Chapter 2: War

Chapter 2

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            Arthur thought about his parents often. Very, very often. Tonight, as he tossed restlessly under the sheets, listening to the wispy murmur of the other boys’ breathing in the cots lined up around him, as he tried to block out the blood-curdling shrieks of the wind, as he stared blindly into the complete darkness without seeing so much as a shadow in the blackness, tonight he thought long and hard about them.

            He refused to believe it. Couldn’t. He would not accept the fact that his parents had simply left him. Just left, without any prior notification. What kind of parents did that? Certainly not his mother and father.

            Certainly?

             Yes, of course, Arthur thought fiercely to himself. He knew that they were good folks, people that had loved him and cared for him dearly.

            The thought of love suddenly stabbed piercingly at his heart. He felt suddenly indescribably lonely. If only his parents were here! But what with their disappearance, and no information to follow up, it was as if they were totally nonexistent on this earth.

            Well, they sort of are, Arthur thought to himself bitterly. They’re supposed to be dead.

            But that was another thing that Arthur refused to accept. No one was sure that they were dead. True, they had been gone for six years. But what if "

            No, Arthur told himself. If he started in on the what if’s it would only intensify his loneliness a thousand fold.

            At times he wished desperately that he had a friend. But the boys at the orphanage seemed always to come and go, so quickly that he had hardly gotten acquainted before they were toted off with a new family " leaving Arthur forever alone.

            Alone. The word tore at his heart.

            Arthur’s mind drifted on to a new topic. One that was just as troubling as the first. Lately the adults working at the orphanage had been acting rather strangely. They’d huddle tightly and talk in low voices, their faces sober and grim. Now they whipped any boy who opened a window without being told to. And another day, Arthur had noticed new padlocks bolted onto the front doors as he walked past the entrance hall. Arthur had lived long enough in the orphanage to feel rather safe and at home here, but the new change of activity seemed to shatter all his previous security.

            He hoped that whatever crisis was going on would pass over soon, so that his life could return to normal " or as normal as it could be living a lonesome life in an orphanage. But now Arthur’s thoughts began to blur together, and then he was asleep.

 *   *   *

Arthur jumped awake. His heart skipped a beat at his fright of being suddenly startled. He flopped onto his back, winced at the sharp creak that the protesting springs spat out, and lay panting and trying to calm his heart. The wind had died down to a soft murmur beyond wall, and was replaced by a gently pattering of rain on the roof tiles. In the sudden silence Arthur could have sworn that the infants in the Children’s Hall next door could have been woken by the hammering of his heart. Every pulse throbbed in his ears.

            Of all the horrors of the world, the sole thing that Arthur despised most was being sneaked up on and startled without warning. He’d always been alert and shy as a deer, as Mrs. Hunter once remarked.

            So much for “strong,” Arthur thought bitterly. He began to drift back towards sleep.

            And then he heard it.

            Someone " or rather, many someones " was pounding on the front gates. He could only faintly hear it, but it was there. Arthur cringed at the sound of the bars rattling metallically at each blow. A door opened and shut below him, on the first floor. Then a dim clamor of shuffling feet as someone " probably the headmistress " headed to the Entrance Hall.

            “What is it?” the headmistress’s no-nonsense voice called out. The headmistress was a stern woman with a firm voice. It shocked Arthur now to hear her voice tremor with fear.

            Then a shout, from outside the gates:

            “This is the Commander of the Armed Forces of the Second Reich. We demand you open up!”

            Arthur’s heart sank. It couldn’t be.

            War.

Reviews

[Artiste de Mots]

That is beautiful. I was hanging on to every word. For some reason, when it read "Someone ' or rather, many someones ' was pounding on the front gates," I thought of zombies, but war probably makes a bit more sense...

[JadeForever]

..whoa it was GREAT. the end JUST made me want to read more and more and more..my point is..my point is...: WRITE MORE!!!

[azura]

beautifully written, yet again xD i lurve how you described his thoughts and the events following up to his realization :) this is so good i can't wait to read the rest of your book :)