flickered out, I would stare to where the building was waiting for it to have disappeared when the light flicked back on.
I let out a sigh finally starting to feel tired. My droopy heavy eyelids slowly came to a clamp. Suddenly I heard the alarms from out in the streets. My eyelids instinctively unclamped themselves. It was time. I was so stunned that I couldn’t even move a muscle. A few seconds later and bolted up from my bed. I looked out the window, hearing the warning alarms, and saw the first one drop. First, I heard it. Then I saw the bomb hit the building across the street with a blinding explosion. I was surprised that only a few moments ago, the decaying building had barely stood. Now it was a burning pile of rubble. This was it.

I watched the flames grow bigger and bigger. The crushed building was supporting the evil dancing flames. Neighbors from the nearby apartments were already hurrying out their doors into the dangerous streets with their belongings. It was like a madhouse out there. A lone mother swiftly carried her newborn baby into the street. The newborn screamed from all the commotion and deafening sirens. The mother looked down at her baby, and kissed its forehead. She looked both ways for any enemies, and then bolted behind a building. Several other people did the same in an attempt to hide themselves. No, they could not get caught.

I flinched when my bedroom door was slammed open and Papa rushed in. He looked at me with disbelief, for I was still sitting in my bed like a confused monkey.

“Get up! What do you think you are doin’ Kiki?!” Papa asked with a worried expression. “The time has come. Get your backpack and grab anything else that might be useful for our journey. This is it. Your mother and father are already packed and waiting in the living room.”

Papa left the room in a frantic way that I had never seen in him before. This must be worse than I thought. I dumbly jumped from my rotting bed and ran to the corner where my backpack was. I pulled the straps over my skinny shoulders and quickly turned to take a last look at my tiny room. The paint on the walls was still chipped, and the curtains to my window were still torn. Everything was the same. Even though my bed was falling apart I would miss it.