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The next morning I woke up to the sound of a speaker. Soldiers on the tank were calling for everyone in the city to move out and come with them to the countryside as there was a threat by the Americans of another bomb strike. Walking around, still half-asleep, I went to see my dad and mom without trying to wake up Ping from her sleep. Silently going around the house, I knocked on the wooden door connecting the hall from our room to my parent’s room. This hall was tight, being able to fit only two people at a time walking back and forth. It was also the same color and style as the rooms for both my parents and my own room. The knock on the wooden door was loud and you could hear the cracks from the door from inside. I opened the door and saw my dad still sleeping with my mom running furiously inside the room trying to find the gold that she hides in case of an emergency. Thinking to me, are we actually moving out of this house for a few days in order to be safe from the American bombs that will happen tomorrow. “Mom, are we actually going? Is it true, there is going to be bombs here, are you sure, I don’t want to go. I want to stay here.” I questioned her as she was still quickly moving around from cabinet to cabinet.

  “Seang, go call your brothers and sisters to prepare to go, it’s only going to be a few days if you listen, you don’t have to worry, we are going to be back soon. Tell them to just prepare for the necessary things like clothes, food, and money.”

  “What about Dad, are you going to wake him soon? Shouldn’t be prepare to go also, how much time do we have?”

  “Seang, just go and tell your siblings, I’ll handle him and we only have a few hours, hurry up and start moving.”

  “Okay, okay, see you in a bit Mom,” I said as I went and closed the door and rushed back to my room. With the thought of moving for only a few days, I still had a small tear in the back of my eyes thinking about this home. I don’t want to leave this place and go to somewhere new, even if it’s just a new day, I want to stay here, and I want to stay home. I then saw Lynn, and Sophea already awoke and looking out the window. Going into their room, I went and told them to start packing up since we have to go in a few hours. They looked at me curiously and went to go to their closet without a single question asked. Then going to Sakol’s room, I knocked on the door with a loud bang and pushed the door wide open. There I saw Sakol still in his bed and a blanket over his head as if he was pretending not to listen to the microphone and the noises of the tanks outside. Going over to his bed, I pulled the cover down and shook him back and forth in order to wake him up.

  “What? What do you want, Seang?” Sakol groaned as he slowly opened his eye.

  “We gotta go, can’t you listen outside, we all have to go to and live somewhere in the countryside for a few days because of the Americans, and they are trying to bomb us again!”

  “Who said, do we have to? I just want to stay in my bed for another hour or two.” Sakol slowly spoke back to me.

  “Nope, nope, Mom said so, come on, hurry up and bring pack your clothes, it’s only going to be a few days, and don’t worry, I don’t want to go to.” I replied back to his questions. With that response, Sakol yawned and got up on his back and stretched his arms up high. He got up off his bed and went over to his closet taking a briefcase and bringing his favorite clothes. Sakol usually likes to wear plain clothes with either a white, blue, or green color. His variety isn’t much compared to me, as I’ll wear anything comfortable and clean. I moved over to go back to my room to wake up Ping and to also start packing up in order to go. By the time I came back to my room, I saw Ping sitting up on her bed and staring straight at the blank wall with a blank face. Her eyes widen to the sound of my footsteps as she turned her head over to the direction of our room’s door.

  With a loud yawn she got off her bed and said “You hear what’s going outside, we gotta go, hurry up.”

  Staring right into her face with a confused look and my eyebrows lifted, “How did you know, were you awake all this time?”

  “Obviously, I’ve been awake longer than you have, don’t worry I already packed everything I needed, the bag is right there on my bed.”

  I looked above her head and saw a big filled with the pink colored clothes and dirty old dolls which are her favorite toys. She brings these dolls everywhere she goes, and never leaves them behind, it’s what keeps her feel safe and helps her sleep at night. “You’re already finished? I’ve got a lot of work to do, help me get a bag so I can put my clothes in.”

  “No, do it yourself, I'm going to go to Lynn and Sophea, have fun packing,” she chuckled to herself as she left to Lynn and Sophea’s room.

