Toddy: Emperor of America

Chapter 2

Blinking, Hil tried to take in her surroundings. Her hands were chained to the floor. She looked around and realized she had no clue where she was. Soon, others were waking then screaming. Guards filed into the room. A booming voice silenced the cries.

"Welcome, Americans. I hope you will find your accommodations comfortable. You are here only to make your country succumb to our demands. They seem to have a weak spot for their young. I hope you enjoy your stay."

Terrified, the young people looked around. The cold floor was cluttered with stones. The windows were twelve feet above the floor. There was one door guarded by twenty men with machine guns. Slowly, Hil's eyes fell on the other prisoners. They were all kids of various ages, the youngest three, the oldest eighteen.

"Hil? Hil!"

She turned her head toward the voice.

"Jecca! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jecca answered.

"How did you get here?" Hil questioned.

"I don't know. I opened my eyes and I was here."

"I don't remember anything either."

The door opened and everyone gasped. A line of girls carrying food walked in. They laid down a bowl of rice in front of each child.

"Jecca, don't eat it. It could be poisoned or something," Hil warned.

"I can't help it. I'm so hungry," Jecca whined.

Tired and hungry, the children gobbled up the food. Hil watched hoping that nothing was gonna happen to them.

* * *

"Sorry, kid, you're too young."

Toddy frowned, "Come on, we are being invaded, and you're saying I'm too young."

"I'm sorry."

"I'll be eighteen real soon. I need to protect the ones I love. Just let me try," he pleaded.

"Fine, trial basis only. If you can't keep up, you have to go home."

"Thank you."

A couple months later...

"How much can you bench, Toddy?" a soldier asked.

"More than you, I'm sure."

The crowded lunch room echoed of the soldiers' rough voices. An alarm sounded silencing the lunch room.

"General, I want you to take your men, split them up, and surround the enemy here," the leader said pointing to various spots on the map.

"Well, Toddy, that's us. Let's go."

* * *

Bodies lay everywhere. The battle had gone horribly. Toddy blinked his eyes a couple of times. Groaning, he pulled himself to his feet. Staggering, he looked around for survivors.

"Toddy," the voice was barely a whisper.

"Where are you?" Toddy shouted.

"Down here."

Toddy looked down to see Oliver lying under a fallen limb of a tree.

"I'm trapped," he explained.

Toddy leaned down to evaluate the situation. Grunting, he tried to move the broken tree.

"I can't move it by myself," Toddy sighed, "I'm going to see if there are any survivors. I'll be back. I promise."

As quickly as he could, Toddy found the others. All together there were nearly thirty of them. With their combined strength, they were able to lift up the tree.

"We have suffered great losses, Toddy," one of the men said.

"I know."

"Our general is gone too."

"We need a temporary new leader," another soldier offered.

"Toddy, you need to lead us," Oliver suggested.

"I can't I'm one of the youngest here," Toddy argued.

"But you're also the one with the most leadership skills. People will follow you," a soldier said.

"We'll vote on it," Toddy agreed.

They took a vote and out of necessity Toddy was unanimously elected.

"Okay, here's what we are going to do. We're sitting ducks out here. We need to regroup with the other half of our regiment. It'll be dangerous but we can't stay here."

"You are now our leader. We will bravely follow you, Sir!"

One by one each soldier stood at attention.

"Let's move out!"

* * *

Having been held prisoner for a few months now, Hil, Jecca, and the others had become accustomed to their daily activities. They would awake in the morning. The guards would undo their chains. When that was done, they were given food. They were free to walk around until noon. At that time the children were escorted outside for exactly one hour. When they came in, they were given lunch. They were left again until supper. At nine, they were chained again. This followed day after day. Of course, they were tired of it, but their only hope for freedom seemed to be that someone win the war. Even then their survival looked dismal. They always had hope though, for that alone was the thing keeping them alive.

To pass the time away, the older girls did the younger girls' hair as they entertained the awaiting ones with stories. The boys had their fun playing marbles and picking on the girls. Hil started brushing Abby's hair.

"Hil, please tell us a story."

"Another story? Don't you ever tire of them?" she teased.

"No, you're best story teller ever," she replied shyly.

"All right, does anyone else wanna hear a story?"

The gleeful cries answered her question better than the inaudible words.

"Once upon a time," Hil began, grabbing a few strands of Abby's hair, "there was a beautiful princess named-"

"Bethny," the youngest girl suggested.

"Named Bethany. Well, one day she met a handsome prince named Phillip. They played all day long. They skipped rocks in the creek, told stories, and became best friends. The prince and princess spent many days at the castle together. Then one day, Prince Phillip's family was attacked. Sadly, he told Princess Bethany that he must go. Princess Bethany watched her best friend leave. On her way home, Princess Bethany was kidnapped. When Prince Phillip heard, he ran all the way to the dungeon where she was being held prisoner. He defeated the bad guy and freed his best friend. And they all lived happily ever after."

Hil turned Abby around to admire her work.

"Your hair looks very pretty."

"Thanks, Hil."

"Now why don't you play ring around the rosy, okay?"

"Okay," the little girl hugged her and ran off.

"How do you do that?" Jecca asked.

"Do what?"

"Make them happy like that even though you aren't."

"Someone has to. I just do what I love and hope-and hope that Toddy will come save me."

A solitary tear fell down her check.

"We will get out of here, Jecca. For now, we just have to make the best of what we have," she said wiping her face before the others could see.

The door opened and the children were put to bed. The lights were turned out on the young ones as each lay down dreaming of sweet freedom.