She wasn’t sure what woke her up
Nestling closer to the warmth of her mum
Not daring to make even a hum
She forces her eyes shut.
Space
The darkness of that still night
Is then dispersed with flash of lights
Bursting sounds.
Space
Soon the ears were deafened
Screams of agony, vibrating roofs
She clasps her teddy even harder, her eyes refusing to open
Hours go by then
Silence, eerie silence.
Space
The eyelids give up
Opening to a world of mess
Crumbled walls
Hollowed roofs
Charred bodies
Silence, eerie silence.
Space
She lifts her head up buried in the rubble
Frantically reaches up to her teddy
Do toys bleed? She wonders eyeing her blood soaked teddy
Now her mum
“Mama, Mama” choked voice echo breaking the silence
Sinister silence.
space
Mama sleeps, no more warmth left in her
Teddy’s blood all over Mama
“Mama,” she whispers, nestles closer to her icy cold arms
“Mama my teddy’s bleeding,” she whispers into her ears
Silence, sinister silence.
space
Far away a rumble of hovering metal machines
Then marching of boots
Terrified, she squeezes even closer to her mum who is colder every minute
With her delicate fingers she pulls her mum’s arm whispering “Mama, Mama someone’s coming.”
Silence, sinister silence.
Space
Fear grips her as a uniformed man walks in
She clings onto the teddy even harder
He smiles at her “Mama” she murmurs
Shh…… he gestures with a finger across his lips
Grabs her arms and takes her into a dark corner
As she breaks into a terrified sob,
He stuffs his handkerchief into her mouth
Grabs her teddy throws it away.
space
Pain is all she felt
Hours of agony
Merciless brutality
Then he left
Like a fragment of a broken doll
Lifeless she lies
This time it was not her teddy but her
Bleeding.
Zeenath S.A. Razack