The soldiers are marching again, with the heavy sound of drums quick to follow.
Everyone in the town who knows what is coming stays silent and tries to hide, praying that they won't stop here, in Woodson.
And it's every week now that they pick a new...
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I'm running through the woods, the wind rushing through my long hair.
I am happy - a bubbling laugh making its way up my throat as I dodge the low-hanging branches of green trees.
Woodson's trees.
I get the feeling that I am looking for something, or someone.
"Mom?" I call in a childish voice.
"Over here!" The familiar voice carries from over miles away.
It echoes.
And echoes.
"I'm coming, Mom! Wait!"
I turn around in one spot, not sure where to run first.
Where did she go?
"You're too late."
A solemn Beatrice materializes in front of me to stop me from running off in the direction I chose.
What?
A voice from further away that sounds like Andres yells, "Do something", but I am stuck in my tracks.
What is going on?
I look around the landscape for any sign of my brother, but to no avail. By the time I open my mouth to ask Beatrice what is going on, she is nowhere to be found.
Where did everyone go?
I sit down on the ground in sorrow. I am all alone in the forest, and I don't have Andres or my mother anywhere near.
I am lost and losing myself all at once. I shed a lone tear.
I have lost everyone, everything.
Except my own soul, my own mind, my own body which sings along with the nature around me.
Remember?
Out of nowhere, a warm hand rests itself upon my shoulder. I look up beside me to see a sympathetic man in a military suit.
Camillo.
"It'll be okay," he says. "Remember what she told you? Your love is enough."
