Growing Up Halloween Pt. 7

Ms. Nightingale The Medic

"Keith..", "Keith.." Francis was kneeling over his friend. The sickness he felt inside his head had subsided for now, and his nose was tinged with the sulphur and smoke that hung even lower than the fog. After a moment, Keith moved his hand toward his head and attempted to sit up even though his friend was on top of him. "Get up Francis, get off!" "Where were you two anyways?" "I remember falling down, but that's it." At that moment, the ground exploded just a few feet away. Then the sound. It was the weirdest thing at that moment, but once again, everything was turned upside down. KABOOOOM! BaBOOB! BaBaBOOM! One ofter another the sound of faraway shots were announced first by the shake of the ground, and the crater of earth that was showered all around. "What is GOING ON!?" Keith seemed like he hadn't heard any of the original fighting. Maybe he had been out longer than any of them thought. Now that their small troupe wasmtogether once again, there wasn't enought time to ask those questions. Now was the perfect time to get the heck out of Dodge, and the next thing that happened was Francis pulling Keith to his feet, grabbing Eric's jacket sleeve, and bolting toward where he thought was the way out. Out of this fight, out of this walk, out of this Autumn morning fog that had strapped them all into what seemed to be an endless collection of fear and panic that any boy should bear.
"Leave us ALONE!" We didn't do Anything!, stop shooting at US!. The shouting he was doing was about all he could do not to just sit right down and give up. The three of them were a short human chain. The last link Eric, half ran, half faltered the entire run from where there were to where they were. Inside the same fog, in the same grass, and land that they were before they started. Like the forst step on a slippery pond frozen over by the cold, this grass was frosted and stiff and steaming back into the sky. What could have happened to cause these things to happen could not be imagined, all that could be considered was escape. As the three boys humched over in rapid breathes from running like they did, a sound came from aways. "FFFFFFFFFFFFRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNCIS!""FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNCIS!" As familiar as your own skin, that sound signified home and safety. For that sound was not from the field. Not from the cannons and guns. Not from anywhere but from home. The sound of his ma calling from the back step of his house which seemed so close now that she was here.