Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

had no choice but to stay, waiting. We were stranded in our own town, waiting for something to happen to us. Something that none of us had experienced before. Some brave volunteers manned the only defences we had against the advanced technology and guided missiles of the enemy. The light rifles and small pistols were all that could be provided. In other words no protection, but somehow they made us feel safer. Maybe it was down to the little bit of power places into our hands.                                                                                                The attack was unavoidable. We were waiting for it to happen for a while now. We raced for cover in our cold, dark cellars as huge shining aeroplanes blew our small piece of world apart. A feeling of despair and loss came over us as we could hear the once beautiful town crumble over our heads. The unstoppable force didn’t seem to give a care in the world. From my uncomfortable hiding place, I could feel the vibration of every explosion as it blew the buildings apart into small minute rocks. A town we once worked so hard for blown away like the sand, gone for good.  Another child who had the safety of the under ground cellar like us started whimpering in the corner in despair. A close one sent streams of crumbled plaster onto our heads.                                                                        Eventually the explosions subsided and people cautiously started to come out into the bright daylight. What met our eyes was a sorry sight. There was not an intact building in sight. Pieces of smouldering rubble had been strewn all over what was once the road. Suddenly everyone was talking and a babble of voices could be heard echoing in the eerie, empty, almost ghostly streets of the town. Fathers were calling in desperation for lost children, women were crying over their losses and children were screaming for their parents. But not many individuals had been fortunate enough to have all their relatives present on this earth. For those who had all there loved ones with them at this time, felt a great atmosphere of relief, for the raid was over.                 Without warning we heard the drone of engines. The bombers shot out of the black smoke of the burning buildings, guns blazing. For a split second we just stood there, it was like time was passing slowly. Our feet rooted to the spot with fear, that glimpse of the person standing next to you, all this before your body reacts to dive for any cover available. Deafening explosions drowned out the noises of children crying and the screams of the injured. There was no way anyone could retreat to their cellars. People just hid where they could. The explosions seemed to get louder as the raid went on. We lay there frightened to move while all around us, destruction and mayhem took over our lives.                                                                        After what felt like an eternity, the sky stopped falling. All the planes flew away. Leaving only one thing behind, devastation. Even more cautiously than before, frightened faces began emerging from the wreckage of what had once been their lives, wondering if this terrible ordeal was finally over.                                                 A release of fear and disbelief of survival passed through the minds of every person in the small town. There was more grieving and sorrow than I had ever seen before. Nobody expected the attack to be as catastrophic as it was. In the chaos and bedlam that followed sixteen people had tragically been killed and many more had been brutally injured. Everyone had their own emotions and needed to express them in anyway they could. Commotion reigned throughout what was left of the town, as everyone was trying to realise the actual happenings of what went on.                        So here I am. Back to where my personal story began. At the funeral of my best friend, standing looking at his memorial, while all around me, people are working to get us back to normal, if such a thing exists. Houses are painstakingly being rebuilt and the rubble is being cleared. Everyone is doing something to make a difference. I guess I should stop gazing over the past and move onto the future. Rest in peace my best friend Samuel. Rhys Roydon