“Eliza!” I shouted. I could barely hear my own voice over the rumble of the tanks. “Eliza!” I was quickly growing desperate. What if Eliza was gone? No, that couldn’t happen. Could it? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if that happened. I made a promise to Mom and Dad and Jason that I would protect her and if I didn’t, I would just-
“Leon?” a quiet voice ventured. My head snapped around immediately, and I nearly cried out in joy. A young girl stood there, maybe about nine years old. Her dark tresses were matted and caked in dry blood but right now I could care less. Her face was smudged and bruised but she was alive!
I all but dashed up to her and grabbed her hand. “Come on Eliza! We gotta go now!” Not waiting for her reaction, I pulled her along as I ran out of our makeshift shelter. I ran as fast as I could, as far away from there as possible. The sky was painted red with blood, blood of my family and friends. Empty houses slowly fell apart, slowly sinking into ruin. My heart panged when I saw the devastated, still smoldering remains of our house. Quickly, I scrambled behind one of the sturdier looking houses, hoping to hide from view. Eliza stumbled beside me, and I quickly helped her up. Glancing around the building, my eyes widened when I saw what was coming.
Soldiers! Three of them! They were coming straight at us, quick and silent. Their guns gleamed in the firelight, orange and red. What would they do if they caught us? What if they… I cut off that train of thought and turned to Eliza. “We have to hide somewhere safer.” Eliza looked at me, a strange look in her brown eyes.
“No.” I stopped what I was doing- scanning for an escape route- and stared at her incredulously. She was oddly tranquil, despite the bloodshed and destruction around us.
“What do you mean? They’re going to kill us!”
“I know.” She smiled a bitter smile, one that I hated to see, and turned away from me. “I want to finish it now ‘cause I can’t take it anymore.” She took a step forwards. Instantly, I knew what she was about to do and that I had to stop her but the shock was too great. I could only watch helplessly as Eliza slowly marched forwards, into the path of the soldiers. Not able to watch, I shut my eyes and put my hands over my ears, hoping futilely to drown out to noise.
Bang. Bang. Thud.
Only when the footsteps of the soldiers faded did I open my eyes. Swallowing down the bile, I started to cry. I failed to protect her, failed to keep my promise. I wanted to kill myself right there and then but the soldiers had already moved on. I was alone now and had to live with the guilt for the rest of my life.
“Hey kid,” a gruff voice said. Both afraid and surprised, I yelped and glanced up. A large face peered down at me. His eyes were warm, not what I expected after hearing his rough voice. “You okay?”
“I- I-“ I couldn’t voice my feelings to him. No matter how hard I wanted to say anything to this strangely kind man, I couldn’t. Seemingly understanding, the man motioned at me to not try to speak. When he moved, I heard on odd clattering sound and looked down. My eyes widened. He carried a gun. This was my chance!
“C-can you k-kill me, please?” I forced out. He raised his thin eyebrows in surprise. “I wanna die now.”
“What for?”
“Because I couldn’t save her.”
“You mean that girl there?” He jerked his head to where I imagined Eliza’s dead body lay. Trying my very best not to start crying again, I nodded. “You knew her?”
“She’s my sister.”
“Ah.” The man nodded. “Those other two got her. Bastards. Can’t believe they’d kill children. Who else did you lose?”
“My parents and my brother.” I couldn’t help but open up to him. He made me feel safe, like how my parents made me feel.
“Mhm. Another orphan of war, eh? How old are you kid?”
“Twelve.”
“Innocence dies young, ‘specially in war. It sucks, huh?”
“What?”
“War. It sucks. War takes away life, and it takes away your chance of growin’ up normally. You won’t be able to fit in anymore.”
“But aren’t you a soldier?”
“Nah, just another guy they suckered into signing up. They offered adventure, I got hell.” He spat on the ground. “Never gonna get used to this life. Anyway, I better be off. Stay alive, kid.” He stood up. “Nice meeting you.” He took a step away.
“Wait!” He paused, but didn’t turn around. “What’s your name?”
“Marc. Marc Salvadore. Remember it kid, ‘cause somebody’s gonna end the war. I know it ain’t gonna be me, but I’m gonna help the guy. And you’ll be seeing it soon. I guarantee it.”
*************************************************************************************
I took a deep breath as I got up on stage. At least a hundred young eyes stared up at me, wondering what I was going to say. Most of them weren’t that much older than Eliza when she d- Pah. Even after twenty eight years, I can’t say it, not even to myself. Pathetic.
Putting on the brightest smile I possibly could, I waited for the current speaker to finish. “…and here, on December 4, 1947, we welcome Leon Perso.” A round of polite clapping followed. I accepted the microphone and went up to the pedestal. I cleared my throat and began my speech.
“It is an honor to be invited to the Salvadore Institue for Orphans of War. My name is Leon Perso, and I am also like you all. When I was twelve years old…”
Somewhere in the audience, a nine-year-old girl with black hair and brown eyes suddenly got déjà-vu.
