The first bomb that hit was the worst. It was miles away but still shook our little apartment building in Southampton, England. We were all huddled in the corner under our old, small kitchen table. We could hear the people screaming in the distance. I could feel my little brother, Timmy, breathing nervously and smothering whimpers. I could see the sweat slowly trickling down Father’s face. Mother was silently praying as she hugged Timmy and me.

We had been sitting in the apartment like this for an hour.

“Will the Nazi’s bombs reach here?” I asked Mother.

“I don’t know Ann, but we should be evacuated by that point anyway,” Mother replied with not full certainty. I chose to ignore that and reassure myself that my family and I were going to be okay.

We had been sitting cramped in the apartment for an hour and a half now. The bombing was progressively closer and the screams were getting louder.

“I can’t just sit here like this. We need to get out of here!” Father demanded

“No John,” Mother replied firmly. “We will not leave until we are safe!”

“We will never be safe! They will keep bombing until it’s right over our heads. We have to move. I will survey the streets and see how far away the bombing is, and depending on that, we could try and make a run for it. There is no point in waiting now.”

“John, don’t endanger yourself like that,” Mother was saying, but Father was already leaving.

“John!” she yelled. I stayed quiet and so did Timmy. Father was then gone.

It had been about fifteen long minutes when Father came back. He had a grave look on his face but motioned for us to come.

“The bombs have stopped, for the time being, we need to get as far away from here as fast as possible. The Nazis might be coming, and if not, there will be more bombs.” Mother gasped but collected herself quickly.

“Children, grab a suitcase and pack your most precious and important belongings. No toys. Just anything valuable and clothing. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mother.” Timmy and I both replied simultaneously as we dashed to our rooms. I was too young to understand how much danger we were actually in, so I packed slowly, looking at each item, seeing what I wanted to bring.

“Ann, you must go faster! We are leaving in two minutes!” Mother shouted from her room. My stomach was starting to twist as I thought of how I might never see this place again. I tried to brush the thought out, but it kept coming back. I hurriedly tried to stuff as much as possible into my small suitcase. Father came in to inspect it and then helped me fit everything I wanted. When I came back to the kitchen, there were plates smashed, and all sorts of things on the floor broken.

“Father, why did you break the plates?” I asked.

“Because they are expensive and we can’t bring them. We don’t want some robber or Nazi getting money for them.”

“Where are we going?” Timmy questioned.

“Away from here. Let’s go!” Mother shouted as she rushed us out the door and down the steps of the apartment building. Outside was chaos. People were running everywhere and screaming.

“Stay together,” Father told Timmy and I as he grabbed our hands. Police officers were trying to direct people to safety, but they had no effect on the herds of wild animals yelling in the streets. Some of them were bloody and needed medical attention. Some people were even carrying the dead. Mother tried to cover my eyes, but I was already horrified. We raced through the streets, around the crying, shouting, pleading people wandering aimlessly in the cool November air.

As we ran, I noticed that some families were doing the same things as us; fleeing. We seemed to be heading in the same direction.

“This way, this way, you will be safe, there are boats up ahead.” The police officers told everyone running, encouraging them to keep going. We ran and ran through crowds of frightened people, all running for their lives.

“When will we get to the boats?” Timmy asked.

“Soon, be patient,” was Father’s reply. So we kept going.

We were on the home stretch. The police were telling us and the fellow families running with us that we were close to the docks. I was almost breathing sighs of relief until someone shouted two words that still haunt my dreams.

“Nazi plane!” They screamed. The crowd we were traveling with dispersed in all different directions, running for their lives, I grabbed Timmy before he was sucked into the sea of insanity, but Mother and Father were nowhere to be found. Timmy and I screamed for our parents, but we were barely heard over the ruckus of everyone around us.

“Mother and Father probably kept going to the boat, let’s go that way and see if we can find them,” I told Timmy. He agreed. We then started to run through the crowds of people searching for their loved ones. I had four priorities those moments; don’t lose my suitcase, stay with Timmy, find my parents, and get on that boat. I kept those four things in my head and that forced me to keep going. Many people were also still trying to get to the boats, now more than ever since the Nazis has started to bomb again.

My grip on Timmy’s hand was so tight that his hand began to turn pale white, so I let go just a little bit. I searched for Mother and Father everywhere, but all I saw were horrified, desperate people. We kept moving and we eventually saw the docks, but there were no boats, just policemen trying to reassure the frustrated crowd complaining. I suddenly realized that everyone here had a slim chance of living. My heart dropped even farther down my stomach as I tried to reassure Timmy.

“The next boat is probably coming soon,” I said, my voice shaking, I felt the tears fall down my face. I could see that Timmy had been crying since we lost Mother and Father.

“Do you think the Nazis will drop bombs here?” Timmy whimpered.

“I don’t know.” My voice was becoming hoarse from my helpless yelling while trying to find Mother and Father. Timmy and I decided it would be best to wait here and see if a boat came. Something came, but it wasn’t a boat. It was another Nazi plane. Although this time, it was followed by five or six more. Panic rushed through my entire body.

“TIMMY, WE NEED TO GO RIGHT NOW!” I screamed. It was life or death and standing here was just going to get us killed. Some people around us were down on the floor praying and saying their goodbyes, most running in all different directions, but I decided to take action and get away from these bombs. We left our suitcases in the dust and bolted away from where the planes seemed to be heading.

We were running alongside the water when the first bomb hit. Its force was so strong that it sent Timmy and I flying forwards. I got up quickly, but Timmy was yelling in pain.

