I wish I could turn back time. I wish I could have saved her. But it’s no use wishing, what’s done is done and I can’t change that, no matter how hard I wish.
I can still remember that dreadful night in the midst of the London blitz 1940, the night that changed my life forever. The sirens wailed all over London, I ran down the hall to where mummy was waiting, calling to me to hurry. The sirens were still screaming as we ran down the first flight of stairs, we lived in the attic apartment at the very top of the block of flats and by the time we reached the fourth floor everyone else was already in the streets heading for the nearest bomb shelter.
Suddenly we heard a whistling noise then a great BOOM!!! We knew the first bomb had been dropped. Together we sped down the seemingly endless stairs, the anti-aircraft guns started up but there were more and more whistles and bangs as more bombs fell on the city. Just as we reached the bottom of the stairs a whistling closer then any of the others started up. We knew what was happening. We knew the bomb was going to hit the building.
“RUN!” I heard mummy cry and I ran even faster, I could hear her footsteps behind me but they were getting fainter! I dived through the doorway of the flats just as the bomb hit. I screamed to mummy, she was meters away from escaping, but bricks, glass and rubble were falling from the rooftop and walls. Her face was pale and tired. I tried to get to her, to help her, but my fear held me back, she was disappearing from view and there was nothing I could do to save her.
“NO!” I screamed, as I saw her fall, the rubble started to pile up on top of her. I ignored my fear and ran towards her, dodging falling parts of the building. I screamed her name over and over again and tried to free her from under the bricks but I couldn’t, I felt something hit my leg with a crunch, my mind went blank, the last thing I saw was her face staring at me, her eyes open but not seeing before I fainted dead away.
Now as I look down on her grave I feel as though a part of me has died with her. Mrs Green takes my hand and pulls me away; I’m an evacuee now as well as an orphan. Living in the countryside is different but it’s safe, my foster family are really very kind but they’ll never replace my mother, no one could possibly replace her. I wish I could have died in her place. But it’s no use wishing, what’s done is done and I can’t change that, no matter how hard I wish.