When the secret isn’t a secret anymore, Contd. Chapter 4
The following day there was a heatwave and they had to put lots of sunscreen on and drink lots of water, so they built a water tank in the backyard which was filled with water and had a tap attached to it. They expanded their forts even more each day, one day it was a small shack, the next day you could call it a full on city. Each day, when Mrs A called them in for lunch, they used to talk about their expansions of their forts and that they won’t reveal certain secrets about how to defeat the other’s fort.
After, they couldn’t wait to get back outside and they would often say that they’re going to the toilet but in reality they were sneaking back to the garden to destroy the bases. When they got back outside, time seemed to speed forward with the night coming faster than ever. They barely even had to wait an hour until the light had become an inky sky.
The next day, instead of playing in the garden like they usually did, they stopped at the garage upon hearing a murmuring sound. They didn’t think much of it but they opened it anyway. It was a secret air raid chamber in which their neighbors were gathered in talking about a supposed ‘Nuclear Attack’. They explained to them that they had to gather food and supplies as they had been threatened of having missiles launched at by enemies. They spotted a few friends of their parents. Robert asked where his parents were and they just gave him the silent treatment with no answer.
All of them snapped at both Robert and Alexa to inform their carers of the upcoming missile strike. They ran and told them the news but they refused to believe them. They insisted that Mrs A and Mr A follow them to the shelter and they were stunned to see that what Robert and Alexa had said was true. They quickly packed all their things and transported them down to the shelter. They transported down a TV as well and the news was all about the missile attack. They began to worry. A lot.
They decided to have one last day outside before the missiles hit. Robert, Alexa, Mrs A and Mr A all went to the forest and talked about what they enjoyed in life and gave each other lots of hugs. They stood under the trees in the cool shade praying for each other and their families far away. They went to church at 7 o’clock in the afternoon and when they returned, it was already quite late. Robert thought if it was a false warning or not, but he didn’t question. He and Alexa found some animal homes and they played around with the animals in them, occasionally the animals biting them.
Now this, well this was 80 years ago. Robert was OK. Sure, the missiles did drop but luckily only 3 of the 4 systems needed to detonate were activated. The only one that wasn’t activated was the fuse. Robert had returned to the city but made regular visits back to the countryside. When he returned to the countryside, Alexa would peep out of a bush and excitedly run towards him filling him with hugs. Robert would smile from ear to ear and even though Alexa didn’t have a face, he could see that she was smiling with him as well. Mrs A and Mr A’s son passed away after getting shot down in his U-2 spy-plane after flying deep into Soviet territory at 100.000 ft at Mach 3.27. He’d switched to the U.S. Air Force (USAF) just before that.
One summer’s evening in the countryside, out of his window I saw a ghost that looked like Alexa. A pen started floating and it wrote on a piece of paper ‘I am not here now, but you will see me in a few years time…’. Robert was confused but went to sleep anyway. The next day, Mrs A had informed me of the devastating news that she’d not seen Alexa for a few hours. She searched up and down everywhere but there were no signs of her. Three years later, Robert, aged 103 passed on. He then met Alexa in the afterlife and their friendship started again.
It’s funny how they were friends, and then they restarted their friendship, but this time not on earth but in the afterlife.
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