All I Want to Know Is If You're Alive

The next day, Elizabeth was following her mother and three sisters to Bull Run. The night before, Elizabeth decided, for the sake of her mother, that it would be best to go with them and pretend to have a good time. She followed her mother and sisters as they turned onto a dirt path into a forest. Other people were also heading that way, picnic baskets in hand.

“See Elizabeth, aren’t you glad you decided to come with us?” Her mother asked. Elizabeth just nodded, and looked around at some of the other people. A battle between the two sides was the talk of most of the people along the path. This confused Elizabeth some as she listened, so she asked her mother about it.

“Apparently, our army, according to our neighbors, is expecting a quick victory here. So most people decided to come and watch the battle.”

“Then why did you ask me to come along?” Elizabeth asked.

“You need to get out of the house for a little bit, and this was the only way to do exactly that.”

Elizabeth stopped midway in her tracks and just stared at her mother. She knew that it wasn’t the only way to get her out of the house. Plus, her fiancé might be fighting in the battle, so there was a chance that she would see her love die. Her mother was now far up ahead, so Elizabeth sat on the ground, leaning against a large boulder and closed her eyes for a while.