Carl's family moved in the house across the street when I was three. He was the youngest of his family, age two, his sisters' were a few years older than us. We would go play at the park down the street or make fun games in the yard. The five of us did everything together as we grew older. One big happy family. In high school his sisters grew distant from us, finding men they had got interested in and left Anniston to start their own families and lives. With just us two alone, we grew closer together.

It was funny because his sisters' would always tease us about me and Carl growing up and getting married, and it always used to make us angry and we'd deny everything about it. At sixteen my cousin moved in to the house with his eight year old daughter. He took care of me and paid the bills to the house. I didn't really leave my room much at that time, and if I did I was at Carl's home. My schoolwork was piling up, and I had a lot of troubles with me, however Carl stayed with me and supported me through the school years.

We got married immediately after graduation. Over the years I had gained feelings for the man I had spent my childhood with, and he had done the same. I knew that with him I could get through everything and not be alone. He was my best friend, the person I cared for the most. My love for him was strong, and I couldn't do without him.

Carlisle was born not long after our marriage, I was only nineteen. The War in Vietnam was still raging on, growing worse with our men leaving America each day to fight. The body count rose on. We didn't think Carl was going to get drafted, as so much time had passed already during the war. He was older than the typical age, shying away from anything that could reveal his younger age and good health so he wouldn't have to leave. Eventually the men at the office had caught on to his supposed back injuries that he had been claiming to have, and was taken shortly after to fight.

I didn't know it at the time, but I was pregnant yet again with our second child. I named him Lucas, Carl's middle name. The boys grew without their father by their sides, but instead on the screen or in the very few letters we had gotten to exchange during his time away. Lucas and Carlisle lived on the war stories Carl told them, so proud of their father and how brave he was. For Lucas, when his father returned home, it'd be his first time meeting him, an emotional event, no doubt. Carlisle, however, will just be glad to have his father home again, with barely any memories of him from their time together in his babyhood.

Carlisle was strong, calm and silent. He wasn't much of a trouble maker, choosing love over hate, though he just wasn't that outgoing, tending to be more silent than the other kids his age. Lucas was the opposite of his brother, loud, sociable and sometimes very emotional. I wonder at times, what he would've been like if his father was around to raise him as well. Both of them had grew up happy children, however this sudden downfall, against what they were wishing for most in the last few years, will crush their little spirits.

In the corner of my eye, I could see that the moonlight that peeked through the curtains, shone itself across a shiny object in the back of the room, fairly hidden. The object was small and crusted with rust, I didn't need to look to know what it was. Sobs coated with dust in the suddenly foggy room choked me until I dropped to the floor, tears raking down my face.

I had hidden the cellar door as best as I could behind an old painting for these last few years, but the kids must have been playing again, curious to what hides behind the bolted door. My hands clutched at my heart as I stayed in a ball on the floor, eyes closed shut. In the dark of my eyelids, I could still see the room and the frayed rope, hearing my screams ring throughout the space in my skull.