Invasion

Prologue

I wasn't aware of what was happening.

Afterall I was only six years old when it happened. I was oblivious and clueless as any child my age would've been. But it didn't take a genius to put two and two together when I saw all those panicked faces that day.

I was playing in the living room with my plastic toys. Dad was perched up on the couch doing work on his laptop while mom was cooking in the kitchen. Everything was normal.

Soon I got bored of playing in the house so I asked permission to go outside and play there instead. And as per usual,my parents agreed.

When I stepped foot on the green trimmed grass of our backyard I felt giddy. The sun was shining,the breeze was fresh and the birds were chirping,everything was normal.

I played by myself for about an hour till I eventually got bored. Just when I was about to head back into the house I heard something. It was a sound that came from my neighbors' - best friend's - backyard,as if they were bustling and in a hurry. Little old me went to the crate that sat near the wooden fence and balanced myself on top of it inorder to see what was going on.

There he was,Tom, packing his toys in a hurry on the paved ground. His light brown hair all messy and his hazel eyes focused on what he was doing. His parents were also in a hurry, packing all kinds of things into their car.

"Tom, what's going on?" I asked him feeling worried.

"Mom and dad said we're leaving,"he said in a hurry picking up his small action figures and stuffing them into his backpack.

"Why?" I asked,sadness slowly seeping into me.

"The government man. He said the smoke kills people. It's the flashes in the sky,in the news." He blabbered in a hurry as he closed his bag.

"Here,take this." He gave me one of his five black and silver rings that he said made him look like a cool guy and moved close to me."Mom said I wouldn't get the chance to say goodbye,but here you are now so goodbye princess." He said using his nickname that never failed, except for today,to make smile and kissed my cheek -another common gesture he did.

"No. You can't leave-"

"Tom!" Mrs Lawrence called in a worry as she came towards us,her stomach developing a bump due to pregnancy. "Aunty, what's going on?" Mrs Lawrence moved towards me and told me to go inside to mom and dad. She then pulled Tom with her towards  the car.

Feeling sad and confused that my best friend was leaving,I ran to the house with blurry eyes. The house was filled with black smoke from the burning pot on the stove. Mom and dad were nowhere to be seen. I ran upstairs but they weren't there either, anxiety kicked in and I started panicking till-

"Hazel!"

I ran to that backyard at my mother's call to find her distressed amd worried.

"Mommy!" I ran to her. She picked and I tucked my head in the crook of her neck as she carried me to the front yard. Our car was also packed full. With things ranging from our flower pot to food that wasn't usually taken with us when we left the house.

"Mommy, I'm scared,"I said in fear as she placed me in the backseat, strapped me up and comforted me.

"It's going to be fine hazelnut. Just calm down,okay?"

"Okay."

She then nodded slightly and went to the front passenger seat as dad started the car. I saw Tom's parent's car also come out from their front yard and rolled the window down,so did Tom. I hadn't said goodbye to him. I waved at him knowing that if I tried to speak I'd only burst in tears. He waved back at me looking just as broken as me.

"Remember to always chase the sun!" He yelled.

"And you'll find tomorrow," I said in a rather inaudible voice, quoting a line from our favorite movie as our cars went in opposite directions and that...

'That is what I remember about the invasion.'