"Mama, when will this war be over?"

"Soon dear. Soon."

Anna looked up at her mother. Lately, she had been getting thinner and thinner during the past months. Her frame was willowly and seemed to be losing much strength. Papa was off to the war and hadn't been heard of since.

Anna tugged at her mother's skirt again.

"Mama, when will Papa come home?"

"I don't know dear. But soon hopefully."

Anna pouted her thin lips. She didn't like how Mama wasn't answering her questions directly. All she wanted was a straight answer. And she wasn't getting one.

"When will he come home?" she persisted.

Anna's mother wearily stared down at her. "I don't know for certain, Anna. Let us hope that he will come back home safely."

Anna stared blankly at the sea crashing against the sturdy pillars of the rocks. Billows of the clouds became smoky gray as distant gunfire sounded. The war was still in the midst of rage but was coming within closer range.

"Mama, when can we go to Granmama? We haven't seen her for a year."

"Anna, be quiet, dear. Granmama will have to wait."

She sulked against the corner of the hide-out. The sounding of the cannons were getting closer. Thick puffs of smoke made the sky murkier and dense.

"Can we go out now?"

Anna's mother clasped her hand tightly on her mouth. The soldiers were near and in any moment, they would enter the house. Beneath the house where the hide-out was, Anna and her mother were safe as long they kept quiet.

Steadily growing impatient, Anna let out a loud cry. The stomping of the soldiers' boots suddenly stopped. Instinctively, Anna's mother scooped her up and hushed her.

Waiting silently, the stomping regained their step and soon, they heard the door kicked open. Above them, the soldiers squirmed the house like bees and searched every crook and corner.

"They're not here", a soldier shouted.

The lieutenant nodded. He had already suspected that Graham wouldn't leave his family vulnerable to the enemy.

Giving his group a signal, the soldiers marched out of the house and left the area. However, the lietenant had a feeling that Graham's family would soon return.

"We'll give them a few days", he muttered.

Anna felt her mother grasping her more tightly. Fear was running inside both of them. And there was no way out.