Italy and the Unbreakable Bonds of Siblings

On the day my parents were taken away, I was nine and my brother was eleven. We knew something bad was going to happen, but it still hurt me more than I thought it would. To see them both shackled, so disheveled…it was heartbreaking. They looked like they had been through a war. It made me cry harder when I realized that we weren’t even allowed near them; they weren’t going to be able to hug us goodbye or say anything reassuring whatsoever. It was a guy who didn’t look much older than us that told us what was going to happen next. His name was Angelo, and he told us to go home, pack one bag each with clothes and any food we could find from the pantry, and meet him in the middle of town at the fountain. He said there would be someone there who would help us get out of town safely. We ran home as fast as we could, tears streaming down our faces the entire way. It felt so surreal, like a nightmare that wasn’t going away. We got everything together as quickly as we could and set off toward the fountain in the middle of town.

We hid behind some bushes on the side of the road leading up to it and waited for Angelo to show up as he had instructed us to do. Neither of us spoke a word, but just then we heard footsteps approaching from behind us! We turned around and saw Angelo standing there holding a basket of apples under his arm and looking at us with a sad expression on his face. “Did you hear about your parents?” he asked

“Yes! Where are they?! Are they okay?! What are they going to do with them?! Are they coming back soon?!” I shot back in an uproar, many questions spilling out of my mouth at once in sheer panic. My brother remained silent beside me, tears still running down his face.

“I don’t know where they are taking them, but they aren’t coming back anytime soon. They took all of their things too- clothes and jewelry…anything of value really. The only reason why I knew where you guys lived is because I used to deliver their mail every day after school when I was younger- before this whole thing happened, you know? And yes, they took them away because they have something called evidence against them- apparently they did something illegal that broke some stupid law or whatever- but anyway…that means you and your brother now have no parents and are homeless! You need to get out of here before anyone finds out about this mess and decides to take you two away too!” Angelo explained urgently between breaths, “I brought these apples for you from my family farm outside of town; you can eat them while we walk so you won’t be hungry for a while! Now follow me before anyone gets suspicious!”

Angelo began walking at a brisk pace towards the exit gate behind which lay freedom from all this madness. My brother grabbed onto my hand- he hadn’t let go since we ran home earlier- and pulled me along with him after Angelo as if he didn’t trust him alone anymore now that our parents had been taken away by him or someone else just like him. Angelo led us out through the gate, past all the guards without anyone noticing our escape attempt, and into the woods beyond it where no one would be able to catch up with us without a horseback ride across miles upon miles of forestland.

I eventually realized that we weren't just walking through woods in a random direction anymore; Angelo was following paths that only people who grew up outside of towns knew about along quiet streams with small bridges over them where frogs sat calling into the night silence above moss covered rocks with water dripping down from above onto leaves underneath it making soft splashes into shallow pools beneath them…and then we found ourselves standing before an old wooden fence covered in vines reaching up almost level with our chests on either side across twelve feet or so between two foot tall posts on either end surrounding an open dirt path leading up to an old shanty house sitting crookedly on top of an equally crooked stone foundation with what looked like tomato plants growing out front among other various crops growing in various other pots scattered around its porch steps where someone sat rocking back and forth as she hummed along quietly to herself while picking tomatoes from her garden around her.

Angelo stopped walking ahead of me and cleared his throat loudly right behind the woman, causing her to jump violently forward off her chair onto her feet in surprise. She straightened herself up, smoothing out her dress while brushing soil off her hands onto her legs.

She took a deep breath to calm herself before speaking up again, looking quite startled. "Oh my heavens, dear boy! You scared me half to death back there! But how did you get here?"

Angelo explained our situation and the woman listened intently, nodding her head. "Well, it is a difficult time for everyone," she sighed. "