Episode 1: The life of odette

Third Person:

Back in 1915,

The once, hustling and bustling of the city of windale, the smell of tasty food and laughs of cheer are no more. Instead, there are now piles of blood and the only smell is the smell of fear. No kids play outside anymore as it is dangerous. The French army was working hard and recruiting every boy and men they could find in the houses. No one would be excused, nor was Odettes brother an exception, The group of officers went in groups of two to every house until they reached the final house down the lane. This house was once the head of chiefs house. It still is, but the chief is no more so, no one calls it that anymore. The officers knock on the door but aren't answered. They start banging the door hard until a girl, aged 16 or 17 came to the door and peeked through the peep hole. After taking a look at them, she fixed her skirt and tightened her ponytails to look more presentable. Her father always said: "You should look neat and tidy, whenever you meet someone". It makes her smile and she opens the door.

First Person:

"who is it?" I ask even though I know why they're here.

"We've come here to take all of the men living in your house, if I remember correctly..." He took a pause and opened a tiny book that he took put of his pocket.

"Ah- yes. Is your brother here? Matthew Dale is his name right?" He looked at me with demanding eyes while his tone was gentle.

"You see, he's out to get some necessities and isn't he underage? He's just 13!" I spoke the last words with anger.

"Girl, you let us do our job and to answer your question, we have been given new orders, we are to recruit any men from ages 11 to 45" The other just nodded to this answer.

"well, he isn't here right now so please come later!" I took a step back and turned to close the door.

"You're not helping us young lady!" He spoke in a high tone and put his foot between the door. I tried hard but I couldn't close it. Then the other officer pushed the door open which led to me falling down hard. Had we not fixed that door yesterday, it would have broken down with that much force. Don't cry,Don't cry, I kept reminding myself. The officers started searching all the rooms. There were only three. Coughing could be heard, it was getting louder and louder. Brother! she thought he needs water. She found a glass and filled it water and hurriedly ran to their room. The officers were standing and looking at him. "Is he outside right now young lady?" I couldn't talk. I couldn't move. " Is he outside right now? I ask you again." He said more angrily."No- I-" I was trembling at this point. I lowered my head. I have always been brave. I had always been one step ahead of people. I had always made people think of me as their equal bit also make them scared of me but, the only people I have stayed scared of my whole life were the army. My father had been in the army, I had always been scared of him. Even when I dropped something, I would always look around in fear. I always loved him however, he would never scold me but I was always scared of disappointing him. He loved me and my brother. Now, it's my duty to protect myself and my brother. I tried to stand firmly in place and looked confidently at the officers. "I accidently said brother gentlemen, my mother is outside not him. He is very sick so I'm afraid that he will be of no use to you as he can barely move." My brother started coughing once again and I pushed aside the officers in the most gentle way possible to pass and give him the glass of water. I sat on the bed and helped him drink it. The officers thought for a minute and it seemed as if they weren't issued any orders regarding sick people so they most probably had to decide themselves whether they should take him or not. "The war situation is getting more serious, wouldn't your father be proud that his son is helping the nation, they both were born and raised in?" The moment he said father I turned to look at him. He probably knew that I had a weak spot for my family.

knock knock. Someone was at the door, "eh?, is that your mother perhaps girl?" I shrugged to say maybe or maybe not. He understood my expression. The other officer tapped his superior and whispered something. It had been 14 minutes and 27 seconds since they had come. why weren't they leaving? I thought. I was probably sure that I had persuaded them into letting him go. "Sorry for the trouble young lady. We will be off then I suppose." He gave me a reassuring smile. I smiled awkwardly. "The pleasure was all mine, would you li-"

BANG!

something happened.

the officers became alert and tense. They looked at each other with worried expressions. They told us to hide. We hid under the bed and kept quiet. I kept my brother in my arms. They officers tiptoed towards the door. I couldn't see them anymore.

Third person:

Bang! shoot! The sounds were getting louder. Odette was afraid. They were under attack. The door blew up in a blast and the house was shaken by the blast. The ceiling started to fall. The officers started shooting blindly as they couldn't see anything in the smoke. "MOVE! MOVE! SHOOT! AH SHIT!" They were shouting.

First person:

We were in grave danger but I couldn't move. I didn't want to die. We had survived so long. I promised my father to live. I'm sorry father I have failed to fulfill our promise. I started to cry in a low voice. I hoped that my brother couldnt hear neither me or the voices.

First Person (matthew):

We're done for. My sister has lost hope. The officers who came to get me are most probably gonna die. Where's mother? Oh mother, you said that we'll live a good and happy life in this place. You said that we would be happy. I can't tell my sister to be afraid. I can't lose hope. We'll survive...

I turned towards my sister and saw her eyes filled with tears. She started cleaning her eyes to make me happy. I always hated it when she cried. It made me feel helpless.

First person:

Total silence had filled the room. Were they gone? We're we saved? I could be help but laugh a little. I helped my brother to get out. We had to get mother. She out there... She needed us. I held his hand while going into the kitchen to get some bread to take with us. We both didn't know where we were going but we didn't care as long as it was safe.

BANG! we heard it again but I heard it from the outside so I tried my best to stay calm. "Come on matt!" I said without looking at him.

he didn't move. He didn't respond. I let go of his hand to tie a knot. I looked at my hand. There was blood. Matthew dropped to the ground. I started screaming. WHAT DO I DO? I couldn't understand anything. I used a towel to suck up the blood but it didn't work. He was gone.

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