“Luna, Bella! Hurry up we are going to be late, AGAIN!” yelled a young girl with one shoe on and half of her curly brown hair straight.

“We are standing at the door Rose!” screamed back another girl with her uniform shirt un-tucked and her books sprawled on the couch. Standing next to her was a petite girl with dark red hair neatly pulled back and her shirt perfectly tucked; she was standing by the door giggling, with her bright green eyes sparkling; her name was Luna. The girl with half of her hair straight, and the other half not so much, was Rose. Her curly brown mane had always been hard to maintain. The other girl was Bella, with her not so curly blonde hair and dark blue-grey eyes.

They were getting ready to go to their school, The Jewish Preparatory; they all called it the, “only Jewish school there was, so we are all stuck here with each other” school… They only lived two miles away, but were late for different reasons every day. The alarm clocks broke; the dryer caught on fire; the toaster blew up; the dog escaped; the straightener caught on fire; the couch caught on fire; the microwave caught on fire (they have a lot of fire problems). They were about to be late again, but this time because of the neighbors. They decided that it would be great to start a thirty-minute argument about the girl’s dog--- the girls won.

Finally they were all on their bikes ready to head to school. Bella’s mother and father, who they all lived with, through the door screaming, “LOVE YOU!!”

“LOVE YOU TOO!!” they all yelled back. They weren’t sisters at all; in fact they looked absolutely nothing like each other. Luna’s parents died when she was only seven years old. Bella’s parents were her god parents and took custody. Rose’s parents were awful to her. They were divorced and her father began abusing her. She would come to school with wearing her sweat shirt because her arms were covered in scrapes, bruises, and welts. She couldn’t hide the ones on her face though. Her mother was out all the time. She never even knew of for that matter cared where Rose was. Eventually Bella’s parents found out and took her in.
“Well, glad you finally decided to join us ladies.” Mr. Griffith sneered.
“Happy to be here sir.” Bella replied sarcastically.

Mr. Griffith was going on with his boring lecture like he did every single day: the Holocaust, like normal. “The Holocaust meant so much to the Jewish nation and it must be remembered, or time may repeat itself.”, he said looking at the tattooed numbers. The only one really listening was Luna. She really loved this stuff her grandmother and grandfather died during the Holocaust so she wanted to know everything that happened. Rose was more than likely the most annoyed out of all the students. That was only because she sat up front, and Mr. Griffith spit---a lot.

Finally last period came; Luna, Bella, and Rose were all sitting on the edges of their seats. They were all going to the synagogue after Bella’s volleyball game. Tonight was very special to them because tonight was Rose’s final ceremony and they were having a big party afterwards at the synagogue. “It’s finally over.”, the quiet Luna whispered to herself as the bell rang.

“Well, off to win my game girls!” Bella said excitedly to them as she skipped off to before-game practice.

“We’ll be there!” Rose said back.

“Well are you excited?” Luna said to Rose quietly with a slight smirk, knowing how nervous Rose was.

“Shut up! You know how excited I am. I’m just,” she sighed. “Am I ready?”

“Of course you are ready. You’ll be great. You’ve been practicing all week.”

Rose grabbing her books and walking to the door said, “I know I can speak Hebrew that’s not the problem. I mean am I really ready to go through with this? What if my mom comes back or my dad gets out of jail?”

They both began to laugh. “We know that’s not gonna’ happen so you march in there and you do what you think is right, no one else just you.”

“Thank you. I needed that.” They walked into the gym and found their seats to watch Bella’s game.
*
*
*

They were walking out from a two hour game, “Woah that was intense.” Rose chuckled.

“You’re telling me!” Bella limped over, “You weren’t even playing.” They played five games and on the fifth it was fourteen to fifteen. They were now headed home to change and go to the synagogue.

After some crying, grumbling, digging, and screaming they were finally all ready. They were walking down the road, trying their best to calm Rose down. “You’ll be fine, just don’t screw it up and you’ll be set!”

“Bella!” Rose yelled.

“What?!” she said looking at Luna, “Was it something I said?”

Luna hugged Rose, “You’ll be fine. Just remember we are standing right behind you if needed you know we’ll be there to catch you if you fall. But not literally because you know I’m not that strong.” They all laughed.

“I know… I just. What if I screw up? I’ll be an embarrassment no one at school will talk to me. And I---”

Bella stopped her. “Think of it like the last serve, like do-or-die time under all the pressure in the world… then remember… WHO CARES!?!”

