Grieving Hearts

Chapter 1

Leaning against a wooden shed in our garden I watched my brother as he was practicing his shooting skills. He aimed for the target and pulled the trigger. A loud bang filled the air which made nearby birds fly away. When I looked at the wooden target with red and white circles painted on it I saw no hole, Ryan missed. He aimed for the target again and shot three times in a row but each time he missed. He wasn't a bad shot though. We both had trained our shooting skills for years now. I'm guessing he was just nervous and I get why he would be.

"That's enough for today, Ryan." My father said with his low, hoarse voice. He looked at us. "Luna, Ryan, you both did good today." 

My father had fought in the second world war. He tells me stories about it all the time. Some are sad - well most of them actually, for example when he told about his friend who got killed or how he got wounded in battle. But he always tells them in such a way I feet like I was actually there. He'd show me photos of his company and he could tell me anything about everyone. How they were and how the war had changed them.

My father had gotten a strong, confident personality and sees in that life is really something we should value. Since I was a kid he printed this in my little head, so I grew up as a kind girl respecting every living creature.

Here at home I had a small group of friends with Ryan, a girl and a boy my age named Julia and Samuel. We have known each other for years, we're neighbours after all. If you can call someone a neighbour when they live a few hundred meters away from you. We lived at a farm, but we did not keep a lot of animals. We had a few horses which my dad and I would take care of and on which we went horse riding. We also had a lovely playful dog and a handful of chickens which gave us eggs. My mom was the best in making omelettes. 

My dad, brother and I had a strong relationship. When we were younger we always went out with our dad while our mom stayed behind and probably asked her friends over to chat all day. Because I was with two boys all the time I started to like boyish things like cars and well... guns.

Almost everyday we practiced shooting in the shooting range my father build in our garden. It was just an open place with a few wooden targets. He taught us how to use a gun and we had to practice a lot till we were finally able to hit our target in the right place. He also taught us hand to hand combat but I didn't really excell in that since I have a small body. My brother is way more muscled after all. But I learned a few tricks here and there so that I still was able to fight my brother, even though I was not as strong as he was. Both my brother and I loved to shoot and fight, but our dad had his own reason to train us. He had always feared another war would erupt and he wanted us to be able to defend ourselves. 

Unfortunately his worst fear became true. A second world war had broken out  Tomorrow was the day my brother would be sent away to a basecamp. There he is trained to be a soldier and eventually he is sent away to the front, in Europe. Just like him I was nervous. I didn't want to think about the bad things that could happen to him, but of course I couldn't get it off my mind. 

The three of us cleaned our guns and stored them in a small wooden cabin. When we were finished we made our way to the farmhouse. As I opened the red-brownish, wooden front door of the house I heard my mother call for dinner, right on time.

During dinner we all ate our plates in silence. Because of the war there was less food, but we had our own crops so my mum was still able to cook the most delicious dishes. The smell of the well baked potatoes filled my nose and the flavour of the steak tingled my mouth. I thought of Ryan, about how much he'll miss mums dishes and I looked his way. He wasn't really eating, just playing with his food a bit. 

When I was about to say something mum was already ahead of me. "You really should finish your dinner, Ryan." she looked worried. "Tomorrow you're-". 

"I know what's tomorrow!" Ryan almost yelled. "I'm done. I'm going to my room." With that he stood up and walked away. Mum didn't stop him and just sighed.

That night I couldn't sleep, and I guess I wasn't the only one who couldn't. A tear streamed down my face. I just can't imagine losing my brother. What would I do without him? He is always there for me. He is my brother and my best friend... I know he is skilled in fighting, both in gun and hand combat. But there is still always the possibility that he won't return back home to us... If only I could protect him. 

I came up with an idea.