March: All over Java women and children are prisoners inside their own homes. All the men, and boys 12 and older, have been taken away. I don't know where Papa and Opa are. It's probably better that way.
Mamma fears for our lives every day. Early each morning she prays to our Jesus in Heaven. We are only half Indonesian and half Dutch. This is not a good thing apparently. I will try to find out why later.
Our friends next door are Chinese. They are still free and Mamma says they will help us as much as they can. Rumor has it that when we run out of food the Japanese will not allow us to get anymore. We will need our friends to help get food for us. Mamma is good at rationing what we have, but it's probably only enough for a week.
My older siblings, Greta and Frederick, have been going to church on their own. But Mamma says it's very important that we all go together now. I know it in my heart that Jesus will help us through this awful time. Every night I kneel by my bed, fold my hands, and talk to Him and He always makes me feel less scared. Sometimes He takes my fear completely away. I wish I could feel like that all the time.
It will take us fifteen minutes to walk to church and we will have to be very careful. We will stay in the shadows of our trees and sneak through the village behind our property. The villagers are very good people. They will help us.
Gunfire is all around us. Do they see us? Are they shooting at us? Don't scream. Run. Keep running. Don't scream. Bullets sound like the rushing wind. We keep running. The villagers show us the way to safety. For now, we are safe.
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3 comments:
Hi Gatekeeper, This is awesome! I am glad that you are getting your mom's story written down. I will bookmark this blog and add it to my personal blog "Notes".
Back in the late 1990's, I started doing the same thing with my mom's childhood memories! We have title them "Children of the Desert". By the way, my mom was 6 in 1942!
This is really good! I will definitely be following the story. The fact that this is written in a child's voice makes it interesting for elementary aged children. (However, not knowing what the future content will be--maybe not.)
I know I already left one comment, but as I read through these stories, I had to leave another. These stories are powerful.
Are you considering writing a book?
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