  As she was going on the door, I rushed to my closet and looked for a bag or briefcase in order to find something to put my clothes in. Looking up and down, I couldn’t see anything that could fit all the things that I needed to bring —my clothes, my favorite pillows, my toys— so, I went over to Sakol’s room once again. Barging in through the room, I saw Sakol still putting his clothes and choosing which one to bring as I grabbed the nearest brown colored briefcase and went back out with a quiet “Thank you.”

  “You better bring that back Seang, after we come back home, don’t forget it, I’m not giving you that for free, you got that?” he yelled out as I was exiting his room.

  I had a small laugh to myself as I replied, “Sure, I will!” Going back to my room I went over to my bed to grab my pillow. This pillow was white, but had many brown spots all over as it hasn’t been cleaned in over a month. The pillow was small for me to carry wherever I go, and big enough for me to hug with my entire body. Similar to Ping, I use this pillow to help me sleep when I’m alone as I can feel safe around it. Not only this, but I also bring multiple sets of clothes all of a range of color and variety. In that one briefcase, it includes many different things, which are light enough for me to carry on the journey to where we stay for the next few days.

  Finally, preparing all the clothes needed for the trip I went back to my parent’s room. Knocking on the door with a few hits, they finally responded and opened the door. Looking at the bed, my dad finally woken up from his sleep and my mom stared directly into my eyes. “What do you want? We’re still getting ready, just go to your brother or sister if you need help,” she angrily said to me.

  “Okay…” I quietly said back to her, upon closing the door again. I wonder what that was all about, I wonder why my mom was so angry or stressed about going for a few days. Moments later, I went to go to my older sister’s room to see how they were going with preparing their clothes. As predictable as it was, both my sisters were already fully prepared and clothed to get ready to move, they wore the same clothing and both had identical bags in which they used to put all their clothes in. They were already washed up and got ready, when I had finally realized, I was still in my pajamas. Knowing this, I rushed back to my room and went to get a new pair of clothes that I could wear to go on the long walk.

  Getting clothed, I picked up my briefcase and went over to Sakol’s room. When opening the door, I saw both Sakol and Ping jumping around and chasing each other with wide smiles across their faces. The laughter was pure and echoed through the entire room. This caused me to have a grin on my face, when I finally spoken out, “Are you ready?”

  Both of them quickly responded with a yes and went back to playing tag in that small room. After 10 minutes of going through my sibling’s rooms and making sure everyone was prepared to go, I went over to my parent’s room once again expecting them to answer the door. A few knocks later, my mother opened the door once again, and to my surprise, they were ready to start going. My dad and my both freshened up and wore their most comfortable clothes they have in the closet. My dad had a plain white shirt and some shorts, with my mom also wearing a shirt and shorts. My dad carried two bags, to which I presumed were clothes and food. My mom only carried one bag and with this bag, she carefully held close to her body.

  “What’s in that bag, Mom?” I asked her with an innocent voice.

  “Oh, this bag? It’s just something important. You know, valu
ables and such,” she responded back without hesitation.

  “Can I see what’s inside?” I continuously asked her with questions, insisting on looking inside the covered up bag.

  “No, no, no, just get your stuff, we’re going soon okay? Tell your brother and sisters, don’t be late, we’ll meet you in a few minutes.” At this point my dad went up to the door and closed it shut.

  Once again, I went to both my brother and older sister’s rooms to tell them to start going downstairs and waiting there since they’ll come down soon. They all got their bags and briefcases and headed down to the dining table. With me last, I went to get my brown briefcase, and followed them downstairs. I looked up one last time and once again thought to myself that I’m going to leave this house soon for a few days, wishing I could just stay here forever. While going down the stairs, I looked down and a small tear dropped to the wooden floor, “I don’t want go, I don’t want to leave, I regret having the soldiers coming back here every day.” I whispered to myself.

  As I went to the dining table, I grabbed a seat and sat down, talking with my four siblings whom I all love dearly.