“What do you mean?” Bella stammered.

“I mean if you mess up it doesn’t matter! You’ll get over it and you’ll still be a Jew. It doesn’t matter if you can’t speak Hebrew in front of people on your first try.”

There was a short silence. “Yeah you’re right, all I need to do is try my best, right?” They all nodded, “Yeah…”

“Well now that everyone is calm. We’re about be late if this pep talk from Coach Bella keeps going.” Laughing they all walked along hand in hand to the synagogue.

After the party they were walking home, “You did amazing!” Bella encouraged.

“I did, didn’t I?” she giggled.

“Wait do you see that?” Rose said seeing a small light across the road.

“Yeah, what is that?” Bella replied to Luna squinting at the light.

“It’s getting closer--- like really close.” Luna said backing up.

It was right next to them--- just there it wasn’t doing anything. Then it flashed, the bright light sent all the girls into shock.

They woke up in a strange house wearing clothes that were not theirs, “Where are we?” Luna said rubbing the side of her head.

“Mistress Bellani, Mistress Rosalinda, and Mistress Bella Luna how are you doing on this wondrous morning?” A woman in a frumpy white dress with a bonnet asked politely.

“We are doing fantabulous, excluding the fact that we have no idea where we are, who you are, or why you are calling us by our real names, I haven’t been called Bella Luna sense I met Bella or Bellani as you called her.” Luna yelled beginning to hyperventilate.

“Well you are in your home; I am your servant Elizabeth, and those are your names.” She looked puzzled, “Would you like some tea Miss Bella Luna?”

“Stop calling me that! No we don’t want any tea!”

“Actually, I’ll take a soy latte with a scoop of hazelnut powder and a twist of orange.” Bella said looking innocently at the confused old woman.

“I’m sorry?”

“Bella?!” Rose sighed, “What’s the matter with you?”

“What just because we are lost doesn’t mean I can’t have a decent coffee?” Bella looked at Rose.

“Oy!” Rose and Luna said at the same time.

