Years ago...

In 1914, the world first tasted the taste of war that would later be called World War I.

A war that was not supposed to last more than a few months...

But every day, it swallowed up more borders.

Cities were disappearing one after another in smoke.

Forests were burning.

Houses were destroyed.

And children whose laughter once echoed in the streets were now awakened by the sound of explosions.

In those days...

It seemed as if the sky itself had lost hope.

The rain washed away the ashes...

But it could not erase the memory of the war.

---

Somewhere in Britain...

A cold wind was blowing through the half-ruined streets.

The cracked window pane trembled with every gust of wind.

Inside the house, a heavy silence reigned.

Not one of those quiet silences...

One of those silences that makes you take a deep breath.

A sixteen-year-old girl stood by the window.

Her hands were clasped behind her back and her gray gaze was fixed on the street.

The first.

She pressed her lips together softly.

Her usual habit, whenever something occupied her mind.

In the distance, the sound of a military train was heard.

Then...

A loud whistle.

And silence again.

The door to the room opened softly.

A girl of her age, with slightly disheveled hair, poked her head in.

Her gaze still held the same warmth as always.

“Eli…”

Eli said without turning around:

“Are you awake?”

Ariel took a few steps forward.

“I wasn’t asleep at all.”

She stood next to her sister and looked out the window.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then Ariel smiled faintly.

“Do you think… one day everything will be the same again?”

Eli didn’t answer.

She just looked away from the street.

It was as if she knew the answer to this question…

But she didn’t want to say it out loud.

At that moment…

There were three loud knocks on the door.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Both sisters turned involuntarily toward the door.

No one was coming to see them.

And no one knocked on other people’s doors for no reason in these days of war.

“Stay behind me, yes,” Olin said quietly.

Ariel wanted to say something...

But this time, the fourth knock was louder than the previous three.

As if someone on the other side of the door... was in a hurry!

Olin took a few slow steps toward the door.

The wooden floor of the house groaned a little under her feet.

She put her hand on the handle, but didn’t pull it down.

She listened for a few seconds.

The sound of breathing...

Nothing.

The sound of footsteps...

Nothing.

Only the wind whistled through the crack in the window.

Ariel whispered softly:

“Maybe it’s the neighbors…”

Olin shook her head in disagreement.

“Neighbors don’t knock like that.”

There was another knock.

This time, more quietly.

Knock...

It seemed like no one had the energy to knock anymore.

Evelyn took a deep breath and opened the door a crack.

Outside...

There was no one.

The alley was empty.

The wind was rolling a crumpled newspaper across the cobblestones.

Ariel said in surprise:

"No one?"

Evelyn looked around without answering.

Her eyes suddenly fell on something by the first step.

A small, old leather envelope.

There was no stamp or sender's name on it.

Only one sentence was written in black ink:

"Only by Evelyn"!!

Her heart beat faster.

Ariel bent down to pick up the envelope.

But Evelyn grabbed her hand faster.

"Wait."

Ariel frowned.

"It's just a letter."

Evelyn didn't take her eyes off the envelope.

"No..."

His voice was quiet, but firm.

"No one knows my name."

The wind blew again.

The envelope shifted slightly on the steps.

At that moment...

A terrible explosion rang out from the distance in the city.

The windows of the house shook.

A flock of crows flew into the sky in terror through the smoke.

Ariel involuntarily moved closer to Evelyn.

"Evelyn..."

Evelyn bent down, picked up the envelope, and stared for a moment at the red seal on it.

A seal whose design was unfamiliar to her...

A circle with a sun in its center.

And right under the sun...

Three letters were engraved.

O.N.

The two of them still didn't know...

This small envelope was the last sign of their normal lives.

From tomorrow...

Nothing would be the same again.

The red seal cracked beneath Evelyn's thumb.

For a brief moment...

Neither of them breathed.

The paper inside was old.

Its edges were worn, as if it had traveled a long road before finding its way to this house.

Evelyn unfolded it carefully.

The moment her eyes landed on the handwriting...

Her fingers froze.

She knew those letters.

She had seen them countless times.

On birthday cards.

On little notes left beside breakfast.

On the first book her father had ever given her.

It was his handwriting.

Ariel noticed the sudden change in her sister's face.

"Eli...?"

Evelyn didn't answer.

She kept staring at the paper.

There was only one sentence.

Nothing more.

"Our battalion has fallen. Death awaits us."

Silence.

The wind slipped through the broken window again, making the paper tremble ever so slightly.

Ariel's voice came out as barely a whisper.

"...Dad?"

Evelyn slowly lowered the letter.

Her lips parted...

But no words came.

Her father never wasted ink.

He never wrote things he didn't mean.

If those were his last words...

Then there would never be another letter.

Ariel reached for the paper with trembling hands.

She read the sentence once.

Then again.

As if reading it differently could somehow change its meaning.

"It... can't..."

Her voice broke before she could finish.

Tears blurred the words.

She shook her head over and over.

"No..."

A sob escaped her chest.

"No... they're coming back..."

Evelyn stepped forward without thinking and wrapped both arms around her younger sister.

For the first time...

She realized how small Ariel felt.

Neither of them cried loudly.

The room was filled only with quiet, broken breaths.

Minutes passed.

Or maybe only seconds.

Neither of them knew.

Then...

Evelyn's eyes slowly lifted toward the front door.

Toward the windows.

Toward the silent street outside.

A cold realization settled in her chest.

"...We're alone."

Ariel looked up at her.

"What?"

Evelyn swallowed hard.

