Young Writers Society

Chapter 1

(I cant find out how to indent so sorry)

She took her last breathe in my arms and I watched the fog distort the last bit of air that would ever make its way out of her lungs. The bittersweet warmth of that summer night along with the humidity from the rain, which seeked through my clothes. Seeping into my skin. Chill bumps running throughout my body. Tears soaking my face, like huge waves crashing against an ocean. She was now long gone. Her fragile body lying entangled in my weak embrace. Reminding me of my failed attempt to save the last person who was left in my life. My eyes were beginning to puff up from the salty waves that had priorly fallen of the corners of my eyes. Making themselves saunter down my nose and cheeks. Where they fell like tiny ice crystals off of my jaw. Dripping onto my dead sister.

I had to be strong for Payton, the only family I ever had. I slowly lower her body from my embrace lying her on the gravel below. My knees feel like stone as I try to stand up. Failing at first and falling to the ground. My knees now exposed from the holes ripped by the gravel from my fall. Shakily and waringly I attempt to stand back up. My attempt is successful this time and my knees do not buckle. My legs feeling stronger then the ever have as they walk over to Payton. My knees are scraped and blood trickles down my jeans but mixes with the raindrops to form a bright red puddle at my feet, My blood puddle is a lot smaller than my sisters. With the way it has been raining lately I am defanant that the puddles of blood will be washed away leaving behind only red stains on the gravel. Anyone who happens to stumble upon the gravel lot will just think the blood was from a fight between the guards and the people of the street.

I pick her up easily, her small frame making it easy for me to do so. Carrying her in my arms over to the muddy dirt that lies outside of the lot. I then place her down again and begin to dig into the dirt. My fingernails bloody and raw and my fingertips pink and covered in small scratches. I dig a hole big enough for her frail body. Four feet in height and 2 feet in width. I move her into the grave. I wish I could put her body somewhere but this will have to do. It’s the best that I can do. Her blonde hair with blood stains at the bottom closer to the bullet wound. Her eyes are still open and they stare upwards. The green in them being the only bright thing around at this hour of night. I place my hands over her eyes and softly close them. Her body fits in the tiny hole She was around 3 foot 6. Still short from being a child at only seven years old. I cover her body lightly with dirt. The mud splattering onto her. Soon she is covered and there's no way to even tell that anyone is buried underneath the mud. I made sure to bury her deep. I had dug for hours and the grave must have been around four feet down so that the mud wouldn’t slide off revealing her body. Must of those who were shot in the raids were burned but I wouldn’t let my sisters body be burned with hundreds of others and be turned into ash that would continue to burn after the next raid and then the next and then so on.

I pass out soon after from exhaustion and the puffiness of my tear stained eyes. I am awoken hours later after the rain has finally stopped and the clouds have seperated revealing an early dawn. I look around to see a purple flower sitting in a small patch of grass that is left around the lot. Just like me it too had surprisingly survived the night full of rain. I didn’t know the name of the flower but I knew that it was my sisters favorite. On the rare summer nights when we would pass by fields we would sometimes see the same flower. This one was her favorite because it was purple which was her favorite color. She had told me before that she liked purple the best cause she rarely ever saw anything that was purple. She liked rare things. I take the purple flower and pull the petals off and drop them across the mud where my sister is buried. I can tell by the sky that another storm is coming soon. The rain from the upcoming nights storm will blow away the flower petals so no one will be alerted to what lay beneath them. The rain had helped fade the blood which couldn’t be seen on my dark clothes. I sat holding my knees and thinking back to the day before.

I wasn’t expecting a raid to happen then. Payton had gone to see a little boy that she had become friends with who was sitting on the sidewalk. He wore ragged clothes just like ours showing his families lack of wealth. He was little and most have been around Payton's age. He had blonde hair and brown eyes a lot like mine and his name was Sam. Payton seemed to like Sam which was surprising as I was the only person so far that she seemed to not be scared of, but with Sam it was different. She had went over to talk to him after I had told her strictly to stay with me at all times. I noticed she had left my side several seconds later but by then it was too late and I heard the firing of gunshots. A few of the poor beggars had tried to steal a guards gun which led to an uprising and the guards all began to fire attempting to kill everyone insight. Instead of just the beggars who had stole the gun. This was a raid which happened many times before.

Once I noticed Payton was gone the gunshots had been fired and I met eyes with her from across where I was only 50 feet in front of her. I ran to grab her hand and then run with her but she was shot right after Sam. She was shot in the heart. Sam was shot in the head and he dropped to the ground. I grabbed my sister and snuck out of the raid before the guards could see me leaving. I picked her up in my arms as I ran for about a mile until I could no longer hear the gunfire or see the smoke. Not many people tend to escape the raids. I guess I had just been lucky. I was hoping that if I had gotten her out of there quick enough I could fix her injuries and save her. The only problem was I didn’t know how to heal a gunshot wound and I didn’t have any supplies. We were both already weak from hunger. She was still barely breathing in my arms when I sat down with her. Her eyes looked at mine and I knew she was still alive. She never said anything. I don’t think she could but her eyes told me it all. They showed years of great pain and suffering but there was a hint of something there. A hint of happiness and love that was shared between two girls who tried to escape the horrible world around them. Then her breathing had stopped.