“Okay, okay Miss Elizabeth can we have a few minutes alone?” Luna said.
“Why of course Miss Bella Luna.”
“STOP CALLING ME THAT!” Luna screamed. “We need to figure out where we are and apparently what year we are in especially seeing as how we are in these clothes.”
“How do we do that?” Bella said calmly.
“Well we could---”
Rose was stopped, “Rosalinda, Bellani, Bella Luna they are here!” Elizabeth screamed with horror in her voice.
“What is it?” Bella yelled back confused.
“The Nazis!”
“We are in the Holocaust, WWII.” Luna said, her face going pale.
“Down to the basement children!” Elizabeth said to them quietly.
“We are in WWII,” Luna repeated.
“What does that mean Luna?” Rose questioned with tears running down her face filled with anxiety.
“We are in WWII that means that we are Jews, that means that we could get killed any second! Don’t you get it? We were somehow transported back in time to the Holocaust.” They reached the basement. It was cold and wet and smelled of dried vegetables and fruit.
“Luna, what do we do?” Bella said tears rushing down her face remembering the stories that she had heard.
“Luna we are all going to die, I’m scared,” Rose said also in tears.
“I know I am too we just have to stay calm. Ok Elizabeth do you know any hiding places?”
“Yes, the Thomas’s. They have been offering it to us all year.”
“How can we contact them Elizabeth?”
“Telephone when the Nazis leave is the most convenient, but they could listen into our calls. We would have to go immediately,” she said with power in her voice.
“Have they ever done this before? Do you know how long they’ll stay?” Bella said now that she was thinking rationally.
“Usually they stay an hour and when they can’t find anyone they leave.”
“Okay that gives us enough time to come up with what we are going to do. Why haven’t you accepted the Thomas’s hospitality and moved? You’re lucky you aren’t dead,” Bella said nervously.
“Well you are so young and I didn’t want you to know that anything was wrong, but you are all fifteen now and I was going to sit you down and speak to you today, but I guess I don’t have to anymore,” Elizabeth stammered. “I just wasn’t sure how to tell such young children that they are in danger of being killed because of their faith.”
“We are dreaming this can’t actually be happening, can it? I mean we are from the present learning about the Holocaust in class this can’t be happening and I don’t want to die Luna I can’t die I’m finally excepted to do something with my life. I haven’t gone to college; I haven’t gotten married, or gone to Germany,” Rose balled.
“Rose now you listen to me, we are going to get out of this. You just have to trust me. I am a scared as you okay.” Rose looked at the ground. “Hey, hey everything is going to be alright you just wait if we can get through middle school we can get through anything, right?” A large cat jumped out from behind a tall box, he was a fat Russian Blue cat, and he crawled over to the girls.
“Boo, is his name, he stays down here and keeps me company when I am upset,” Elizabeth said. As she stood up she heard one of the Nazis yell. She said to the frightened girls, “The coast is clear children, lets pack for hiding.”
“How do you know?” Rose sniffled.
“I speak German,” she responded.
“Why?”
“We are in Germany.” Elizabeth said remembering what Rose had said about wanting to go to Germany trying to comfort her.
They packed the few things they could, and headed to the Thomas’ home. They had to go through the alleyways to avoid any Nazis. It was dark and gloomy, there seemed to be sadness and mourning in the air. The buildings were dark and it looked as though they were walking through the scariest horror movie that they had ever seen. Finally they reached the home is was bright and looked like it was full of life completely opposite of the alleyways. They gave a secret knock on the door and the door swung open. “Come in, come in quickly now.” Mrs. Thomas’s sweet voice rang through the hall way. “We are so glad you are here. Are you here to stay?”
“Yes ma’am until the war is over at least,” Elizabeth said, kindness oozing from her voice.
“Please, please tell me who all is here.”
“This is Mistress Bellani, if needed she could pass for a young German girl, but that must be last resort. This is Mistress Bella Luna, she is a very strong leader and a great help if needed. Then last Mistress Rosalinda she looks to Jewish too be able to pass for anything else, but she is still helpful.”
“MEOW!”
“Miss Elizabeth was that from your purse.” Mrs. Thomas asked politely smirking.
“Oh yes this is Boo, the cat. Is it alright that he is here too?” she asked with a nervous look on her face, “He never makes any noise usually.”
“Okay here is where you will be staying I am very aware that it is small, but it’s comfortable.” She looked around.
“It’s perfect.” Luna said smiling at the kind woman.
“Breakfast will be at seven in the morning, lunch at twelve in the afternoon, and dinner at six, I will bring your food up to you because--- well you know.” She looked at Elizabeth immediately.
“What does she mean Elizabeth?” Rose asked when Mrs. Thomas had left the room.
“Mr. Thomas--- is a Nazi.”
“WHAT? You put us in a house with a Nazi to get away from the Nazis” Bella said with urgency on her face.
“Yes , but you don’t understand he is only here on the third week of every month.” She said looking at the ground.
“Seriously? How could you be so careless?” Bella asked her eyes widening.
“Hey do not talk to me about carelessness, this was the only hiding place left! Would you rather be at home with the chance of being killed?” Elizabeth argued back.
“Listen we are going to have to make this work. Okay? Not only do we have to take precautions, but we are going to have to get along for as long as this takes.” Rose responding to the girls calmly as they bickered.
Five weeks had pasted everything was going as planned. They were hidden, fed, Mr. Thomas didn’t know, and they were safe. They were all getting along; for the most part they kept arguments to a minimum. They were all sitting tense and full of anxiety just waiting, waiting for something to happen. The girls hadn’t thought about home, their real home back in Georgia. All they could think about was if they would be killed, they all knew that it could happen in the blink of an eye.
“What year is it Elizabeth?” Luna asked running over to her.
“It is 1945,” she said with a questioning look.
“Month?” Rose said knowing exactly what Luna was getting at.
“May…” Elizabeth said becoming nervous seeing their faces.
“DAY?” all three yelled at once.
“It’s the 8th!” she yelled trying to quiet them down.
“The war ends tomorrow! The war is over tomorrow, we can go home tomorrow! Maybe we’ll be able to go back to the present.” Bella said excitement filling her face.
“What do you mean?” Elizabeth asked not knowing that they weren’t from this time.
“We mean, we are from 1991 not 1945.” Luna said too excited to notice the horror on Elizabeth’s face.

“We just have to make it one more day,” Rose said quietly.

The next evening May 9, 1945, Mr. Thomas found girls and Elizabeth and one by one he killed them. Mrs. Thomas, the next day, found them in the small room dead. Because of this event in the past, they were never born in the present day time and no one had ever known of Rosalinda, Bella Luna, and Bellani.

They were gone without goodbyes.