When the daylight has faded

Home invasion (#sleep)

The visitors had left, and Mother and Sister were in bed, sleeping. The girl heard her father talking to strangers. His voice usually carried confidence and strength; now it just sounded... small, she guessed.

The girl knew what was happening, had seen it coming.

Her parents had not understood the guests. They had treated them with respect and cordiality, but the girl knew that they had not been sad when the guests left. The girl missed the guests, though. She knew that their presence had meant freedom and the chance to have an education. This education was the reason she knew that the bad men had arrived.

She couldn't fight these people. She wasn't strong like her father. But knowledge had prepared her for what was happening at the front door right now.

The girl jumped out of bed and grabbed her go-bag. It was light, just a few clothes, a little money that she managed to squirrel away here and there and a picture of her family and home.

This was it. She had prayed with everything that she had, but she had known this day would come.

It was up to her now to save her family.

But the girl wasn't stupid. Knowledge alone wouldn't stop the army of bad guys with guns from taking her home. She couldn't go to the neighbours for help, either. They were sleeping, oblivious to what was happening. Or more likely, they didn't care.

"If you don't hurt us, I'll let you have everything. Please, come in!" she heard her father say as she was creeping towards the back door.

Yes, her family was flawed. Father had been trained to fight, but he chose not to. Mother had no education to speak of. She would probably believe that the intruders were friends.

But there was her baby brother, looking like an angel of peace in his tiny little cot, and her beautiful sister, most likely dreaming of romance and fashion and exploring the world.

She would fight for them. She would make sure that her brother would grow into a loving and caring man. She would do whatever it took to give her sister love and shiny dresses and the freedom to roam the world.

She wouldn't be able to achieve this by herself. Knowledge wasn't a quick fix. It meant understanding that the bad guys had no right to take her home and the realisation that there were others like her.

Just as the bad guys had reached the living room, the girl pushed through the back door.

"You are one of us now, man! The wife will do as we say, your boy will be raised to take the next house, your girls to be obedient wives to our sons."

The girl shuddered when she heard one of the intruders speak these words.

"My home, I won't let you down! It will take time. Bear with me! But I promise, I will be back – with an army that is passionate about what they are fighting for. And this time, we'll succeed!"

With a quick glance back at the place she loved more than anything in the world, she shut the door behind her and walked into the night.