#16: Complications

Michiko awoke to someone screaming. She bolted straight up in her bed and looked around. There were men all around them. One dragging Chokichi out. How had she allowed herself to fall asleep? What was going on? She thought as she sprung into action. She grabbed hold of her brother and held on tight. The man tried to pull him from her grasp but she kicked him in the chin. He let out a cry and let go of Chokichi. Seeing that the door was open, she tried to get away with Chokichi but something grabbed her from behind and pulled her back into the room. Chokichi began to cry as another man grabbed him. Someone slammed Michiko down against the concrete floor, leaving her disoriented. Trying to break free of her assailant, she squirms under his grip. She hears a rough laugh rupture from his lips, able to be heard over the noise of everything else. She struggled against his iron grip, desperate to get her brother and get away. But to where? she thought.
       "Let me go!" She demanded.
       "Not a chance sweetheart," he said, "You see, our boss realized that there were going to be some, let's say, complications in bringing you and your brother into America, so we are going to have to use plan 'B'."
      For one reason or another, Michiko didn't like the way that sounded.

#15: Just me ranting...again

   I hate migraines. They are terrible. I always have a headache and its always hard for me to focus. I might end up taking all my exams on top of everything else! I used to like school, but junior year is absolutely terrible. I do not understand why some of my friends feel the need to rub their grades in my face. I am happy for them to have good grades, but sometimes they go a little far as to insult me personally. I do not appreciate it in the least. So now I am sitting in my room, listening to some classical music to try to calm me down. I can't afford to get worked up because I have to take the PSAT tomorrow and since I am a junior I am eligible for National Merit Scholarships if I do well enough on this. I have to do well on this, but at this point I am so tired I am having problems just spelling my name right. These past few months have been so busy. Fall break can not come soon enough! After tomorrow I'm free from school until Tuesday. Thank the good Lord!

#14: Journey

Michiko and Chokichi were on the ship for a few days. Their diet consisted of bread and beef jerky, which Michiko always gave to her brother. She was becoming weak, but didn't care. All she really cared about was keeping her brother safe. No one ever came to check on them. The closest things to human contact they had were the food deliveries in the morning and at night. That and each other. They both longed to be off of the ship, but the journey never seemed to end.
  Sometimes, in the middle of the night, Chokichi would wake up screaming because of he rats that were nibbling on his clothes. The rats were becoming more of a nuisance every day, and they seemed to double in number everyday.
  Michiko had made a few attempts to clean the room, but she soon realized that it was no use. Day after day they sat in that dimly lit room, staring into space. Michiko feared that they would go crazy on board the ship, being held captive. She had tried to get out of the room on many occasions, but there was no way to open the door from the inside. They were trapped.

#13: On Board- Part 2

Sometime during the night, Chokichi fell asleep in Michiko's arms. For the firs time this whole trip, Michiko allowed herself to cr. THe tears silently rolled down her face as she let the sadness overwhelm her. She missed her parents, and she missed the simple times. Now all she could do was worry and be scared. All the time, she was scared and couldn't hardly bear to think about the reality she and her brother were facing. She cried for her brother too, because he was so young but going through so much. She wished she could do more for him, but there was nothing she could possibly do.
  The night wore on in this manner. Michiko and Chokichi laying on a single cot, but neither of hem truly resting. Michiko didn't know it was morning until she heard the door open and saw and heard something metal sliding across he floor. THe door shut again and the two were left alone in the room. Michiko examined what was on the metal dish and found it to be two pieces of bread and some beef jerky. She woke Chokichi and made him eat, eating only a piece of the beef jerky herself.
 "Save your strength, my dear brother," she whispered in Japanese,"you will need it."

#12: Just me ranting. Has absolutely nothing to do with my story

Stress abounds as the pressure of junior year sets in. Having been out of school for a while because of illness, it is hard to keep up with missed school work and current school work. On top of all my honors and AP classes, and my health issues, it is hard to factor in my extracurricular activities like marching band. My grades are suffering because of all the things I have going on. This year is terrible. I hate junior year. On top of all of this, NaNoWriMo is coming up and I have no clue what I am going to write about! That's a problem!! It starts in less than a month and I have little to nothing on what I am going to write, what am I going to do?! Ahhh! NaNoWrimo is going to rip my soul out (again). I tried it last year but it was too stressful on top of my school work so I gave up after about 9,000 words. I will not give up this year, even if it means losing sleep (ha just kidding, I already don't sleep as it is! We need more hours in a day, for real)

#11: On Board

 Michiko searched the walls for a light switch. Once she found it, she flipped the single light bulb on and surveyed the room again. It really was a dump. Nothing looked even relatively clean, and it smelled as though the last living thing in the room died int the corner. It was stifling hot and humid also, not helping the stench at all. The gentle roar of the engine could be heard, but Michiko couldn't tell if there were any other human life forms aboard the ship.
  With a sigh, she gently placed Chokichi down on one of the cots. He laid his head on her shoulder, his hot tears sinking through her thin shirt. She felt just as bad as he did. She sang a few lullabies to him, tried rubbing his head and even telling a few jokes and stories, but nothing could stop the tears. Nothing could possibly console his broken should, nothing could bring back his cute little smile, or the joy that filled his eyes. Nothing.
  Reality had finally set in. They weren't going to see their parents again. They were alone, they only had each other. Michiko also came to he realization that she had failed Chokichi as his older sister, his guardian, and his comforter.

