Bloodstained Gardenias by Renzo Puntarelli Valenzuela

I close my eyes and remember the harrowing noises from the war; they are still damp with tears. I watch these memories all go by like a film; the people, the fear, that first time a bomb burst into the silence of the night. Sweet dreams shattered by a gunshot. I remember my people, the horror on their faces and the feelings come flooding back. I quickly got up from my bed and ran to find my little sisters in the room next to mine.  Everything was rumbling, the walls were cracking, the ceiling was cracking and the dust that had sat on the corners of the high walls, began to fall like snow on our heads. The smell of old, forgotten blood and fear filled the air.