Earliest Memory

“Mea!” My mother screeched. Her eyes were wide with fear, just like mine. She was shaking and clutching my wonderful baby sister, Marsia.
Marsia was exploding with tears; she sensed something absolutely horrible happening and she was right, something, indeed, horrible was happening just Marsia and I didn’t know what it was. It was Marsia’s “Super-Power,” she always knew when the people she loved were upset. She was a very wise nine-month-year-old. Though, I wasn’t thinking about those things. My four-year-old brain was wondering why an alarm that sounded a tad bit different then the fire alarm that would ring in the odd pre-school fire drills, was ringing at the moment. I hadn’t smelled a smoke, but maybe it was in another room? One “Beep” that had been louder than the others, rang through my ears. My lip started to quiver, I ran to my shaking mother who had been shaking and staring straight ahead towards were the door that lead out of our house was. I pulled on the bottom of her dress. I put my hands over my ears.
I cried, “Make it stop, Mommy!”
She pushed Marsia closer up on her shoulder and grasped my hand, squeezing it tightly. I could have not pulled my hand away if I tried, but why would I want to try?
My Mother cursed under her breath. She didn’t look in me in the eye when she instructed me: “Meena, We are not safe here. We have to go.” Her voice refused to not shake.
“Zing?” I blurted out. Zing was an floppy-eared brown bunny that I had, had since I was a baby. I couldn’t sleep without him.
My Mother pointed to an side pocket in a big backpack she had on. In the one she pointed to, floppy ears stuck out. I nodded.She grasped my hand and we walked out of the non-burning house as fast as we could. I didn’t know why we were leaving. The grass was wet and spiky and since we were barefoot, slipping was destined to happen. I started to stumble, my mom looked at me,she had a small frown on her face. Mom started walking a little faster.. Past the tree with the tire swing that had been hanging from the elder oak tree for generations. We ran into the woods that surrounded our pale yellow house, the one place my mother told my sister and I never to go into. She didn’t have to explain why. With the shadowy trees and murky vibe had told me enough. I thought monsters lived in there and my Mom didn’t want me or my sister to go in there so the monsters wouldn’t take us away.
“Mommy! The monsters!” I remember saying at some point. My Mother ignored me and kept running. We entered the forest, I felt as if all the tree’s shadows were monsters ready to gobble my Mother, Marsia, and I up. I was so confused. I don’t know how I did it, but I didn’t ask questions or spoke in general. I guess I was frightened and my Mother is my Mother. I knew I could trust her with my life.
My Mother stopped abruptly in front of gray, slick, metal, box thing. There was a small handle with a lock hole in the middle of it.
She moved slowly to the ground, placing Marsia’s head on the dirt ground. Now imagine, this dirt was covered in twigs, leaves, most likely small critters like roly polies, things like that. Marsia really is amazing, even as a baby she didn’t complain.
Marsia stuck her thumb into her mouth and curled up into a small little ball of baby. Her slightly too big onesie’s hood was hanging over eyes. She closed her eyes, ready for an nap.
My Mother patted the few brushes of orange hair Marsia had gotten from our father. I had gotten my Mom’s very curly (and knotty) dark, chocolate hair.
I sat next to my sister, I took over the job of petting my sister’s head while my mother pulled a necklace on her neck towards the slick metal box box thing. She pulled a key hanging off from it into the keyhole.
“Shhh Marrey,” I mumbled. Even though Marsia was being quiet, I felt the need to say it to her. In a comforting way not an “be quiet” way.

Now it was my Mother’s time to “shh” me. Though, it wasn’t to be comforting. It was to quiet me. She passed me Zing and continued her work. She let out a sigh of relief when she could push down the handle and open a seemingly invisible door. I squeezed Zing a little tighter. She walked over Marsia and picked her up, cradling her in her arms. I then followed her into the sleek, metal, doorway. Inside the doorway was a small dark box like place, but once you climb out you (you could slip out of it easily) would see a much larger hallway that was also sleek and metal like the door and you would see that the entrance part looked like an shelf. We didn’t have to duck to get in. It was taller and wider with doors that were identical to the entrance except slimmer and taller. Actually, everything in the hallway was matching the slick, metal, theme of the entrance. Floor curved up to the walls. My Mother ducked into shelf\entrance and locked the door with the key on the chain hanging around her neck.
“Wow,” I said. I remember dropping Zing and my mother snatching it up and putting it in her bag. She smiled, then frowned.
“C’mon, Mea,” she said. I held onto her dress and pulled a little.
“Mommy, where are we?” I asked her with wide eyes.
“You’ll see,” She said. I didn’t understand how she could be so worried than when we arrive in this foreign place, she looked relaxed and only a little stressed. “Let’s go.” I followed her as she walked towards an door at the end of the hallway. She pulled down the handle and entered a room were we stood out like a sore thumb. People stood around a darker metal table.

And that’s my earliest memory.