Life Is Beautiful

Rebecca felt her hearts pace get faster and she felt like the air was closing in on her.
"Wh- What?" She managed to stutter out.
Her father grabbed her by the shoulders again and looked her dead in the eye, "Go, now."
His words started clicking in her head and she ran straight for her room.
As soon as she was inside her bedroom she grabbed a suitcase from under her bed and started rummaging and ransacking her drawers for all the clothes she could manage to fit in the suitcase.

She heard the ring of the phone and the hushed voice of her father.
She didn't stop packing and grabbed all her toiletries from her vanity mirror.
She stared at her reflection for a quick second, the tears in her eyes had already fallen but had stopped.
Her cheeks were red, and she felt queezy.

She ripped her eyes from the mirror and ran over to her suitcase filling it with all her things.
She pressed down on the top of the suitcase to make it stay, so she could fasten the lock.
Rebecca grabbed her suitcase from the bed and walked to the doorway, where she stopped and turned to look at her room.

Memories flooded through her mind from her childhood and she could see everything vividly.
She saw her mother and father playing hide and go seek with her in this very room. She saw herself fixing her fathers hair and dressing her mother for a dinner party. She even recalled the time when her father and mother read her the best story she had ever heard.

But David Straughten had interrupted Rebecca's thoughts and grabbed her hand leading her to the sitting room.
"Rebecca darling, we're leaving now. Hand me your suitcase and follow me to the backyard. Make sure mother keeps quiet and hold on to her tightly."
Rebecca nodded and registered what he had said. She went over to her mother and grabbed her hand.
"Mother, we have to go." She whispered softly, and helped her mother up.
Adalinda Straughten held tightly onto her daughter and walked over to her husband, following him out of the house.
"Father, where are we going? What if they catch us?" Rebecca whispered to her father as they were walking outside.
"Trust me Rebecca." He stopped at the wall that disconnected them from they're neighbors the Henry's.

"Peter?" David Straughten called out into the darkness and kept his tone quiet.
"I'm here David, throw the suitcases." They heard the voice of Peter Henry, their loyal and faithful neighbor and close friend.

The Henry's had offered the David Straughten and his family to hide in his basement which was hard to discover. The basement had a pull down ladder that blended straight in with the ceiling.
David had agreed thankfully and fortunately for his family. He had not mentioned one thing to Rebecca about it, because there was no need to scare her or frighten her more than she possibly was.
He kept it a secret until today when they received the letter.

David threw the suitcases over the fence but you didn't hear a thud, Peter Henry had caught them.
"Alright, now cross over." Peter whispered the words and handed the suitcases to his wife who ran into the house.
David turned to look at his daughter and spoke very gently, "Rebecca, you're going to have to jump over first. You're the lightest, and I'm going to give you a boost. You're going to have to jump from my hands."
She gulped and nodded feeling her hands tremble.
"Alright, put your foot in my hands." Her father knelt down and intertwined his hands together.
Rebecca let go of her mothers hand and placed her foot in her fathers hands gently and grabbed onto the top of the wall.
"Steady, now jump." Her father whispered to her. She nodded and pushed herself up, swinging one leg over the side of the wall.
"Jump Rebecca." Her fathers voice was heard from the top of the wall and she looked over at Mr. Henry.
His hands were open and in position to catch her, she closed her eyes and jumped.
Falling into the arms of Mr. Henry.
She released a big breath of air and stood waiting for her parents to cross over.

"Rebecca sweetie, could you help me with your bags?" Mrs. Henry spoke to Rebecca and pointed towards the house.
"Yes Mrs. Henry." She followed Mrs. Henry into the house and grabbed the suitcases that were on the floor by the door.

"Follow me to the basement." Mrs. Henry grabbed two of the four bags and walked to the back of the hallway where the pull-down ladder was open.
Rebecca followed her up the stairs and into the basement.

There were different sections of the basement. Doors separating each one.
"I'll show you to your room." Mrs. Henry spoke softly and smiled at Rebecca.
Rebecca smiled back and walked into the room that Mrs. Henry had opened for her.
Mrs. Henry stood by the door, "I'll place your stuff here by the door and I'll leave you to arrange your things."
"Thank you Mrs. Henry." Rebecca smiled and Mrs. Henry turned to exit but Rebecca's voice stopped her.
"Mrs. Henry?"
"Yes?" She turned and looked at Rebecca.
"I just wanted to say thank you to you and your husband again for what you're doing for us. What you're risking. It really means a lot to me, and of course my family."
Mrs. Henry smiled and walked over to the fifteen year old girl.
"It's our pleasure, and Rebecca I'm sure you would do the same for us. Now get settled in, we'll bring you up some dinner." She hugged Rebecca and shook her playfully.
Rebecca smiled and embraced Mrs. Henry.
She repeated the words thank you over and over in her head.