The Soldier that Saved Me (ON HOLD)

Woken Up

"The soldier's heart, the soldier's spirit, the soldier's soul, are everything." -George Marshall

~~~~~~~~~~~

I feel like I'm swimming through rocks, my body constantly being hit by debris and  bruising everywhere. I look up and hazily see Mom with her arms around Dad waving at me at the other side of the pitch black tunnel.

"Darling, come with us. Come and stay with us forever and ever." Her sweet voice bounces off the walls. 

"Yes Mom! I'm coming! I'm coming!" I yell out to her. I try to pull myself from underneath the heavy load and start to run towards them. Why wasn't I reaching them?! I should have by now. They unexpectedly turn and walk the other way.

"No, Mom! Dad! Wait for me!! Daddy..? Mommy..?" I see them being sucked into a vortex of night. Pain envelops me and tightens in the middle of my stomach; I can't breathe. Suddenly, light flashes in my eyes.

"JAMIE!" I sit up in a pile of rubble and look around rapidly. It was just a dream...

"What happened here...where is everyone?" I muttered to myself, trying to recollect everything that had happened. . 

Earthquake?

Falling ceiling?

Explosion?

Mom? Dad?

I felt as though I were the only person in this huge world. Mom or Dad or even Jamie must be here somewhere. They were just playing around...

I plowed my way through the shattered bricks and rubble that lay in my path. Something scratched at my throat, forcing me to cough up dust from asphalt that had been thrown into my system during the bombing. 

"J-Jamie?" I croaked, kicking away a smashed chair that had once lay in our happy home. I explored some more, trying to find some signs of life anywhere.

Suddenly, I tripped onto the cobblestone and turned to see what it was I had fallen over. A pair of legs. Not just any legs, but legs that were wearing the new black pants that I had bought for Jamie. My breath got caught in my throat and I burst into tears as I realized who it was. Now I knew I was alone. 

Everyone was stripped from me, gone. A stream of yips broke my thoughts and I whirled around to see Almond and Felice wagging their tails and running to me.

"Almond!! Felice!! Oh thank goodness you both are alright! I thought I had lost you two..." I scooped up their little bodies and squeezed them tight. Felice was the only reminder of Jamie. Almond was what was left of my family. 

"I guess I can't just stand here doing nothing. I need to find some sort of shelter. Maybe someone could help me..." I said, not really to the dogs but more to myself. 

I started walking through what used to be my town. Everything was completely destroyed, the places I used to play in, the spots I used to cry in..it vanished. 

Thoughts flooded into me and I started to weep again. Jamie, my crush, my best friend, was dead. 

He was my best and only friend that had stuck with me through my childhood. I had no idea he liked me back. Our future, what would it have been?

I envisioned us in the car, laughing, then walking hand-in-hand through the school doors, our actions screaming out that we were together. We would have had...love. 

The sun beat down on my back, naked from my ripped denim jacket. I started to feel somewhat light headed from lack of water. The broken bricks and rooted trees started to swim in front of my eyes and still no one in sight. Soon, I dropped to the ground and started to breathe heavily, gasping for air. Almond and Felice started to yap uncontrollably their little paws hitting against me. I felt as though I had been here for more than an hour; it was getting harder to breathe.  I knew I would be gone, gone from this world and perhaps meeting my parents and Jamie in the next.