#10: Departure- Part 2

One man grabbed Michiko by the arms, another picked Chokichi up, gentle of his leg. The two men carried them out of the hospital, Chokichi crying the whole time. They were placed in the back of a van and the van drove off.
  Michiko and Chokichi were silent, not knowing what to do or say. Without seat belts, or seats for that matter, the two of them jostled around the back of the van every time the vehicle hit a bump or turn in the road. Michiko banged her head a few times and her vision went blurry. She tried to keep Chokichi as still as possible so he wouldn't get injured any further.
  After about an hour of jostling, the van finally came to a stop. THe doors opened to reveal the man in the suit again, who proceeded to lead them down a hill, Chokichi carried on his sister's back. They approached the docks and were told to get on a ship that looked like a cargo ship. He lead them below deck and into a small room with two cots, a blanket, a sink, a toilet, a mirror, and what looked like rat droppings. Michiko and Chokichi were shoved into the room, the metal door slamming shut behind them, leaving them in complete darkness.

#9: Departure

Chokichi cried himself to sleep, and Michiko, as usual, kept the ever watchful eye on him. he night seemed to drag on, hour after hour. Thoughts raced through Michiko's mind, trying to figure everything out. She refused to believe the words of that man, and better yet, she refused to give up. She vowed to herself that she would find a way out of this situation and get back to her family. If they are still alive she thought. She instantly disregarded the thought, thinking only positively. Morning finally came and the doctor came by to check on Chokichi, still sound asleep.
  "I'm going to put a hard cast on his leg today," he stated.
Michiko nodded and aroused Chokichi from his keep. Chokichi, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, sat up.Preparing his tools, the doctor hummed a familiar tune, one that Michiko and CHokichi's mom used to hum all the time.
  Once the hard cast was on, a few men came in and surrounded Michiko and Chokichi. A man, small compared to the others, wearing a suit stepped forward.
"Come children. It is time for us to leave."
  Michiko had heard that voice  before in the room! Michiko wrapped her arms around Chokichi, refusing to move.
 "I guess we'll have to do it the hard way." the man said with a smirk.

#8: Answers- Part 3

Michiko called out for the voice to speak again, but the silence continued throughout the room. Her head was spinning with all the information she had just been told. Surely that can't be true, Michiko thought. SHe knew her parents. They were hard working people that loved her and her brother THey were probably looking for them right now intact. That man had to be wrong. He didn't know what he was talking about, obviously.Michiko opens the door to he room to find the big man who had brought her there waiting.
  "Come." he said.
"I'm not going anywhere until I get more answers," she said stubbornly.
"You will not receive any now."
 Michiko still didn't budge. The man, seeing this as a nuisance, heaved Michiko onto his shoulder and carried her back to her brother. Her three her into the chair with a thud and walked away grumbling. Chokichi stirred and opened is eyes. There were tears in his eyes.
"Where you go Michi? I thought they take you too like momma and papa." he said in Japanese.
He started crying and Michiko held him in her arms to comfort him. He kept a death grip on her arm, as if his whole world would come crashing to an end if he ever let go.

#7: Answers- part 2

"Welcome, my dear!" a voice said.
  Michiko, startled, turned around to find the speaker, but there was no one there.
"Who are you? Where are you?" she asked frantically.
"That's not important. Don't you want to know why you are her?"
Michiko fell silent. She desperately wanted to know that information,so she figured silence was the best way to answer.
"That's right. I know everything you want to know about your situation. In fact, I'm the one in charge of the whole operation." the voice said with a laugh.
"Please, just let me and my brother go home,"
"Why, my dear child, I can't do that. You see, it would be bad for business. I was hired by a wealthy family as their 'adoption agent' so to speak. Basically my job is to find families with a questionable history and take their children and give them to the family I was hired by. It's quite simple: I give hem the children, they give me the money. Now you may be thinking 'But my parents never did anything wrong!' but you would be wrong. So very, very wrong. How well do you think you know your parents? Because I can guarantee you that you don't know them as well as you think."
The voice cuts off, leaving Michiko alone with her thoughts in the room.

#6: Answers

   Michiko quickly turned around to find one of the big, burly men who had brought her and her brother there. He was tall, maybe six feet, and had short black hair and a beard. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, his broad shoulders seemed like a brick wall. His face showed no emotion and his beady black eyes peered down at Michiko as if staring into her soul. He reached out a meaty hand, fingers like sausages, and grabbed her wrists. Kicking and screaming, she was dragged down several halls of the hospital. THough her screams echoed off of the walls, no one came to her aid. No one tried to save her. SHe was scared of where he might take her and who he was and what he wanted with her. Her mind wondered to her brother, alone in his hospital bed, and she thought of how scared he must be.Her voice was beginning to hurt from screaming.
   "Silence." the man ordered, squeezing her wrists tighter.
  Michiko, for fear of what he might do, fell silent as he led her through the halls. Eventually, they reached a room and the man ushered her in and shut the door, leaving her a lone in the room. Or at least, she thought she was alone.

