Running for Our Lives

All I can see are are tired, hungry underweight men bouncing up and down as they run for their lives. I am in the middle of the pack. My legs feel as if the are no longer controlled by my mind. They just know not to stop. A man falls behind and he is shot. No questions asked. It feels that it was ages ago when we heard, “Block 57, forward! March!” But is has been just hours. I have never run so much in my life. The SS are constantly screaming at us too keep running and all I can think of is my mom and my sisters. It has been to long to tell when the last time I saw them was. I hope they are safe and they do not have to run as we are. If only I could talk to them. A gunshot just went off. Someone had fallen behind. Every gunshot is another man's life. In the distance I can hear war waging on. Maybe, just maybe it will get to us soon. I know that then we will be saved. To my right I can see Zalman, a young Polish boy. He is complaining about his stomach but I keep urging him on. He cannot take it anymore. He has fallen behind. No gunshot though, maybe they didn't see him. The snow is still falling and I am not getting any warmer. These thin garments protect us from nothing. My foot is still aching from my surgery. I can only think off a time before all this madness when I had stepped on my toy. I left it on the ground in bedroom before bed and when I woke up I was filled with pain when my foot had landed directly on the sharp edge. I have to smile while thing about that because of how bad I thought it was back then but it is just a little prick compared to what I am feeling now. It is weird, I cannot remember the last time I smiled as I am now. For some reason death seems like a fascinating idea right now. Relief from my pain, my hunger, my worries and this life I am living. But I must stay alive for my father. He is to my left, out of breath, out of strength and desperate. I cannot die. What will he do without me? I will push on. I forgot I am still running. My legs are working as if they are not attached to my body any longer but only carrying it to the end. It is impossible to slow now. In a mere second I would be trampled by this wave of men, desperate to stay alive. I can see the SS