Ember

Ember

By: Jose Q.

Chapter 1: Live Forever

 

So, let’s see. How would be a good way to begin this story... I guess I should say it started 16 years ago, when I was born.

 

My mom was being rushed into the hospital to give birth to me. However, there was a problem. On that same day, my mom got slightly burnt from a defective heat pad earlier that day. My mom was feeling nauseous so she placed a heat pad on her head and stomach. There was a problem however with the heat pad on her stomach. It was somehow more heated than the other pad, causing a burn on her stomach.

 

When I was born later that day, the doctors and my parents noticed a slightly bright, red birthmark on my head. They all believed that this was because of that heat pad. It is not like it did any internal damage however, so that’s a relief for them. Only problem was if they were alive to know how insane that burn ended up doing.

 

My parents decided to name me Amber since my eyes were close to that color, even though they were Hazel. They also gave me an Amber pendant, telling me that it’ll be my special charm. I loved it.

 

Six years after my birth, my house got robbed. My father couldn’t stand for it, so he went after them. Three days after my dad left and we haven’t heard anything from him. We received a call telling us that someone found are dad, so my mom and I drove to the location they gave us. As we walked into the building, the lights inside it just shut off. I heard what sounded like jackets being rustled and silent screams. I was yelling for my mother since I didn’t know where she was. Then I got knocked down hard, then things started to fade to black..

 

As I was slightly unconscious, I could hear people talking. “You and your family should know better to not mess with terrorists.” The next voice I could hear sounded like my mother, “We’re sorry. We’re very sorry. Just please let us leave!” “Let’s just forget this, okay?” That sounded like my father’s voice. I could slightly open my eyes. And with what I saw... boy I wish could forget it.

 

I saw one of the three terrorists shove my father on the ground, pull a gun out, and shot my father in the head! My eyes opened up wide as I was shocked at what I saw. My mom screamed as it happened and just fell to her knees. I became more conscious as I kept seeing my dad get shot over and over again in my head. As I quietly called for my mother, the terrorists then grabbed my mother and whispered things into her ear. I eventually got up to my knees but before I was about to call for my mom again, the terrorists then shoved my mother on the ground and shot her in the head as well!

 

Never had I thought about anything like this happening to me or my parents. I let out a huge scream after seeing my mom get shot. The terrorists turned their heads and noticed me. I was in tears. They started to talk amongst each other as I just thought about what happened. One of the three approached me and said, “Listen. It’s best that you go off and run away for now. And just forget about everything that you just. Understand?”

“What makes you think that I’ll be able to forget about something like that!?” I screamed back at the guy as I was still sobbing.

The man pulled out his gun. “You seem young. There is no way you want your life to end right now just because your parents were shot in front of you.”