The harsh explosion of the firearms hitting the air, the frightening glow of the fire in the distance and the sound of the men running in unison are just a few things I remember from that day.

It was a Sunday morning and it started off like every Sunday, I would wake up slightly later than the rest of the week and lay in bed pondering the last day of the weekend while I mindlessly scroll through various social media sites not actually caring what I see. Then it happened. Then I heard the bloodcurdling screech of my sister in the next room.

Before I could even think about it I jolted up and ran into her, I saw her standing against the window, she looked so small and helpless in comparison to the huge frame of the window that looked odd on her only average messy bedroom. She was still screaming. Look! She screamed. Look! And pointed. I ran over to the window and I saw something that I’ve only read about and seen on tv. I saw a war zone.

Men everywhere. They were all dressed the same in a greyish green uniform and thick black boots that sounded like thunder with every step, they were wearing hats that looked like they were taken right out of World War Two and they were holding long thin guns. What was happening?

Before I knew it my dad had been standing beside us almost as if nothing was happening. I knew this would happen. He said, non-chalauntley. Knew what would happen? I could barely get the words out. He didn’t answer he just looked at us and said a million and one things with his eyes. I love you both more than I love myself, that’s why I’m going out there. Go down to the basement and stay until you hear NOTHING and I mean nothing. If I come back I’ll sort everything out from there. I love you. He repeated. Dad ... I stumbled but he was gone and I was so confused but all I could do was obey his seemingly last words.

We ran down the two flights of stairs to the basement that my dad used as a lounging area so I couldn’t see how this was going to protect us in any way. We never spoke, my sister and I. We never said a word to each other we just silently wept in confusion and fright. I made sure the door was locked and looked around a room a barely stepped foot in because it was always so cold and uncomfortable. That’s when the door caught my eye, have I never seen that before? I cautiously walked over and tried to open it. Of course it was locked. Looking around for a key resulted in me seeing my sister hurry over with said key, still saying nothing. Where did you find that? She didn’t answer