THE GROTTO

A split second later and we didn’t know if we would survive this or not, as a shower of rocks, branches, pieces of wood,steel, bricks, with an immense cloud of earth and dust rained down on us. Bombs were falling and exploding everywhere around us, making a thundering and frightening noise.

There must have been hundreds of bombs, thousands of them, who knows. It lasted ten seconds, thirty seconds,one minute half hour, it seemed it would never end. Th en all at once ...... silence.

I waited for a few seconds, then cautiously raised my head and looked around. I pushed myself up on my feet and shook off the debris, like a big dog when he comes out of the water. My fi rst impulse was to look at my brother, help him to get up and inquire if he was in pain somewhere in his body, but other than a look of fear and panic on his dirty face, there was nothing wrong. By the time I turned to help the lady, she was already moving up the street screaming hysterically, leaving behind her the shopping bag full of groceries; after that, hand in hand, and as fast as our feet could go, we ran the short distance home, to mamma and papa’ who met us halfway on the street crying.

“Here they come again! Here they come again!”

Was the cry that went up from all sides, as everybody rushed back into their homes.

“This time let’s all go down the hole,” said papa’. “Come on, come on.” He urged hurrying us through the gate.

The drone of the planes could be heard once more,louder and louder as they came closer and closer and the same nightmare started all over again.

At last our curiosity was appeased and we saw them very clearly this time. Th ey were the famous American four engine planes, called the “ Flying Fortresses “ Th ey came in wave after wave, formation after formation, while hundreds of thousands of people must have been watching them,wondering where the bombs would fall next.