“Mum and Dad aren’t in their room, downstairs or outside, I don’t know where they are!” he sobbed as he informed Alice of this large problem.
“Do you think they’ve left us?” asked Alice who then started joined her brother weeping.
“They wouldn’t do that.” explained George “they would have left a note if they were coming back”.
Alice a short blonde haired girl raced out of the room in search of a note. No note was found. George and Alice searched the house all day and still had no fortune. That night they scampered across the bomb-struck streets, illuminated by search lights across central London. Debris shot from all angles as bombs were released by German aircraft. This kept George and Alice conscious of where they were going. Suddenly Alice spotted a light which looked like it was coming from the underground. A rather large man led them in to Piccadilly Circus Underground station where they slept until the next morning.
The next morning, as most people awoke in the underground, leaflets were distributed to parents and abandoned children. These leaflets, blank canvases with nothing but plain text, explained about the evacuation of children between the ages of two and seventeen. The children would be allocated a house in the countryside and accommodated until the war had finished.
As George woke, with a gasping yawn, he selected one of the leaflets with his badly gashed arm and read it to himself. The leaflet contained information that could get him and Alice away from the chaos of the city and out into the countryside.
As George read this, all he could think about was getting out of there. As he reached the final sentence a sharp feeling rushed through his mind. Mum and Dad. They still hadn’t heard from their parents and if they left for the countryside they may not see them again.
“Excuse me young man” interrupted a warden.
“Yes sir” replied George.
“Are you with your parents?”
“No, sir, I haven’t seen them for a few days now”
“Come with me”
At that moment, Alice awoke and they then followed the warden through the underground, to a small room, his office. As they passed, there were hundreds, maybe thousands of indignant, worried, homeless people. As they sat down, colossal explosion shook the entire station. Every vagrant screamed in terror, as the entrance to the underground was illuminated. The lights then started flickering, on, off, on, off until another huge explosion was heard this time a little further away from the underground. George and Alice both took cover underneath the Warden’s desk, hoping that this would keep them out of harm’s way. Suddenly, the lights came back on and the underground became like a church whilst people were praying. Silence swept the long rail line as people hung on to their possessions and their loved ones.
The Warden reminded George and Alice that if they stayed, this would happen most nights until eventually the place would be destroyed. This made George even more envious of the chance to go to the countryside, even if he didn’t see his parents for five years. The Warden explained that the train to the countryside would be leaving the next day and they should be ready to leave by 6am.
That night as Alice was sleeping; George came back to the thought of their parents. He really couldn’t wait to go to the country but he equally missed his parents. Alice did to. The usually happy Alice had not been herself as she didn’t have her Mum and Dad there. George didn’t sleep that night. The continuous mind blowing thought of where Mum and Dad were kept flowing through his mind, coming back with thoughts of the sunny untouched countryside.
The next morning at around 5:30am George awoke to find Alice awake, things packed and ready to go. To his surprise Alice was back to normal, happy and jumping around. She couldn’t wait to go, even though they had only been there for two days.
At 6am George and Alice joined up with the rest of the group, making new friends on the way to the steam-train station. When they arrived at the station they said thank you to the Warden and hopped on the train and found an empty cabin where they slept for most of the journey.
When they woke up, George looked out of the cabin window and saw that the train was just about to pull up in a small village called Tinley. When the train came to a halt, George and Alice eagerly jumped off of their seats and hurried towards the exit. As soon as they got off they were ushered into a large, empty room and were asked their names and age. They were then given small badges to wear and to situate on some of their possessions.
An hour later around 150 people arrived. George guessed that these were the kind people that would be caring for them during the war. Among these a rather tall, skinny man with yellow teeth and an evil smirk looked at George and Alice and called out to a voluntary worker
“I’ll take these two” he called. His evil smirk travelling wider around his cheeks.
George looked at Alice worryingly and they arose and followed this, ‘strange’ man out of the building.