#5: Waiting- Part 3

    It had been a whole day since they had been taken. A whole day of nothing except pain, curiosity, and sadness for Michiko and Chokichi. Time seemed to pass slowly in the hospital as Michiko kept a watchful eye on her brother-never sleeping for one moment and only getting up to use the bathroom when she absolutely had to. The pain medication made him drowsy, so she let him sleep. Blissfully, innocently, peacefully he slept. His broken leg elevated on a few pillows and his body cradled with many warm blankets. Wrapped up as if he were a baby, and, to Michiko, he still was.
     His innocent face now showed no signs of distress, when earlier it had been a battlefield of pain and tears. The only thing he had to worry about now was his dreams. His sister, on the other hand, had a war of her own going on in her head, trying to figure out their situation. Her mind continued to drift to her parents and what happened to them.
   She sat next to Chokichi's bed, hour after hour, pondering how to get away, what was going on, and worrying about her brother. She was so deep in thought that she didn't realize that someone was approaching her from behind until she felt a firm hand grab her shoulder.

#4: Waiting- Part 2

As soon as the doctor touched Chokichi's leg, Chokichi screamed out in agony. The doctor backed off a little bit. Michiko knelt by his side and held Chokichi's hands in one of her hands while brushing his tears away with the thumb of her other hand.
  "It'll be ok." She whispered to him in Japanese.
  The doctor, while Chokichi was looking at his sister, quickly snapped his small leg back so that it was straight again. Chokichi, mouth open and face contorted with pain, failed to make a sound as his face paled and the pain began to sink in. His breath quickened and his face paled as the doctor splinted his leg. In that moment, all Michiko wanted to do was take his pain away, to go back home and live out their normal lives. But as she sat there next to Chokichi, the longer she waited, and the longer she wished, things didn't change, yet she refused to give up. She had to be strong for her parents' and brother's sake. She just had to wait for that jolt to bring her out of this never ending nightmare.

#3: Waiting

   The strange men had taken them to a hospital, or at least something that seemed like one. Michiko couldn't recognize where they were other than the fact that they were somewhere near the coast because she could see the ocean from where she was standing. Chokichi continued to whimper in pain. Each time the sound came out of his mouth it broke a little bit of Michiko's heart. Her job as his older sister was to protect him, and instead he ended up with a broken leg, which Michiko assumed happened when she tried to shield him from the grenade.
    The big, burly men ushered the two of them into the dilapidated building that served as a hospital. Michiko laid her brother on one of the beds and the doctor came over. Some words were exchanged between the men and the doctor and then he walked over to Chokichi, who had a look of sheer terror in his eyes. A look that would break any sister's heart.

#2: Just the Beginning-part 2

  Michiko and Chokichi awoke to the feeling of being shaken. Everything was dark. The sound of an engine echoed. Michiko, sitting up up to gather her surroundings, realized they were in a van. The kind with no seats in the back. She frantically looked for Chokichi, listening to his sobs but not knowing where they were coming from. Huddled in the back corner of the van, Chokichi sat, cradling his leg, tears flooding his face.
   "Michi...Michi..." he whimpered.
  She crawled over to him and held him in her arms, examining his leg. It was too dimly lit to tell if it was discolored, but she could tell that it was broken, just from the feel of it. She gently stroked his head as he silently cried into her shoulder. Tears of pain, tears of sadness, tears of fear, streaming down his face.
   The rumbling of the van stopped and the engine cut off. Footsteps came around the back of the van and opened the door. Light flooded in and Michiko and Chokichi had to squint to see until their eyes had adjusted.
  "Get out" a husky voice ordered.
Chokichi, carried out on Michiko's back, began to let his sobs be heard.
   "Where are you taking us?" Michiko asked in her best English.
  "Oh good, you can speak English."
   "Where are you taking us?" She repeated.
   "To America," the man said, a wicked grin on his face.

#1: Just the Beginning

    She had never expected that they would come for her and her brother. Michiko had only been ten at the time, and her little brother only three years old, but they had both been taken. It had been a normal day. Michiko, playing violin in the living room of their apartment, was surrounded by her family, just like every other Saturday evening in Japan.
      Her mother had taught her to play violin when Michiko was three and she had been playing ever since. Sometimes they played duets together, but lately her mother had been feeling very ill, so she hadn't been able to play, but had given her violin to her daughter. Michiko, finishing her song, curtsied and a huge smile appeared on her face as her younger brother squealed in delight and approval. HIs squeal of approval, however, turned into a squeal of sheer fright.
       Glass shattered behind Michiko and she saw a small bulb land on the floor. Acting on instinct, she grabbed her violin and quickly jumped on top of her brother, shielding him before the grenade went off. The las thing she saw were a pair of shiny black shoes before everything slipped away from reality.