The sun cast the shadows of the trees. Dead bark and thin layers of leaves lie around every tree. The driveway was cracked, old, and black. Weeds shot out of the ground everywhere he looked. The driveway leads up to a small brown house with a black roof. It was stained all over with damaged tiles. Some of the brown boards had been ripped out of the house; spider webs were now showing.


A small green car now turned and began up the driveway. A small, stout man sat at the wheel. He had a bearded face and looked rather mad. Blood stained his face. He also looked rather worried.


In the backseat was a small girl sobbing. Her hands were tied behind her back and she was blindfolded. Her face was dirty and her long brown hair extended below her shoulders. She was small and from the looks of it she was weak and defensless. She felt the car come to a stop. Big hands yanked her out. They shoved her up the walkway. She stumbled and nearly fell several times. When she reached the steps the man guided her and then gave her a hard shove. She went sprawling on the hard floor and sat there.

“Get up!” the man yelled.

His hands once again grabbed her and pulled her to her feet. After a small distance they came to the stairs that lead down to the basement. He led her down 10 stairs and again shoved her down the last few. She hit the floor hard and lay unmoving once again.

Several hours later the girl’s eyelids shot open confused. She vaguely remembered being shoved downstairs. Her bonds were loose and her attempt to wriggle free was successful. When her hands were free she took off the blindfold.

A small room with a TV and a couch sat on her left. It looked as though it hadn’t been used in ages. The room she was in held nothing but a table, refrigerator, bathtub, and a whole bunch of small items like hooks lay everywhere. She looked at the fridge. She realized how hungry she had become. She hadn’t eaten sense being at the mall with her mom 9 hours ago. The girl went over to the fridge wondering if her mom was looking for her. She could almost hear her mom, “have you seen this little girl?” she would say holding up a picture. When she opened the fridge her appetite may have left the pit of her stomach for years.


The only thing a person would want to eat (cheese) had a large spot of mold on it. What was ten times worse was what lay inside the jars on the shelves. Most of the jars held blood but a few of them held small chunks of skin. She jumped back in fright and slammed the door closed. Are they going to kill me and put my blood in here?

She took another look around. A small window sat near the ceiling. I might be able to reach that if I stand on something. She saw a couple of logs that sat in the fireplace.

As she brought the logs over to the spot under the window she heard voices. With no idea where they came from she stood on the logs and peered through the window. She stared around; her eyes trying to cope with the darkness. Her eyes came to rest on a few men sitting around a fire. She could barely see them in the night. Crickets could be heard chirping.

She slowly and silently pushed the window open. She crawled into the night and tried to keep herself concealed and unheard. She had to stay on high alert and make sure no one spotted her. She darted from one bush to another trying to keep herself concealed. When she felt she was far enough away she stood up. She heard something. It was like a stream of water, but it didn’t smell like water.

She turned to see a man going to the bathroom on a tree. He must have heard her because he finished and very quickly turned to stare at her. The girl took off and headed for the trees that surrounded her. The next sound she heard would stay in her nightmares forever. A gunshot rang out into the night. It was fiercely loud and half a second later she heard the bullet pass beside her.

As she ran a little farther a second shot rang out. She felt no pain for a moment. Then as she ran tears poured down her cheek. She took a look at her hand and screamed. A red hole stared back at her. It seemed to be crying but it was only the blood streaming down her hand. The girl never stopped running.

She came to a small clearing in the trees. A small cabin sat in the middle. She felt as though she had been running for hours. Now she stared at a cabin that couldn’t be more than two rooms big. She had no idea how long or far she had run. All she was focused on were the two men that could be seen exiting the cabin.

“Find the girl,” he said. “She is the most valuable thing we have for a negotiation.

“Sir, we intend to find her,” said the other. “ I will send out search parties. She wont escape this time.”

Both of the men were wearing army uniforms. From what the girl could see, they didn’t look like USA army soldiers. They were dark men. Their uniforms didn’t seem professional. Something told her they were not going to be friendly people. She didn’t think they were from her own home country.

For the first time the girl thought about where she was. She could remember nothing about her journey here. She looked up above the cabin. A Vietnamese flag was hung high and proud.

The girl knew about the war that raged on between the American and Vietnamese troops. The girl knew for the first time while staring at the flag; she was in deep trouble.

She sat there on the ground for a minute; her eyes fixed on the flag. Why am I here? How could I possibly be part of a negotiation of some sort? The questions burned in her brain as she searched for answers.

She took another look at the cabin. The two men had left in a car and she no longer heard any noise. After a few minutes thought she made up her mind. She had to get into that cabin. It could hold files and maybe a first aid kit. She took one step from her cover behind the bushes. One, two, three!

She darted across the clearing not stopping for any thought. She threw the cabin door close after stepping inside. She took a look around. It looked like a civilian home. A nice couch sat in the corner. A nice TV hung above the fireplace. Two rifles were mounted on either side of the TV. A green rug sat under the couch and ran under the coffee table. Nice hardwood floors had been laid down and her eyes followed the neat patterns into what she believed was the kitchen.


A small white refrigerator sat in the corner. A microwave sat above the stove. It was ticking down on a timer. At the time she looked it had 13 minutes 6 seconds left. Why is that timer set?

Something caught her eye in the corner of the room. The wall seemed to be a little bit cut. It was hard to notice but she knew it was there. It looked to be in the shape of a door. A picture frame hung in the middle of the invisible door. Work on the disguise. She laughed at her joke.

She gave a hard push on the frame. It popped right open to reveal a dimly lit room. Almost like a closet. A desk sat against the wall.

She looked to see the locks ensuring ever door stayed very secure. Whoever put the locks on the door was really dumb to leave another cut in the wall the girl thought. She pushed on the small cut in the wall and it revealed a small key. She unlocked the drawers and saw what seemed to be files.

She peered at the files. Her stomach seemed to catch millions of butterflies. As she stared at the paper she knew the fate of her own country rested in her hands alone... Vietnam planned to bomb every major city in the United States of America.