Jackie and Cole could not believe that Mama had been taken away just shortly after their father had left for war. Now, the twins were left on their own; their beloved home burning down in front of them. They both stood there feeling completely helpless and weak as they watched their lives slowly crumble into a million pieces.

"Cole, come here." Jackie summoned looking gloomily at the empty house across the street that once was as lively as their house once was.

Now, it was blankly obvious that the four children had been taken into custody and so had the parents. Cole and Jackie were grateful for the fact they had survived, but they did not know if Nazis still could be lurking around, so they needed to be cognizant of that.

Houses were burning up and down the streets while the uproarious fire was spreading like a plague. Cole was staring off in the distance, most likely thinking about father or mama.

"Are you children alright?" Mr. Vandel asked, running over to their burned house.

    James Vandel was their next door neighbor who they had known for a long time, basically ever since they could remember.

Mr.Vandel appeared to be wearing flannel pajama pants and no t-shirt, which exposed his round belly.

Jackie swallowed, attempting to hold back tears, "Mama was taken away by the Nazis."

"Oh good God." Mr.Vandel said incredulously.

      "Our house," Cole started, still mesmerized at the fact his own house had been demolished, "it's g-gone."

~

Why hadn't the fire fighters come yet? I bet Cole would know, I'll ask him- Jackie thought.

"Cole, why aren't the fire fighters here yet?" Jackie blurted as she stood up from the bench and peered down the street.

"Slow. There's probably hundreds of burning houses in the area currently." Cole replied peeking through the door to check on Mr.Vandel who was still investigating inside the house.

"My condolences children, about your house." Mr.Vandel apologized as he opened the door letting a whiff of smoke linger around him, "and your mother, of course."

Cole and Jackie fell completely silent as they glanced at their home and back at Mr. Vandel.

"Do you have any other living relatives, Jackie?"

    Jackie began to ponder about her family. Both sets of their grandparents were deceased and had been for over ten years. Their father had no siblings, but their mother had an older brother. For the sake of their safety, Jackie decided on no.

     "Um, no, we do not." She replied, shooting her brother a quick glance.

    Cole lifted an eyebrow in confusion; He was aware that they had a living uncle somewhere in Poland.

  "Hmm, how about you come live at my cottage for the mean time until we can get you guys in an orphanage. At this time, during war, it would be way to hectic. Any-who, you both will be able to meet Finn, my nephew. He's twelve."

Jackie smirked a bit while Cole nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.

"Mr.Vandel, we do not have any clothes besides these. They will get quite dirty, sir." Jackie muttered under breath, looking down at her dress.

WEEHO WEEHO WEEHO

Fortunately, the firetrucks arrived, determined to save as many homes as possible. For the Clugsglot twins, their home was barely on fire anymore yet the firefighters continued to water down the house.

###

"Look at it!" Jackie screamed after the fire fighters left as she cupped her mouth and stared wide eyed at her house, "Our house is complete gone . . ."

Absentmindedly, Jackie began to cry even though she was in Mr.Vandel's presence.

To their surprise, piles of clothes were saved from their closet upstairs which they were happy about. Jackie got her stuffed bunny, Nancy, back, which she got for her fifth birthday and still treasured.

At the sight of his sister finding a treasured item, Cole scavenged through the rubble in hopes of finding some of his own.

    As he was digging, he saw the edge of a thin wooden beam. Eager to see what it was, he dug further through the rubble. Just then, to Cole's surprise, he had found the picture of father that Mama was eager to grab. A hazy mist formed over Cole's bright blue eyes as he looked at the picture. It was truly an excellent capture of father because he looked genuinely happy to be wherever he was, which brought a smile to Cole's face.

"Children, let's go! hup, hup," Mr.Vandel urged as he started up his car, the smell of exhaust immediately filling their noses.

     Before leaving, he grabbed the image and shoved it in his overalls.