The Fallen

September 21, 2028, a big war had happened. Children crying, storms and thunder, and blood spilling. How did it get to this point? Where did it all go wrong? I asked myself, as I looked at the lifeless bodies that covered the earth before me. Nine years ago, I was still living at home with my mother and my four siblings waiting for the virus to go away. Most nights we were scared to leave home, most of our family died from it and we knew that we were at a high risk. Never had I ever wanted to leave the house so bad, but had every reason not to go. Mom always stared out the window rocking back and forth on the rocking chair with her picture book in her hands. I could tell my mom misses my dad, the last time I saw him was when he was getting ready for war. I saw mom crying and huging him tight that day, if only I knew that was going to be the last day I would ever see him again. All I see is her heart breaking in two when she holds the book. Mom looked at me and gestured to me to come here. I felt like I was in trouble but she held her arms out wide and gave me a big soft hug. "Esperanza, is there something bothering you?" she said. I replied with a quiet response, "No, mother I'm fine". She smiled and opened the book. "Look, this was the happiest day of my life. Do you remember this one?", she said as she picked up the picture. It was a picture of me and dad when I was 10 years old. Looking back on this picture made me cry. "Mom, why did dad have to go away?" She froze. Mom got up and walked to her room, but her face had trauma all over it. Everytime I had asked that question she never answered me. I walked to the kitchen to clean up the pots. The kids were playing in the living room while I cleaned their rooms. Everyday was the same thing. Cook, clean, bath, eat, sleep and repeat. I wondered what it would be like to walk outside for the first time in forever. Mom finally walked out of her room, and she walked to the kitchen to make dinner. "Oh dear, I need to go to the store. Esperanza, grab my bag and mask!", she said, putting on her shoes.

"Here you go mother! I'm ready when you are!", I said handing mom's purse to her. She paused and turned to me.

"Ready for what, Esperanza?". She looked mad but worried at the same time. I stood tall and took a breath.

"I'm going with you, besides me and Rosalie are two years apart. She can watch them while we go get the food. I promise I won't touch anything or anyone".

She looked away and said, "Stay close as possible!".

We headed out the door and I was happy to get out of the house. The store looked so crowded that even my mom prayed before she entered. She let me push the cart around for her while she picks what food we should eat tonight. She told me to get some bread and a couple of tortillas. I reached the tortilla aisle. I reached for one but I was too short to reach it. The second time I attempted to reach for it a boy got it for me. He pulled the box down and put it on the second shelf where I could reach it. I turned to thank him, but he was walking away. My mom rushed to the aisle in worry for me. "Esperanza, what took you so long? You had me scared to death just stay by my side, ok? I wondered if I did something wrong. Why was she scared if I only left for five minutes? I could tell that she was very uncomfortable.

We paid for the food and quickly left the store. I didn't get to do much but see new faces. But it made me feel grateful even for such a limited time outside. The next day, I was told to do the outside chores and the younger kids do the chores inside the house. It was so hot outside that mom wouldn't even check up on me but then again she could just text me. I wandered off to the park. I sat on the swing as the sad memories of my dad came to me. Tears began to roll down my face as I lay my head on my knees hiding my face. "Hey, there. Why are you crying?". It sounded like a guy's voice. Wiping my face I looked up to see it was the guy from the store. I moved away and pretended like I couldn't hear him. He looked away and started to walk off. "Hey, what's your name?". I said. He looked back with a smile," Edgar, what's yours?".