Obliterated buildings.

Smoke everywhere.

The sound of tears.

It was chaos.

No one had known the bombings were going to happen. They hadn't gotten the alert. No one expected a bomb to drop at 8:15 in the morning.

It had been the longest and shortest three minutes of their lives. Everything was lost in a matter of seconds.

The limbs of people were found miles away from their bodies. Their faces disfigured. Their clothes torn apart.

And then it was over. Smoke was carried through the air; fires were put out leaving nothing but rubble and remains of beautiful homes behind.

The town was alive and dead at the same time. Some of them were crying; others lay still, not breathing. Some were screaming; others were ripped apart, piece by piece, limb by limb, leaving nothing behind.

Even the people left behind were ripped, from their homes, their families, their friends. Everyone and everything.

They had done nothing to deserve it.

Just like that, their lives were flipped upside down.

It didn't stay that way. The town, once alive, was dead now. The people who survived the bombs, didn't survive for much longer.

Reports on suicide and murder became more common. The deaths increased.

What once was a thriving lively town, was completely shattered, leaving behind a desolate nothingness.

People who once returned to homes filled with chatter and laughter, now returned to empty houses.

Streets that used to be brimming with people, had hardly anyone walking through them anymore.

The economy of the town decreased.

So did their happiness.

Years later, not a lot had changed.

There was a new generation of people, but it wasn't the same.

Sana was one of them.

She was pretty and filled with life. Lovely and beautiful and cheery and dramatic at the same time.

She was everything the town used to be. A painful reminder of what had been; and what could be.

She didn't have many friends, all of them too unnerved by her cheery nature, so used to the melancholy in their own homes.

But the one friend she did have was better than anyone else. Haruka. He was everything she was not. They were more different than the moon and the sun.

One was a burning ball of fire; the other, a quiet pit of cold and dark mystery.

Yet when they were together, they were truly a marvelous pair.

Sana had asked her grandfather, Takahashi, about the blocked buildings, the ones she wasn't allowed to enter. She had wanted to explore them with Haruka, but her grandfather had refused to answer, opting to walk out the door, his hands covering his face.

Her mother had gently explained to her that she mustn't ask such questions. Sana would nod, never truly understanding the weight those places held.

But she was too curious. Too interested. She couldn't help herself. That night, it was dark enough for her to sneak out, but not dark enough to blind her vision.

Haruka had agreed to come with her, of course. He couldn't quite stop himself from following her. They were best friends after all.

There was not a single person on the streets. Sana could hear the rapid beating of her heart, feeling as though it might beat right out of her chest. She had never disobeyed her parents before.

Haruka seemed quite calm for someone who had just sneaked out of his house, disobeyed his parents and was going to walk into a desolate and uninhabited building. Just another example of how different they were.

They walked in silence, neither wanting to break the peaceful atmosphere. Sana, heart in her throat; and Haruka, hands in his pockets as though he were just taking a walk.

They reached the building. It was close to breaking down. It was clear there had been few to no repairs or renovations on it. Despite being too nervous to talk, Sana couldn't help but wonder why.

Haruko easily hurled himself above the fence, stretching his arm to pull Sana up. Her fingers were shaking so much, she worried her grip of his hand might slip.

Once they were over the fence, they walked quietly through the overgrown grass and the heaps of dry leaves.

The doors were open, and Sana breathed a sigh of relief as they made it through. They were close. She could feel it.

The building wasn't anything special. In fact, it wasn't grand, and the architecture was mediocre at best. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls and the ceilings were covered with moss.

Sana found it quite drab and disgusting. Yet, there was something. Something she knew she was missing. Her grandfather wouldn't have been so worried over some broken down building.

She and Haruka felt their way through the hall. There was no light, except for the pale moonlight streaming in through the windows.

Haruka spotted a staircase. He motioned to Sana, and they both made their way upstairs. Making sure to watch each and every step, knowing that the entire thing could collapse any second.

Sana and Haruka reached the top, and she found herself making her way to one of the rooms.

The door opened with a little creak. Haruka followed her.

It seemed to be the room of a little child. There was a single bed, covered with dust mites; the walls were damp with moisture and the carpet was hard and dry. There was a desk in the corner. The wood was faded, and the hinges rusted.

Sana didn't know why, but she made her way toward the desk and opened one of the drawers.

Inside lay a torn and tattered book. It looked like a diary. Haruka picked it up.

The pages were yellow, and the cover was faded. Ink splotches littered the pages of the book, but it was clearly still legible.

Haruka opened it and turned to one of the last pages. Sana tried to make out what it read.

Monday, 6th August 1945

My dad got me a doll today! It is one of the best things I have. My mom disagreed. She thought he shouldn't be wasting money on these things, but my dad just winked at me!

Its very early right now, but I woke up at seven today morning. My mom is very happy with me for getting up early.

I rea

The entry ended there. For whatever reason, the child hadn't continued, the rest of the pages of the diary were empty.

She turned to look at Haruka, silently asking him the question, but he just shrugged. And then she noticed the newspapers.

They looked much more recent. They were not nearly as torn or worn out as the rest of the room. They covered one of the walls and Sana went over to read them.

'A single bomb dropped by enemy airplanes, left the entire town in shambles'

'Nobody knew when it was coming or why, they just knew the despair they felt when they saw their family for the last time'

'The town never really recovered from this one bomb'

Sana read the newspapers, slowly piecing together the past, finally understanding why her grandfather never wanted to talk about it.

Tearing her eyes away from the wall, she returned to the diary, turning through the pages, until she found what she wanted.

'This book is the property of Takahashi Nakamura'

Sana ran out of the buildings, trying to stop the tears coming from her eyes. This was her grandfather's house.

And as she fled back home, to see her parents and grandfather waiting for her in the dark, she flew into her grandfathers arms, clutching his back tightly as though never wanting to let go.

After all, how could the people of Hiroshima possibly get past this. As we all know today, they never did. Not really.