Edgar Fletcher byrum stood at the door of his house as he stared at his family, the four of them stood according to their heights staring back at him with tears filled eyes, well all of them apart from Sheila.
Sheila was the eldest among them and since the death of her mother at childbirth she had longed learnt to hide her true emotions
A glance at Sheila and he felt hot tears threaten to fall from his eyes, she had lost a mother at a very tender age, had no time to cry because she had siblings to comfort and now, now he was also leaving, saddling her with the responsibility of both a father and a mother.
As a result of the war that had broke out between the humans and the strange creatures as they were popularly refered to since no one had gotten a proper view of them. All men between the age ten upwards were to fight compulsorily.
"Alright guys, enough of all this sardonic family moment"Sheila began with a large smile plastered on her face
"Pah's leaving is for the best, so let's wear a big smile as we say our goodbyes"
"Bye pah!!!!" They all chorused wearing a wide smile on their face
"I'll be back before you miss me " Edgar spoke with a confidence that received only the younger ones
"You heard that, pah would be back soon " Sheila chorused causing the others to smile as they ran to engulf Edgar in a hug
"Alright, alright guys, go wait in the room while I and pah have our final discussion " they let go of Edgar one after another and went into the room.
"Sheila, Edgar began in a croaked voice as soon as the others were gone, please take care of yourself"
"Come on pah, we've talked about this over and over, we'll all be fine, I'm an adult now and I can take care of them. You just stay safe, watch your back and trash all the bad guys"Sheila assured with her usual bright smile that almost made Edgar believe it was that easy.
"Oh, my dear..."Edgar voice trailled off as he pulled Sheila into a tight hug, they stayed like that for a while till Sheila pulled out
"It's good bye time pah"
"Good bye Sheila dear" Edgar answered and turned immediately, the tears finally flowed down and he couldn't allow Sheila to watch him breakdown, he was supposed to be her source of encouragement not the other way round.
As Edgar walked away, he knew the chance of their meeting again was very slim, he just hoped they'll actually be safe as the war was no small war, he knew this was just the beginning