- CHAPTER 4 -

I was awoken abruptly by a strong shake.

“Lavi! Wake up, 99a’s getting taken away!” I rolled over, and ignored the desperate call. “LAVI! Please, just come with me!”

I opened my eyes, and saw Keshet, pounding his fists on my chest, as he began subtly sobbing.

“99a?” I inquired,

“Lavi, let’s go!” Keshet chucked a pair of pants and a bandanna in my direction. “Quickly, they’re marching out of town, they’ll be gone soon!”

Not quite fully understanding, I put on the pants hastily. Then, I reached towards my drawer to put on a shirt, but Keshet clasped my wrist before I could touch the knob. “No time!” Keshet explained, dragging me through the house.

I was fully awake by then, and I wrapped my bandanna around my arm with the hand that was open. “Bye Lavi’s Mom!” Keshet shouted, running through the front door.

Keshet ran faster than I’ve ever seen him run before. His inefficient running form showed that he wasn’t experienced, yet he clearly gave it his all. I could feel the tear droplets land on my face, as they rolled off Keshet’s cheek towards mine.

In the distance, we could see the fountain. Keshet shouted,

“That’s where I saw them earlier, now we just have to catch up!” Despite being at maximum effort already, this compelled him to shatter his limits. Keshet’s legs sped up to 110% speed.

We reached past the fountain, and thought we might catch up. But, we could already see the outskirts.

In the distance, I made out two figures, most likely soldiers, following a large horse drawn wagon into the outskirts.

Keshet and I tried desperately to catch up, together we moved faster than ever before. The two figures became soldiers, and they never looked back. In the wagon was a person, I thought. But they disappeared into the forest just as quickly as they appeared. The outskirts had swallowed them up.

Keshet dropped to his knees. The skies lost their color, and a drizzle was set over us.

“NO!” Keshet screamed, “99a! No, this can’t have happened!” Keshet drove his fists into the now wet mud.

“You can’t be gone…” Keshet said, his voice going hoarse. “99a, you were the only one… The only one who treated us with respect. The only one who recognized us as real humans, AND THEY TOOK YOU!”

For the first time that day, I had a true grasp on what had happened. 99a was the person in the wagon. That morning, 99a was kidnapped from us by the soldiers. If he is like all the others, then he will never return. He will most likely be killed.

He will never fulfill my promise.

“DAMN IT ALL!” I shouted, kicking a tree with all my might. I could feel the blood soaking into my shoe, but I could feel nothing. Nothing but guilt, fear, and sorrow.

“We have to go get him!” Keshet exclaimed, looking up at me and pointing towards the outskirts. His eyes were filled with tears, his face red and swelled like a tomato.

“What good will that do?” I whispered.

“What?” Keshet responded, not quite hearing me.

“WHAT GOOD WILL THAT DO?!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “We’re just two kids, throwing ourselves at heartless monsters like them will only get us killed!”

Keshet went silent. For once, he solemnly agreed with me. Even I, the thoughtless boy, the reckless, “doer,” could not go into a losing battle like this one.

Keshet and I sat in silence, accepting the inevitability of our torture. From the moment we were conceived, our lives have been nothing but toys for the guards that stand in the way of our freedom.

From the moment we were conceived, they designed us to be subordinate to them.

To them, our sorrows mean naught.

I put my hand on Keshet’s shoulder, and together we wept. Soon afterwards, I folded my purple coat, and hid it in the hut where we talked with 99a the night before.

“I’m sorry, Father.”