“Boom!” Another bomb was dropped from the sky as we hid underground. Every night, my family and I, May, couldn’t sleep because of the war.

My dad was not with us because he had to serve in the army.

“You’re thirteen years old now,” he told me as he was running his fingers through my dark brown hair, “You have to support and help out your mom while I’m gone.” That was the last thing he told me before he left.

Right when he left, my baby sister, Lisa, was born. She had cute, puffy cheeks with very little soft hair. I was thrilled because I’ve always wanted a little sister, so I always took care of her and adored her.

Then the war started.

It was the 1940s in Japan. We had no money, and we barely had food. My mom gave me all her food even though I tried to refuse. All Lisa could drink was milk from the goat. I always felt guilty for eating all the food.

Day after day, all you could see in the sky was the flaming, red fire. No clouds, no sun.

All of a sudden, my mom announced a move.

“It’s too dangerous here,” she explained.

So we moved westward about five miles and found a miniature, old wooden cabin that no one was living in. We settled there and it was less quiet from all the bombs. The sky was still grey, but the blue, clear river was flowing.

There was a small, green farm two miles from the cabin, so my mom decided to work there. As she worked, she earned small amounts of money. She purchased some food, but it was only enough for one person.

My mom told me, “You can have it. I bet you’re hungry.” After she said that, I tried to refuse but my stomach growled like a lion. Because of that, she forced me to take it. I felt guilty as a criminal once again.

During the night, loud noises were coming from the sky. I figured it was the bombs from far away so, I shut my eyes and tried to sleep on the cold, creaky floor.

The next day, I woke up and I looked up. The ceiling was gone. All the walls were broken into pieces. The air was grey and all the smoke made me cough. I looked everywhere and it was horrible.

Then I muttered to myself, “The bombs…”
Afterwards, I looked around and realized that my mom was gone.

I picked up Lisa, that was quietly sleeping beside me, and yelled, “Mom! Mom?!”

Then I heard a noise from under a gigantic, broken piece of wood.

“Mom?!” I yelled desperately as I flipped over the piece, trying not to drop Lisa. My mom was coughing and had cuts and bruises all over her body. I helped her get up.

“I’m fine,” she whispered, limping a little.

“No, let me help you,” I demanded. As we walked forward, all we saw were dead bodies and broken houses. We walked until we could see the sun.

After walking an extremely, long time, we arrived at a tiny town. It was filled with green trees and grasses with lots of colorful flowers. The sun was also shining. Then all of a sudden, Lisa’s body felt heavier. It was so quick and unusual, so I looked at her very closely.

“Mom, she’s not breathing!” I panicked, widening my eyes.

“What?!” My mom also shocked. Lisa’s face was slightly blue , and it was cold as snow. Fortunately, there was a tiny, wooden hospital nearby, and we ran as fast as we could. We dashed through the emergency room and waited for the results.

A few minutes later, the doctor came out and shook his head. We watched Lisa as she slowly took her last breath. We carefully placed Lisa in a box and buried it under the bright, shining sun. We prayed and slowly walked away.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve noticed sooner,” I apologized as tears began to fall.

“May, it’s not your fault. At least we were there and with her until the end,” my mom assured, her eyes watering. I wiped away my tears and nodded.

A week later, the war ended. My dad was never able to see Lisa’s cute, puny face. I will never forget the few weeks I was with her, and I will never forget how she has changed my life.