Seeing Liesel

Chapter 1

Liesel

"Mama, Papa?" My small, broken voice travels up the 12 foot wall between me and my parents.

Did this monster decide to take a visit overnight? I am at a loss for knowledge on it's arrival. The wall stands like a barrier, blocking me from my parents and the past 8 years of my life. I swat away the questions buzzing in my mind and focus on finding a solution.

Tears run down my cheeks, but my eyes ignore their commands to hold the floodgates shut. No trees shall be hugged, no tears shall be shed, I remind myself. Stay strong, it'll only be a while. My emotions take over my actions and I pound on the dark barrier. I examine my bearings and the rest of the wall. No other child is here, it is just me. Frantic screams and shouts bounce off the barrier and ring in my ear. Attempting to ignore the noise, I plug my ears shut and huddle into a ball. I feel hands pluck my arms from my legs, and look up to find a greasy old man.

"What's wrong, little girl?" He starts with a empathetic, sad face and grows into an evil grin as more words are spoken. I sniffle. "Come with me, little girl."

"Get away from her!" A small voice demands. I hear a loud bang and cover my eyes in fear. The aroma of smoke and fire is sucked into my nose. Curious, I open my eyes. The man lies on the ground, clearly wounded with a bullet hole through his shirt. My head raises and I shoot up from the ground. A girl with short, curly blonde hair holds a large rifle pointing directly at the man.

"Are you okay?" The girl rushes to my aid and wipes off the tears from underneath my eyes. Should I trust her? She shot the man who was intimidating me. Yes. I shiver off the overwhelming fear and hug the girl. "You speak English?" She asks in her thick German accent. I nod again. "Where your mama and papa?" I'm stunned at her ability to speak English, most people around here only speak German. I point to the Monster and hide my teary eyes. "I'm Alice, and I'll help you finding your mama and papa."

"Du da, stoppen!" (A/N: This means, You there, stop!) I whirl around and face a tall soldier with a shotgun pressed against my nose.

"Den mund halten!" ("Shut up!") Alice shouts and smacks him in the head with her rifle. I gasp as blood pours out of the side of his head. Sirens blow and the ground shakes with sounds of hooves and stomping feet. I mute all the sounds in my head and crawl into a ball. I rock back and forth and try to calm myself. It'll be okay, it's just a dream.