I'd thought it strange that I could hear the roar of ocean waves from our village. The sound had started small, a tiny shushing that had roused me and Rose from sleep. Our beds sat on opposite sides of the room and we rolled over to face each other in the dark, the orange glow of the fire painting my little sister's features. Her eyes glittered in the light, watching me.
"Astrid," she whispered, "do you hear that?"
"Yes," I whispered back.
The crackling of the fire took over the room again for a moment. Rose and I stared at each other, listening to the shushing outside gradually turn to a low rumble. I at first thought I was imagining the walls vibrating, but I soon realized it was the entire room. The floors were shaking, causing Rose's mirror and my jewelry box on the wooden dresser to dance off the surface, clattering to the floor.
We were both sitting up in our beds now, Rose clutching her blankets to her chin while I turned my attention to the window, the moon peering through the glass at me. From its position, low in the sky, I discovered we'd awoken to the last sliver of night.
"What's going on?" Rose asked, her weak voice trembling. She was looking to me for an answer. She wanted me to reassure her that everything was going to be okay and that the sound was nothing to be afraid of. However, I couldn't get any words past my lips and my heart's wild beating in my chest drowned out the world around me.
I must have been doing a horrible job at maintaining a brave face because Rose let out a squeak, her wide eyes darting to the window. "I want Pa," she said desperately.
The door to our room opened suddenly and in rushed Pa's silhouette. Ma was just behind him and wordlessly she took me by the wrist while Pa picked Rose up in his arms. The rumbling and shaking grew louder, more violent as the four of us headed into the main part of our cramped home. Neither one of them spoke and Pa set down Rose by the front door, taking her little hands in his. He bent down and wiped a tear from her cheek. "Rose, I want you and Astrid to go to the cellar," he told her, "can you do that for me?" He looked at me then and I nodded without hesitation, noticing his eyes were shiny. "Your mother and I will be right behind you."
Ma sobbed beside me and threw her arms around me and Rose, holding us tightly in her warm embrace. Everything was happening so fast, I didn't have the chance to feel truly afraid and cry just yet. I was numb from my head to my toes, a wraith floating above the land, watching events unfold down below.
Ma broke away from me and Rose and it was now Pa's turn to hug us both and say he loved us very much and would see us soon. It felt a lot like a goodbye.
"Astrid, Rose," he started, voice breaking, "keep your eyes on the ground. Do not look up. Do not look around, do you understand? Go straight to the cellar, hide, and wait for us there." Then he opened the door and the rumbling flooded inside, almost knocking me and Rose off our feet. Pa nudged us forward and I took my sister's hand in mine, stumbling down the steps and into the cold night.
The frigid air bit at my skin like wolves and it didn't help that Rose and I were wearing nightgowns. Ma had sewed them for us and they weren't exactly meant for night excursions.
I did as Pa said and kept my eyes cast to the ground, tugging Rose along as we fled around to the back of the house, tripping in the dewy grass. The earth rumbled under our shoes as we reached the cellar door and I threw it open, staring down the stairs disappearing into black beneath the earth. Rose eyed the cellar entrance warily and I squeezed her cold hand in mine. She'd always been afraid of the cellar, but right now, there wasn't much she could do except finally walk down those steps and face the dark. Pa and Ma's urgent orders were something to truly fear and I could tell Rose knew this.
