They all woke up on time and readied themselves for a new day. They repeated the same cycle over and over. There seemed to be no deviation. Tasha went to school. Jack, Mary, and Yune had been marching the streets with seemingly no trouble at any corner. The war was coming, but it didn't look like it at all. Everything seemed so peaceful for the three girls. As they walked, they saw some other group of soldiers dragging away a family of three. They were crying and screaming that they did nothing wrong. A mother, a father, and a young boy.
"Strange. Sir, do you require any assistance?" Jack asked towards the soldiers.
"No. We're good. Get back to patrolling the area. We can handle these undesirables," the other soldier said.
"Undesirables? What did they do?" Yune asked.
"Nothing you need to be concerned with. Now, go," the soldier finished as he put the family in the back of a car with masks over their heads.
Mary tugged at Jack and Yune.
She whispered, "Let's go. It has nothing to do with us."
They all felt guilty, but continued on their way.
When they were a distance away from the other soldiers, they began to speak amongst themselves.
"Do you really think that family could have done something?" Yune asked.
"I don't know. The mom and dad, sure, but I don't know how a child would be capable of doing anything wrong," Mary replied.
"Shh. We shouldn't be talking like that here. We're soldiers for this great country. I'm sure they had a good reason. I won't tolerate any further comments," Jack said trying to even convince herself.
"Right, right," Mary said, "No point in arguing."
It was another uneventful day for the three. They came home to see that Tasha had been working on her homework.
"Hey, sweetie. How was school?" Yune asked.
"Good. We learned the usual stuff," she replied.
They sat down and ate whatever leftover food they had. It was quiet, again. But they all enjoyed each other's company.
Then, all of a sudden, Tasha began to tear up.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked out of concern.
"Did something happen to you at school?" Mary asked.
"Tasha... are you alright?" Yune asked.
The three got up out of their seats to comfort Tasha. She began to cry. They each felt like they had to protect this girl - A sweet and caring girl. And not just any girl, but Tasha.
"No. Nothing. It's just that... I don't want to lose you, aunties. Everybody knows a war is coming, and that would mean you'd have to fight. I don't want that to happen. I don't want anything to happen to you," she cried.
"It's okay. There won't be any war. The world had enough war since the last one. Our leader wouldn't let that happen," Jack said in earnest.
"Yeah. You don't need to cry. We're all together. We'll get through this together," Yune said.
"Don't cry, kid. We don't plan on dying for another war," Mary said.
"Promise?" Tasha asked.
The three girls smiled and held out their pinkies.
"Pinky promise," they all said together.
"Now, come on. Let's go wash your face. How are you going to get a boy looking like that," Mary said.
"Aunty!" Tasha yelled blushing.
They all laughed and enjoyed their quiet life.