It was chaos. Everyone was running... running where? Why? She didn't understand. No one seemed to notice her, not even enough to answer her small, desperate question.
"Mummy? Daddy?" Her tiny voice echoed through the corridor, swallowed by the pounding of boots and hurried shouts.
Her white summer gown fluttered as she moved, the hem lifting with the draft of rushing bodies. In her small hand, a teddy dangled limply, its fur brushing against her leg with every step. Wide doe eyes scanned the almost-empty hallway as she padded forward, searching.
"Mummy… it's winter," she whispered, her words trembling into the void. But the corridors gave her nothing back. No amazing mummy. No super-strong daddy.
They had left months ago, after the major war. A week ago she had spoken to them on the phone, her last thread of comfort. They promised they would come home for her. Promised. But promises had grown heavy, and she was tired of waiting. So she had sneaked here, driven by hope and the ache of loneliness.
At last, she reached her father's office, a solemn place, lined with heavy furniture and anchored by a floor-to-ceiling window that looked out over the barracks. Her tiny hand pushed the door open.
"Daddy?" she called, stepping inside. Silence answered her.
She edged toward the glass, her small palm pressing against its cold surface. Then her gaze dropped to the courtyard below.
Her heart stopped.
Blood.
No... not blood. Too much. It was spreading across the ground, staining everything. It filled her vision, swallowing her, drowning her.
Her teddy slipped in her hand. Her knees buckled.
She only wanted to see Mummy and Daddy. Just Mummy and Daddy.
SHE JUST WANTED TO SEE MUMMY AND DADDY!
---
A scream ripped through her dream.
A young lady jolted upright in her bunk, chest heaving, her body drenched in sweat. Her breath rasped, shallow and broken, and her eyes were wild, crazed. Her trembling hands groped desperately at the side of the bed for something that wasn't there.
"Uncle… Giggles," she choked out, voice distorted, trembling.
She scrambled off the bed, hair clinging to her damp face, tearing through her belongings in a frenzy. Books, clothes, and papers scattered to the floor. A lamp toppled. The other girls stirred, muttering in irritation, but none dared approach.
"Uncle Giggles!" Her cry rose higher, uneven, unsteady. She shoved a rack over with a loud crash, metal clattering against the floor, nearly striking one of the girls. Gasps filled the room. Still, she didn't notice.
Her chest heaved, her arms shook. "Uncle Giggles!"
The door creaked open.
A girl stepped inside, holding a teddy by its arm. Her face looked irritated. "I couldn't find..."
The words never finished.
The sweating girl's scream split the air.
"How dare you touch Uncle Giggles!"
Before the newcomer could react, she was tackled to the ground. Fists came down like thunder, fast, unrelenting, merciless. The poor girl couldn't scream, couldn't struggle. The blows rained on her face, her chest, her arms one after another until her resistance broke.
Then it stopped.
The teddy slipped from her bruised hands, falling to the floor.
The sweating girl snatched it up with frantic relief. Hugging it tight to her chest, she scurried back into her corner, rocking, sniffing, clutching the bear as if it were the last piece of her soul.
The dorm filled with horrified whispers. The beaten girl lay on the floor, battered and bleeding, while others gathered around her.
But the "crazy one" didn't look at them. She didn't care. She had Uncle Giggles again.