Honorable Smile

    I woke up. There were multiple eyes staring at me. I heard the mumbling and chattering of children and a few teenagers. I didn’t know where I was, nor what time it was. A few faces were familiar, but… why here? The children helped me up as I stumbled on the carpet floor. They looked at me sadly, and asked for my name. That was when the door of one of the most painful adventures opened.

    I’m Crystal Lofta. I have naturally white hair and bright blue eyes. I had a family only consisting of my parents, where as the rest I barely knew. I was an only child living in a large house that I was alone in most of the time. I stay calm most of the time, but I tend to get easily scared or even panic.

    The place I woke up in was an secret facility connected to the Black Market and multiple gangs that were both either international or just regional. It was an underground project that consisted of extremely intelligent and murderous beings creating an advanced machines to kill people quickly and orderly. The small building I was in was only a minor one out of the hundreds left in the world. They had a very organized and well thought way to quickly and quietly kidnap many children within the age range of 5 to 15 years old. A few times a week, specially trained guards would be sent out in disguise and kidnap the targeted children that they hacked through their family computers. The children were organized into things called Sectors. The Sectors were determined by how long ago they were kidnapped and how many Sectors they have at that point. Each day, one Sector would disappear with all the children in the sector being killed by the machines and their organs being illegally sold in the Black Market. What was left of their lifeless bodies were buried, where the bodies would decompose and create fertile soil for farming plants made to create illegal drugs to also be sold in the market.

    The Sector I was in had about a week and a half or so until we would be called onto the machine, which was known as “The Falling Day”. My Sector had mostly little kids from around the ages of 8 to 15 year olds. The only 15 year old was a guy with black hair and green eyes named John. He was like the leader of the Sector and I was second in command. He eventually devised a plan to finally break down the facility and bring the entire operation to the government’s attention. The plan was carried to every Sector, even though many disappeared over time. The hardest part was that there were many children there that I knew and loved.

    The Falling Day was finally upon my Sector. The guards warned us that we had a few minutes to get lined up. As we lined up, I looked outside the door for a second wondering if the plan would work. John then took my hand and pulled me back into the room before I was noticed. Tears began to stream down my face, and all the children in the room gave me a group hug to wish me luck. I didn’t know who would leave the facility alive, but I couldn’t just be weak. The life risks that would be taken should surely be worth the thousands locked away around the world in facilities just like this. I hugged them all back and gave a kiss on the forehead to the youngest girl who would be in front of the line and take her own life in the machine to help us all. She couldn’t speak and no one knew her name. I don’t want to let such a sweet girl like her go, and she doesn’t want to go either. She quickly gave me a kiss on the cheek as she ran off the front of the line. The only thing that hurts more right now than seeing her in front, is watching her smile as she does it. Jack put a hand on my shoulder knowing how hurt I am. We were finally lined up and we began to move forward into the room where the large machine stood with blood all over it.

    We all got onto the moving path, that automatically brought us to the machine. That little girl was still smiling as she approached the machine. As she was being hooked up, I looked behind me to find John nodding at me with the expression of the moment of truth. John immediately jumped of the moving path and punched one of the guards in the face. I followed and began to fight two others. We took the guns they had in hand and destroyed them in just the right parts for them to never be fired again. All the other children ran off the machine and began to fight. Three children stayed fighting with us, while the other split up to go to the Sector rooms to free the others. All sectors began to open, and several children began to fight and take down the guards one by one. A 13 year old eventually came in with guns, swords, and a couple bombs in hand from the room they kept for minor terrorist attacks. I took a sword and a gun in each hand. John quickly took the bombs and placed them near the strongest and top guards and set short timers. Many children noticed (being part of the plan), and ran off quickly leaving the guards unaware before the bombs would be let off. The explosions were huge and extremely loud. I however… don’t remember exactly what happened at that moment right after.

    I woke up outside the facility where there were ambulance, fire trucks, and police cars everywhere. The facility was destroyed with small fires scattered across it. There were many dead bodies of both guards and children on the ground. I looked up and saw the sky for the first time in what felt like a long, long time. I could feel the gentle wind and could smell what was left of the mourning dew. Many adults began to surround me as well as cameras and news reporters. They called me a brave hero and very lucky to have survived. A hero… that’s the last thing I was. Not many children made it out alive. Not even John made it. He was the toughest out of all of us when we started and when it all ended for him. People kept asking me about the explosion and what that building was. The government had no idea this ever existed. After a few weeks of recovering, I explained every little detail I knew. Who the children were, the reason they did all this, everything. In return, they explained many things to me. They told me how they killed everyone in my home while they slept and how almost all my friends were dead as well. I was heartbroken. I thought the most painful thing was watching that little girl die smiling, but I was wrong.

    I couldn’t speak much for a long time, and I didn’t show much emotion either. I was enrolled in a large orphanage, where I was quickly adopted and cared for very well. They even got me to speak and show emotion again. Not long after, I was invited to Washington DC where I would receive the Medal of Honor for taking such high achievements as to bring the entire operation to the government’s attention as well as taking one of the buildings down. The entire world began to look up to me and know me as a hero to never be forgotten in history. I never wanted to hear that. What kind of hero lets all the people she knew and loved die like that? But I continued to move forward.

    I began to finally live a somewhat normal life after a few years, although I received much money from the government as their gratitude. I only accepted it sometimes for college and other needs. When I was 21, I met a nice gentleman and even married him after a few years. We grew a small family and kept our twin children, Jacob and Melody, safe, but with many adventures to still be had. Over time, I grew old and weaker. As I turned 93, I began to receive medical attention from a stroke. I lied on the hospital bed, knowing that I had only a few moments left. Melody and Jacob were all grown up with children of their own. My grandchildren, who were Melody’s kids, stood next to me with tears in their eyes begging me not to go. Melody’s little girl then gave me a kiss on the cheek and smiled. I knew that smile before. She seemed just like that little girl from many years ago. I never forgot that smile she gave me. I’m sure that she has just been reborn to become my grandchild. I couldn’t be happier to know that she would be the last thing I would see. My eyes began to fade to black, and the smile my grandchild gave me faded. Everything went to black, and everything turned silent…

    My head popped off my pillow to find tears covering my face. I looked out the window next to my bed to find that it was mourning… and that it was all a dream. It all felt so real that I actually could almost still hear Jacob and Melody’s sweet voices. And I could still feel the warmth of the kiss on the cheek that one girl gave me. I’ll never forget her… ever.