Only The Beggining

She held me closely and hugged Sapphire and I tightly, I felt teardrops fall onto my golden brown hair and run down its length. Mother was silently crying in hope not to get us in tears as well. When the gunfire begun she said blankly, “Have they no heart?” Since then she has been silent as ever only once in a while checking on us. But as soon as the gunfire shots grew louder she ran one last round making sure that all the windows were covered and that we were as safe as she could manage to keep us. She rounded my sister, Sapphire, our family cat and I, Felicity.

I remember my father explaining to us in a rushed tone that he had to go out of the village for ‘work’ and that he will try to be back as soon as possible. But I had heard mother and father discussing in hushed voices what will be arriving and father was explaining to mother that she must continue the preparations, but I didn’t know what the preparations were. That was until now, the gunfire explained it all, or at least put together most of the puzzle I was yet to figure out.

“I want you two to try and get to sleep alright. Don’t worry I’m here and I will never leave you alone, you’ll be safe here now. Go to sleep if anything happens I will wake you up,” mother instructed us in a calm yet worried voice trying to cover up her fear as best as she could so that we wouldn’t become scared.

“I can’t sleep can you tell me a story mummy,” Sapphire looked up to mother as she covered us with a warm blanket and kissed our foreheads.

“I don’t see why not,” Mother replied with a smile and looked back down at us. She paused for a moment before continuing, “It was a calm spring afternoon, and the birds flew across the skies chasing each other as the sun began to rise. Although it was early there was one young girl who was up and about, her name was Ruby. Ruby was sitting thoughtfully under a tree watching the ripples forming on the surface of the water in the lake every time she threw a pebble.

“One day, whilst she was sitting there an old man came up to her and asked her if she wanted a ride in his boat to the other side. She knew not to talk to strangers and to never take unwanted rides from them but the offer was too tempting for her. She had always dreamed of sitting in a boat on a lake in the perfect weather.  So she accepted the lovely offer her mind still in a daze. The sky had turned a beautiful pink orange colour with the occasional streak of light blue. Clouds began to quickly cover the sky and began to form a dark grey blanket over the sun’s light.  Ruby didn’t take much notice to this her mind was on the boat ride and wondering what would be in the centre of the lake on the small island that sat there.”

“Then what happened next?” Sapphire interrupted the story with her questions.

“Listen and you’ll see.” Mother was trying to get Sapphire to sleep urgently I could tell by the tone of voice she used when she spoke. The gunfire had paused for a while now which was even more worrying then when they were firing away. It means they are either on the move and planning a surprise attack or they have stopped for the night, which to me seems less likely at this point.

Mother continued her story and soon enough Sapphire had fallen asleep and I was half asleep but I knew that this would be the only time I could ask all my questions for mother without worrying Sapphire’s little mind.

“Mother why are you so worried, we’ve experienced this before. This shouldn’t be any different, is it?”

“Felicity, what we have experienced before is nothing in comparison to this one. They mean serious business here.”

“Why are they here?”
“Go to sleep now, we’ll have a fairly long day ahead of us tomorrow. It’s better to be rested and ready then half asleep all day tomorrow.”

 

Author's Note

Just the start to a story that I really wanted advice on how to possibly make it more interesting and what I should work on. Please leave your opinion behind, even if you think it won't matter, because every review counts to me!!
:) Please, please tell me what you think.
This is slightly different to what i usually write so i want to know what people think of it.
thanks :)