I look up toward the window near my bed. No stars are out tonight, no hope for me to grab on to. I try to tune out the sound of my sister crying softly on the ground as a tear of my own rolls down my cheek and pools with the others on my chin.

Our father and mother had left our village- or, rather, they had been captured. Just under 10 minutes ago. They had come in the night for them, taking them from my sister and me. Leaving us alone to fend for ourselves. I glanced down at my hands and flipped over the amethyst my mother used to wear around her neck. It hung just perfectly next to her heart. I gritted my teeth to keep the tears from falling even faster as I felt my mother’s heartbeat pounding in the beautiful gem.
I tried with all of my might to remember everything I could about my parents. The way my father would read to me every morning before breakfast, kissing me on the cheek while his long eyelashes brushed my face when he was finished. The way my mother would sit with my sister and me at night, singing us lullabies and gently rubbing our backs as we drifted off to sleep.
I couldn’t imagine how I would provide for my sister and myself. There was hardly any way for my parents to provide for us here in Piaui, the worst place imaginable to live in Brazil. That’s why they’re gone now.
I looked over at my sister with great reluctance , struggling to see her through the darkness and the tears that blinded me. A shiver took its time, walking slowly down my spine as I looked at her body: naked, shaking, and covered in blood. My lips began to quiver as I tried to fight off the horror of what I just saw take place. I pushed my curly hair over my face so that Ifeya could not hear me crying.
I could not imagine how we would survive without my parents. So I laid back on my bed, letting the sounds of my sister’s sobs carry me off to sleep.