It was a dry day without a cloud in the sky
My brother and sisters were playing make-believe on the second floor of our house.
Our mother was at the farm picking eggplants telling us to set fire to the clay stove when the clock strikes 11:00.
We the children were absorbed in our play that we played on over eleven o'clock.
When soon after, I felt lightning, a flash of light, and I was under the rubbles unable to move an inch next second.
I struggled to free myself, but the movement just caused pain, and I resigned to scoping the outside world.
I spotted my two elder sisters. I cried out "help help". They ran over right away and tried to help me out but the wall structure was blocking and push or pull it did not move.
The eldest sister told me "hang in there little longer, mommy and daddy will be back soon, I will go out and get help" and went out to get help.
I was lying beneath the wall structure made from mud and wood peeping out from its little gaps to see the outside looking for the site our mom and dad to come to help me.
Soon my sister brought along 4 to 5 sailors who helped me out of the rubbles. We lurched towards the bomb shelter when we heard another yell "help". It was my little brother.
The eldest sister noticed the sound. She removed mountains of roof tiles and pulled him out.
Then we heard another sound slightly further away. A cry of a little girl.
Our two years old sister was under the rubbles of what was our house. We hurried down to the place where the sound was coming from.
Our sister's legs were caught between the beams and crying hysterically.
The sailors joined their strength to remove the beam but it was large with four components joined together and it was completely immobile.
Our sister was flapping her arms and crying from the pain. Sailors started to give up and when other on-lookers went out to get further help they hastily left the site.
Why is our mother so late? Please come back. Our sister's legs will be torn.
I was completely at loss and stretching out looking for help.
And I saw someone rushing straight towards us. The hair was in a mess.
It was a woman. She looked naked. She had a purple body.
She cried out loudly to us. It's our mommy.
"Mommy" we shouted back loudly.
Fires started to rise around us in many places.
The next-door neighbor appeared and tried real hard groaned and moaned to remove the beam that sandwiched my sister's legs.
but the beam did not budge. Uncle took a big sigh showing huge disappointment. "It seems we have to give up" and gave us a bow and moved away.
The fire lit up in the immediate vicinity.
My mother's face turned deep blue.
Mom looked down on my little sister.
My sister's small eyes were looking up from below.
Mom's eyes moved around examining the beams overlaps.
She eventually, slipped herself in a small gap, placed her right shoulder, clenching her lower lip, put her all the strength into it, and with a crisp sound, the beam lifted and her legs were freed.
A big sister pulled her out immediately.
Mom also jumped up.
And she hugged my sister tight in her chest.
After a brief moment, reality set in and we all started to cry.
When mom heard us crying, she just squatted down on the spot as though all the strength had left her.
The bomb detonated when our mother was working picking eggplant,
I was hit by a bomb.
Her overwear and work clothing were all burnt and blown away and she was almost naked.
Her hair looked as if it were over-permed, reddish, and frizzy.
The skin was severely burnt and fluid was oozing out.
The skin on her shoulder where she lifted the beam had peeled off exposing the red fresh and bleeding.
Mom fell down, her strength leaving from her body.
She began to writhing and moaning with pain and that evening, she passed away in agony.
Translated by myself. A composition of then-10 years old girl. From Mr. Yoshi Ｔｏｉ book.