Holding on to Memories

1. Gone

Broken doors. Overturned furniture. Muddy footprints.

They were gone. Every one of them.

Anisa ran through the small village. The wails of crying women reached her ears.

No. It couldn't be true.

She knocked on the door of a cabin at the edge of the woods.

The door creaked open. An old woman stood in the doorway. Her grief-filled eyes stared at Anisa.

"Is he -" Anisa's voice broke. The woman nodded sadly. Anisa's hand flew up to her mouth. She turned and ran into the woods.

The path was thin, and plants whipped against her legs as she ran. She didn't care.

How could they be gone? How could he be gone?

Anisa sat with her back against a tree. The sobs she had been holding back broke through. Tears streamed down her face and her whole body shook.

Memories flooded through her mind.

Johan's constant grin. His teasing laughter. The way his sea-blue eyes would light up when they talked together. The times he annoyed her. The times he had her laugh. And most of all, the look of joy on his face when she said yes.

Anisa twisted the engagement ring on her finger.

Now Johan was gone. He, along with all the other young men, had disappeared in the dead of night.

Anisa's shoulders trembled, and her weeping broke anew.

This is my first try at "romance" so please let me know what you think! More to come... -Ashley