lost | jariana

05

Ariana silently watched her cartoons, munching on her popcorn as Spongebob crashed into Mrs. Puff's Boating School building again. She giggled loudly when Mrs. Puff puffed up, breaking the car, and squishing Spongebob in his seat.

Suddenly, a loud blaring sounded, immediately shutting off her television. Her parents had warned her about that - it was their emergency alarm.

The little seven year old grabbed her purple giraffe stuffed animal, running straight to the kitchen where she last saw her parents. They told her what the bell was for, not what to do when it actually sounded.

There was chaos in the kitchen, the siren making Ariana want to cry because of how loud it was. It was hurting her ears. Her mom was running around the kitchen, opening drawers and whipping out papers and weapons that were hidden in the cabinets just in case of an emergency, like this one. Her dad was already cocking a gun, about to head out when he noticed his little girl standing at the doorway, fear evident in her eyes. He knew he couldn't play sweet.

"Ariana. What did I tell you? You know what that bell is for! I need you to go to the emergency room."

Okay, maybe they did tell her. "But daddy, are you coming with me?"

"No, I'm not. Now go."

"Mommy? I don't want to be alone..." Ariana teared up, her dad grabbing another gun and slipping it into his holster.

Her mom glared at her, making her very scared. She walked over to Ariana, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the kitchen door. "Ariana Butera! I don't care if you don't want to be alone! We are in an emergency and I need you to be safe in that room, you hear me? Go right now! Or I swear..."

She never saw her mom so angry before. Quickly nodding, she yanked her arm out of her mom's tight grip, running out of the kitchen before they could see the tears roll down her face. She headed straight to the basement, slamming the door behind her as she sprinted down the stairs, the giraffe dragging behind her. Once down in the basement, she used all of her strength to pull open the bookshelf door leading to the tiny emergency room the Buteras had hidden. The bookshelf closed on its own, leaving the little girl trapped in the darkness.

She could hear her heavy breathing, fears of monsters crawling over her as her hands searched the walls, desperately trying to find the light switch.

It took her eyes a while to adjust to the dimly lit room. The room was only big enough to fit about four people exactly, and it only had a one small cooler with food and water in it... Which had a lock that only her dad had.

Sighing, she slid down onto the ground by the cooler, bringing her knees up to her chest as she began crying. Her parents were mad at her. They were never mad at her before. Why did they get so angry? And why were they so rushed? What did they need to guns for? Millions of thoughts and questions and worries flooded her mind. She felt her mind wander to the worst case scenario.

Violently shaking her head, she shut her eyes, the tears streamed down her cheeks. "No, they're going to be okay. They won't let anyone hurt them... I mean, they had so much guns. They won't get hurt if they hurt someone first."

She whimpered, picking up her giraffe and staring at the purple animal, the smile sown onto its mouth.

"I wish I could be like you," she whispered to her toy. "So happy all the time."

She patted its yarn hair, smiling at the couple strands that were black instead of purple. She had left it too close by the fire and its hair started to burn, until Jason saved it and put out the fire.