The Girl From The Right Arm

Chapter 6

*** 

"Aria! Come join us!" A couple of children yelled at her from the playground. 

She ran through the streets of their apartment block with her brother and her father. They just went shopping. The little girl wanted to run to them and play, but her dad grabbed her and ran home with her and her brother. 

"Dad? What's wrong? I want to play!" The girl said in a tearful voice.

"Not now, angel," said her dad, pulling them with him. 

She pressed closer to her brother. She was afraid. What would happen now? 

The girl turned sadly to her friends and saw them happily playing. But she didn't just see her friends. Uniformed soldiers ran towards the little family with quick steps. A soldier looked her straight in the eye. A shiver ran through the girl. His cold eyes literally pierced her. She clung even more to her brother, who put an arm around her protectively. Their dad guided them through alleys that were full of people. She was jostled, looked at and yelled at. Everyone was shouting and nothing could be heard through the noise. The little girl pressed even closer to her brother and buried her face in his jacket. As they left the busy streets, they came to their rundown house. Her dad quickly unlocked and pulled his kids inside. He ran into the living room and pulled the curtain in front of the window a little. And what he saw there must have frightened him, because he turned to his kids with a fearful and empty look. 

"What's out there, Dad?" his daughter asked fearfully, clutching her brother's hand.

"Aria! You have to listen to me carefully now! You have to find the right arm. As always, it will be hiding somewhere in the mountains. Go to them. Promise me that you won't turn around if you hear something. Promise me! " he said, looking her in the eye. Tears shimmered in his eyes. 

"I promise, Daddy!" she nodded and hugged him. 

"I'm so proud of you, my angel! So proud," he whispered in her ear. She smiled sadly. 

Was that a goodbye? A goodbye forever or just for a certain time? 

She turned to her big brother and gave him a big hug. "I love you!" the little girl cried and buried her head in the crook of his neck. "Me too, little one. Me too!" He smiled and stroked his little sisters head. He gave her a kiss on the forehead. 

"Don't forget me!" He whispered with tears.

"Never!" she whispered back.

He hugged her again and she wrapped her little hands around him. The feeling of love and security flowed through her. She broke away from him sadly when her dad whispered, "You know what to do!". 

When she heard several voices on their doorstep. Her brother grabbed her hand and dragged her into the basement. Her dad had dug a little secret passage outside there. For safety. If the painted people attacked us, he said. Her brother pushed the cupboard away from the secret passage and a dark corridor appeared. Gunshots could be heard from above. The little girls blood froze. What if something happens to her dad? 

"Isn't Dad coming?" she whispered to her brother in a low voice. 

"He's just holding them up a bit. Come on!", He took her hand in his and hunched over into the small tunnel. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling and she could have sworn she heard a mouse beep. She was trembling with fear. Her brother gently led her out. The siblings turned and went deeper and deeper into it. She still heard the gunshots and the screaming of people. When her brother stopped, she clung to his hand in fear. He opened a lid and sunlight poured in. The little girl screwed up her eyes as they came out of the tunnel. The sun was shining on her face, she held her hand in front of her face. It was so bright. 

"Hide behind the trash cans, Aria! I'll see if it's safe," her brother said gently to his baby sister. The girl nodded fearfully to him. 

"Be careful! I don't want to lose you too!" she whispered and hugged him carefully. 

He smiled softly at her and pushed her towards the trash can. She grimaced as the stink of trash got into her nose. But she kept walking and hid behind a garbage can that was full of rotten fruit. That was disgusting! But she didn't want to disappoint her brother, so she waited. 

Just as this one came running hectically around the corner. Several soldiers behind him. He looked around frantically and ran on. He looked at his sister sadly when one of the soldiers grabbed him and threw him to the ground. He screamed and kicked about.  When another soldier took a syringe and rammed it into his arm. Immediately he stopped moving and lay motionless. Was he dead? 

She wanted to scream and run to him, but her legs wouldn't move. The girl watched in shock as her brother was taken away. She lost him. A tear rolled down her cheek. 

She lost him. 

She sobbed and buried her face in my hands. He was gone. Then she heard several footsteps coming out of the tunnel. The girl looked up in delight when her dad climbed out of it. He looked around searchingly and when he saw her he looked relieved. "They took him with them!" she cried and ran to him. He hugged her reassuringly when the girl heard several voices coming from the tunnel. 

"Run!" Shouted my dad. She looked at him in shock and fear. He had never yelled at her before. "Get yourself to safety, Aria!" He whispered. 

"Everything will be fine," he smiled at his little daughter. 

She nodded slightly and started running. Adrenaline rushed through her body, making her go even faster. She ran down the alley and ran around the corner. There the girl stopped puffing and looked anxiously around the corner. There stood her dad and three soldiers in front of him. One had pushed him to the ground and another had pointed his gun at him. She looked at him anxiously. Then she heard it. Her father fell on the floor and his shirt turned red. Blood streamed from his chest. He was lying lifeless on the floor. 

I lost him. 

Her heart ached and she felt like she was out of breath. The soldier who killed him laughed and kicked her dad in the stomach and shot again. Tears streamed down her cheeks and then the little girl turned and ran. 

She would grant her dad's last wish and find the right arm. 

She had lost everything. 

She was the girl who lost everything.

***