  “What do you think’s going to happen to us, to our home, to this city?” Ping asked everyone sitting at the table.

  “I bet it’s all going to be bombed, down to the ground, burned like ashes, and once again, through the rubble, the Khmer soldiers will rise and fight the Americans. We will win, and we will be victorious if the bombs ever hit.” Sakol spoke back to Ping with a large smile across his face.

  “Don’t be silly, you don’t have to worry, nothing’s going to happen to you, to this home, to anyone or anything in Cambodia. It’s just a threat, you understand that right Ping?” Lynn tried to say back to Ping in order to calm her down from the fear of this home getting destroyed. The only thing Lynn didn’t realize was that Ping isn’t the only one scared of the house getting destroyed; I too never want to leave this place in which I call home.

  “Hey Lynn, don’t try to make it sound all nice and full of hope. There is a reason why we have to move, not just because of a threat, it’s because it’s real.” Sakol argued back with Lynn’s statement.

  “Don’t try to scare everyone Sakol, look at Ping right now, her eyes look like they are full of fear, she isn’t even saying anything right now.” Sophea said as she tried to defend Lynn.

  “Okay, okay, maybe you’re right. Maybe this whole place is going to burn down to the ground and lay in its path when we come back is just going to be ashes and burned memories. However, there is a chance where nothing will happen and we are going to come back in one, two, or even three days after living out in the countryside.” Lynn yelled back at Sakol as the argument started to get tenser.

  “I don’t get a say in this, I don’t want this place to go down. I love it here, it’s where I was born, where I stayed all my life, it better not go down, it better not get destroyed when we come back.” I interrupted everyone sitting at the table.

  “I agree, I don’t want anyone to die, and you better understand I don’t want this house to die or burn or fall down!” Ping said as she raised her voice in front of everyone.

  After a few moments of senseless arguing, the dining table became more hectic and everyone there started to get more angry and tense.

  “Don’t you dare start making stories about death? Ping and even Seang are going to get scared,” Lynn screamed at Sakol sitting at the opposite side of the table.

  “Well, you better listen too, because the world isn’t always happy. They better start learning soon about death and destruction now, or they’re going to be scared forever. I am trying to make them act more like adults; they should learn more about the negative aspects of this world that we live in. It’s not just fun forever, there is going to be sadness.” Sakol efficiently responded back to Lynn.

  As the voices started to get louder Sophea stepped into the argument once again “Calm down, we are going soon, just get your bags and be prepared to head out, Mom and Dad are going to come soon.”

  Coincidentally, both our parents were headed downstairs and we could see their feet coming down each step making a creak on the wooden staircase. I looked closely and could see my dad holding two bags filled with clothes and extra food in case we ever needed to eat along the way. Looking at my mother, I could see a covered up bag held between her left arm and the side of her body. It was small enough to fit money or jewelry, but looked heavy as if it was carrying gold bars inside. Wasn’t gold for emergencies only, do they think it is a real emergency and we should be scared I thought to myself with the sight of my mother holding our most valuable currency in her hands.

  “Okay, is everyone ready? Let’s go out, I think the soldiers and tanks are still out there, will just follow them okay?” my mother said in the most calming voice.

  Everyone obviously agreed to what she said and all of us headed out of the house to the rusty gate. I looked at the gate and thought to myself that this may be the last time I ever touch or see this gate, let alone this house ever again. I took a deep breath as my brother pushed the gate open and outside, I saw the tanks and soldiers all marching across the road. Carefully listening to the speakers, it was true that not only us. However, everyone in Phnom Penh had to evacuate the city based on the commanding officer’s orders, and that this was an emergency evacuate because there will be American bombs dropping in the city. Maybe the bombs will drop, maybe the bombs will hit our home, I hope not, please when we come back it stays upright.

  There was one soldier that spotted us at the gates and pointed us in the direction to where we were headed. I knew this city and its road, if we were to follow this path straight ahead, we would end up going to the countryside where all the field work gets done. All of us agreed to the soldier’s command and followed him along the dusty path.

  Walked