"If the neighbors find out..."

She couldn't finish the sentence.

She didn't need to.

Both of them already knew.

Since the war began...

Children without families disappeared.

Some were taken by gangs.

Some were sold as servants.

Others...

No one knew where they ended up.

People whispered about slave markets.

About children who were traded like sacks of grain.

No one dared to stop it.

Because everyone was trying to survive.

Ariel's face turned pale.

"You... you think they'd..."

Evelyn looked directly into her frightened eyes.

"Yes."

The single word drained the last bit of hope from the room.

Ariel instinctively grabbed her sister's sleeve.

"What do we do...?"

Evelyn closed her eyes.

Only for a second.

When she opened them again...

The hesitation was gone.

"We leave."

Ariel blinked.

"...Tonight?"

"We don't have until tomorrow."

The wind rattled the window once more.

Somewhere outside...

Another explosion echoed across the city.

Dust drifted from the ceiling.

Evelyn folded the letter with careful hands and slipped it inside her coat.

Then she looked around the little house that had once been filled with laughter.

It no longer felt like home.

It felt like a trap.

She turned back to Ariel.

"Start packing."

Ariel didn't move.

She simply stared at her sister.

"...Are we really leaving?"

Evelyn nodded.

Her voice was quiet.

But unwavering.

"We're choosing between something terrible..."

She reached for Ariel's hand.

"...and something we know nothing about."

A faint, bitter smile crossed her lips.

"I'd rather face the unknown."

Outside...

The wind carried the smell of smoke through the empty street.

And inside the small house...

Two sisters quietly began preparing to leave behind the only home they had ever known.

End of Part Two

———

Here are two parts for my dear readers⁦ (⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)⁠｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+⁩

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The house had fallen silent once again.

Not because everything was peaceful...

But because there was nothing left to say.

Evelyn pulled an old canvas backpack from the wardrobe and placed it on the table.

"We can only take what we need."

Ariel wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her sleeve and nodded.

Neither of them argued.

Time was no longer on their side.

One by one...

A loaf of bread.

A small water flask.

A blanket.

Two extra dresses.

A sewing kit.

A tiny kitchen knife.

A box of matches.

Nothing more.

The backpack was already becoming too heavy.

Evelyn glanced around the room.

"So much..."

she whispered.

"...and we can't take any of it."

She opened a wooden drawer.

Inside lay old family photographs.

A music box that hadn't played in years.

Her mother's silver comb.

Her father's worn leather gloves.

For a moment...

Her hand stopped over the gloves.

She closed the drawer.

"If we carry memories..."

she murmured to herself,

"...we won't have room for tomorrow."

Ariel quietly watched her.

Then...

Without saying a word...

She disappeared upstairs.

"Eli?"

No answer.

A minute passed.

Then another.

Evelyn frowned.

"Ari?"

Still nothing.

She hurried up the stairs.

"Ari, we don't have time—"

She stopped.

Ariel was kneeling beside her bed.

Holding a small white rabbit.

Its fur had grown old with time.

One ear leaned slightly to one side.

A button eye had been stitched back on years ago.

Ariel gently brushed the dust from its head.

Evelyn sighed.

"...Ari."

The younger girl looked up.

"I'm taking him."

Evelyn shook her head.

"We're already carrying too much."

"But—"

"No."

"He barely weighs anything."

"Ari."

Her voice became firmer.

"We're trying to survive."

Silence.

Ariel lowered her eyes.

Her fingers tightened around the rabbit.

When she finally spoke...

Her voice was so quiet it almost disappeared.

"...Dad won him for me."

Evelyn froze.

Ariel swallowed hard.

"Remember the spring fair?"

A faint smile trembled across her lips.

"He said the man running the game looked impossible to beat..."

A tear slipped down her cheek.

"...and then Dad won anyway."

Another tear followed.

"He gave him to me..."

She hugged the rabbit against her chest.

"...and Mom laughed because she said I loved the rabbit more than her."

A small laugh escaped...

Only to break into a sob.

Ariel covered her face.

"If we leave him here..."

Her shoulders trembled.

"...the neighbors will take everything."

"They'll sell the furniture..."

"Our books..."

"Mom's piano..."

"Dad's tools..."

Her voice cracked.

"And then..."

She looked at Evelyn through tear-filled eyes.

"There won't be anything left..."

"...to prove they ever existed."

The room fell silent.

Evelyn stared at the old rabbit.

It wasn't cloth.

It wasn't cotton.

It was twenty years of love...

Stitched together by memories.

She slowly walked toward Ariel.

Then...

Without another word...

She picked up the rabbit.

For a heartbeat...

Ariel's face fell.

But Evelyn carefully placed it inside the backpack.

Right on top.

As if it were the most precious thing they owned.

She adjusted the blanket around it so the button eye wouldn't be scratched.

Then zipped the bag halfway.

She looked at Ariel.

"...We make room."

Ariel blinked.

"What?"

Evelyn rested a hand on her shoulder.

"For family..."

A faint smile appeared for the first time that night.

"...we always make room."

Ariel threw her arms around her sister before she could stop herself.

"Thank you..."

Evelyn closed her eyes for a second and gently hugged her back.

"...Come on."

She whispered.

"If we're going to leave..."

"...let's leave before this house becomes someone else's."

Outside...

The wind carried another distant explosion across the sleeping town.

Inside...

Two sisters took one last look at the home where they had laughed...

Cried...

And grown up together.

Neither of them knew...

This would be the last time they ever saw it.

End of Part Three

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