“Ann it hurts!” He yelled as he looked down at his gigantic gash in his left leg with all sorts of debris stuck in it.

“I know Timmy, but we’ve got to go, there will be more!” I then desperately tried to pick him up, which didn’t work. “Just lean on me, okay?” I almost pleaded to Timmy. He nodded and we were off again, but at a slow pace. We had just made it far enough to not die and for a short time, I was grateful. Right behind me, there were dead or fatally injured people lying in the streets, I tried not to look, but they were everywhere. Southampton was turning into a war zone.

The planes had thankfully moved on for now because we were not making much progress. I tried to pull some of the debris out of Timmy’s leg, but I just became very nauseous and light headed, so I had to stop. He said it didn’t hurt as much anymore, but the pained look in his eyes told another story. I prayed so hard that Mother and Father had made it out and were safe somewhere. Timmy and I started to walk through the city, and I grabbed some gauze out of a pharmacy for him. I was starting to wish that we had taken our suitcases because mine had food in it and I was starving. As I wrapped Timmy’s leg, I saw people stealing things from stores, mourning over the dead, or trying to heal the injured. Police officers were scrambling every which way trying to figure out what just happened and how to help. They weren’t doing a very good job. One officer came over to Timmy and me.

“Are you two okay, do you need anything?” He asked. He had short light brown hair that shot out under his hat and looked only in his twenties. He was strongly built and had a gash on the right side of his face.

“Yes, but I don’t know where my Mother and Father are. We also might need some more gauze because my brother’s cut is very bad. And we are very hungry.”

“Well, there are a lot of people missing or fleeing right now, so I don’t know how much I could do to find your parents, but if you tell me their names, I might be of some use.”

“John and Marie Wilson.” The officer checked a list.

“Well, they aren’t on my deceased list which is a good sign. I can also help you bandage your brother, and I’ll get you two some food. What are your names?”

“I’m Ann and this is Timmy,” I replied, thankful someone had the heart to help us.

“I’m officer Dan.” Officer Dan used some alcohol to clean Timmy’s cut and then wrapped it in gauze. He then handed us some sandwiches from a nearby store. We were so deprived of food that it only took Timmy and I minutes to eat them.

“Wow, you guys must have been hungry.” Officer Dan said as he watched us eat. As I finished my sandwich, another policeman ran hurriedly over to officer Dan.

“They are coming back for round two, get these people out of here, they are coming from the east side,” was all he said. Officer Dan’s face automatically flooded with worry.

“C’mon kids, we got to get you out of here, there are more bombs coming.” We ran with Officer Dan as he lead us towards the direction of many other people fleeing. “Run this way and don’t stop, no matter what. Stay safe and stay together. Good luck.”

“Won’t you come with us?” Timmy asked, with a fearful expression.

“Wish I could, but the other people here need help too. Now go, more bombs are coming!” Officer Dan pushed us along and that was the last I ever saw of him.

Timmy’s leg was feeling better after Officer Dan disinfected it so we were able to run at a fast enough pace. It seemed like we had a jump start because there weren’t many people running with us at first, and then we heard the bombs go off in the distance, shaking the earth. The screams came once again, and more people started to run in the same direction as us, doing anything to stay away from those catastrophic bombs.

The long day finally started to turn to night, and Timmy and I needed to find shelter. Many people were huddling into stores together, but I didn’t feel safe sleeping with people I didn’t know, so I led Timmy to a small little shop that sold toys. We took the plush toys from the bins and piled them on top of each other to make beds. It wasn’t very comfortable, but it was better than what most people had.

Timmy eventually fell asleep, but I couldn’t close my eyes. Every time I tried, I thought I heard someone come into the store, or a plane fly overhead. I also couldn’t stop thinking about Mother and Father. I prayed they had found an officer or someone considerate and amiable enough to help them as officer Dan had helped us. I hoped with all my might that they were alive and safe somewhere. The store got darker, but there were always lights flashing as the remaining ambulances drove around to help the injured and dying. The police officers walked by our store many times inspecting and making sure everyone was safe. I thought a lot about officer Dan and hoped he was safe and unharmed even though that was highly unlikely when bombs are falling from the sky in every direction. In fact, I was astonished how Timmy and I were even still alive.

Eventually, it was morning as the sun began to shine through the store. I had barely gotten any sleep, but Timmy seemed well rested.

“Do you think there will be more bombings today?” He asked me nervously. I shrugged, I had no idea what was going to happen today. As Timmy and I walked outside, we saw officers putting people into trucks and sending them down a road filled with rubble. Hope suddenly swelled in my heart.

“Officer! Officer!” I shouted. One of them turned around.

“Here get these kids evacuated.” He told one of the other policemen. One of them lead us to a huge truck with people sitting in the back. We hopped in the truck and relief washed over me.

“We are finally safe,” I said to Timmy. He had the biggest smile on his face, but it soon disappeared as we looked around us. There were so many people crammed in this truck. Some were injured and whimpering in pain. Some were very dirty and had blood all over them. I tried to look outside instead, but all I saw were more helpless, hurting people and police officers, firefighters, and doctors trying to help. As we drove, I thought of Mother and Father. I worried that they hadn’t been evacuated yet and were wandering around looking for Timmy and me.

A while went by and we ended up by the water. All of the docks had been destroyed, but there was a huge boat in the water, ready to take us away from our demolished homes. We got out of the truck, and as I looked behind me, I didn’t see Southampton anymore, all I saw was a pile of rubble that Nazis had burnt to the core.