Life in Scotland was good until last year, 1941. World War 2 had started, and chaos was on the rise. I didn't understand it much. After all, I was seven. Well.. I'm nine now, but that doesn't really matter.

German soldiers had come to Scotland for some reason. Mother said it was like Scotland was under "house arrest". I don't know what that is either. She said I wasn't allowed to go anywhere after school anymore, and that I wasn't allowed to be out past 9:30pm. She said it was the new curfew. What is curfew..?

Mother is sick now. She hasn't had the time to go out anymore. She let's me do whatever now. I decided to play outside, not knowing how close it was to curfew. I was just playing hopscotch on the concrete sidewalks by the road, humming a little tune to myself. Humming familiar tunes brought me comfort when I was down or in uncomfortable/unfamiliar situations, especially now.

The sound of heavy thudding boots against the road snapped me out of my focus. I take out the small watch mother had gifted me before father had passed and froze. It was 9:40pm. I was way past curfew.

The sound of heavy barking came from behind me. Soldiers kept dogs with them sometimes. Mother said they were Dobermans or German Shepherds. This one sounded like a German Shepherd.

Before I could turn, I was pinned to the ground. The dog had pounced on me. It didn't seem angry nor feral. It just seemed to be doing it's job. It was heavy though. My lungs felt as if they were being crushed...

The dog suddenly whimpered and I felt it get off of me. I sit up, my hands and knees scraped and slightly bleeding as I look up at the soldier, the owner of the dog. I was terrified. He seemed huge compared to me, like the giants mother would read about in my old story books.

His stare was intense as he stared down at me. I couldn't tell what he was going to do with me, and it scared me even more.