Shattered skies

Chapter 1

The war seemed to unfold in the blink of an eye. I don't remember exactly when the forces from the west occupied my town; I was too busy scanning the skies day after day, waiting for "yellow thirteen " to reappear. Before I knew it, everything changed. The language they taught us at school... Our friendly local sheriff "disappeared" and was replaced by foreign MPs. In the beginning, some people secretly tuned into broadcasts from northpoint on their parabolic antennas. But as time pass, the broadcasts no longer came in; maybe the satellites were destroyed. All non-military computer networks were shut down. Gasoline was rationed to civilians. Though we live in the 21st century, we were reduced to using crystal radios and horse-drawn carts. I moved in with my uncle in town who used to be a taxi driver. Out of gasoline and out of work, my uncle did nothing but to drown himself in drink. I earned my keep by playing the harmonica in the town bar, the one thing I was good at. I'd play for sullen occupation soldiers in exchange for their charity in loose change, and used the money to support my uncle and myself. My uncle trashed talked the barkeep who catered to the enemy soldiers, but he never refused the money I brought home. As for myself, I had a crush on the barkeep's only daughter who was a little older than me. Another day passed yet still no sign of the fighter plane, Yellow Thirteen, in the skies above our town.