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The only thing Sabine wanted to do was collapse in on herself like a dying star. She didn't care where she was or when she was. She didn't even care if she was in the middle of another battlefield; she almost wanted it. The rat-a-tat of gunfire would be a welcome distraction from the pain that was generating from her heart and winding through her veins. Maybe if she was lucky she was back on the beach in the midst of the storm, moments away from being consumed by the waves.

When Sabine finally brought herself to slowly open her eyelids she realized that she wasn't so lucky. It was hard to see through the watery lens that coated her eyes, but once she wiped away the tears she was surprised to see a place she never thought she'd see again: her village.

In its current state, the village was almost unrecognizable, but Sabine could still see the true outlines of the ruined homes in her mind. She could envision the charming shops with colorful awnings and large windows to display their wares. She could visualize the quaint houses with vines snaking up their brick walls and lamps that lit up the streets at night with a comforting golden glow. The Germans had destroyed the village after they had gone through and collected their prisoners in an attempt to kill the village's spirit, but Sabine could still feel its heart pumping beneath her feet. As long as at least one villager was still living, the village would too.

Sabine took one careful step and then another down the cobblestone street she was planted on, partially worried that one wrong stride might break the fragile path and send her careening down into a dark, never-ending hole. Familiar faces haunted Sabine's peripherals in the windows of the decrepit buildings she passed. Sabine placed her hands on either side of her face to block the visions and keep her focus forward but after a few minutes she caved and turned to look at the shattered window to her left.

In the shards of glass, Sabine could see the broken face of Rose. Her hollowed eyes looked straight through Sabine and even the sun and warmth shining upon her couldn't protect Sabine from the chill that seeped into her bones. She turned her head sharply in the hopes that the hallucination would disappear but she was quickly greeted with another one in the window to her right: Maria...then Friedrich...then Aleksy, Casmir, Ruth, Edgar, and Brigitta. Everywhere Sabine looked, another face met her with an equally pained expression until Sabine broke down in the middle of the street.

What would happen to them? Were they dead already? Could she get back to them? Could she save them? She didn't even have the...Sabine suddenly became aware of something clinging to her palm and she turned her hand over to see the infamous box of matches clenched tightly in her grip. But how? Herr Schuster had had them! Were they glued to her specifically, or did they just automatically travel along whenever a match was struck?

So many questions were swirling through Sabine's head that she had to press her hands against her ears to stop the pounding. Why her? Why was she cursed with this stupid box of matches? Sabine pulled the box open and traced the tip of a matchstick with her finger. She was seconds away from pulling it out and striking it to get back to Maria and the others when she stopped. She never had a choice in where these matches took her. What if it took her somewhere worse? At least she was in a familiar place.

When Sabine found her strength she forced herself back to her feet and continued down the road. Each step she took brought her closer and closer to the realization that she was never going to see Maria and her family again. She was never going to tie bows in Rose's hair or teach Friedrich French. She was never going to play chess with Aleksy or dress-up dolls with Brigitta. She was never going to feel Maria's warm embrace and let her soothing words wash over her worries.

The immense pain in her heart would have brought her earthbound again if it wasn't dulled by an overwhelming wave of nostalgia as she passed all too-familiar haunts. The broken black and white town returned to its colorful glory as she passed it, like a painting coming to life. At first, Sabine was afraid to look in the windows again in the fear that her last family's faces would once more materialize, but this time was different; this time her real family's faces appeared.

Sabine saw her mother, father, and younger sisters sitting around a table outside the cafe eating ice cream. She saw them holding hands and walking down the cobblestone street, her dad and mom swinging one of her younger sisters back and forth between them as she skipped from stone to stone. Even though Sabine was fairly sure that it was all in her head, she felt inclined to follow them; to experience the feeling of being with her family one last time.

Sabine's mother, father, and sisters had all died over the span of a year ago but it felt like ages. She almost forgot what their faces looked like, what their voices sounded like, what it felt like to hold their hands...This was a nice reminder. Sabine could pick up snippets of conversation as she walked, but her memory filled in the rest. She knew this memory in and out, she could remember every tiny detail.

It was the day the Nazis came.

"Mama, mama, dance with me!" Sabine's younger sister, Yvette, said. Her dark, curly hair bounced up and down as she skipped beside their mother.

"Of course, my little flower!" Sabine's mother, Vivienne, smiled. She took Yvette's tiny hands in her own and together the two spun away down the street. Vivienne's brunette hair flew around her pale face and her brilliant blue eyes glinted in the sunlight.

"You two are going to topple over one another," Sabine's father, Louis, laughed as he watched his wife and daughter twist and twirl around each other.

"Join us!" Vivienne called to him, stretching her hand outwards. Louis rolled his eyes before inevitably caving and clasping her dainty hand in his own. His dark skin contrasted beautifully with her light skin and their intertwined fingers created a shade that reminded Sabine of her own complexion.

"Don't leave me behind!" Sabine's other younger sister, Lucy, cried. Louis leaned down to pick her up and tossed her into the air before catching her in his strong arms.

Sabine followed behind with a somber smile. That day had started out so wonderfully. They had gone to the park for a picnic under the sunshine and then stopped at the cafe for ice cream. Sabine had gotten chocolate ice cream all over her face and her mother had lovingly wiped it off with a napkin and a smile. Her father had joked that her skin was made of chocolate and that her mother was just wiping off the excess.

Sabine wished she could warn them, tell them not to return to their house where the Nazis were already raiding, tell them to get the hell out of the village and never look back. But the only thing she could do was watch helplessly as she relived one of her worst memories. She followed behind them as an extension of their shadows, her breath a breeze on the back of their necks.

Sabine followed her family all the way back to their old house. In its glory, it had been a beautiful one-story red brick building with a rainbow of flowers growing in the window sills. Her mother had loved the liveliness that plants brought to a home and had decorated every square inch of the outside and inside with them. Sabine used to pretend that she was a jungle animal, crawling through the rain forest as she hid behind the various potted plants scattered around the house in pursuit of her prey.

The illusion shattered the moment her family disappeared through the emerald green door and reality returned to Sabine once more. The bright red bricks faded into a dull gray and crumbled into one another, leaving half the building collapsed. Weeds overtook the dead stalks that used to grow in the window sills and began spilling out onto the ground. The door blasted inwards, revealing a darkness that was dotted with rays of light falling in from holes in the ceiling.

Even though Sabine knew that the structure couldn't be sturdy, she still felt inclined to enter; to see exactly what had happened to her childhood home. She let her hands trace the walls as she slowly stepped across the threshold of the broken house. When she pulled them away her fingers were stained black from the thick layer of ash coating the walls; she could feel her own home crumble between her fingers.

When Sabine was finally able to pull her eyes away from the chalky blackness covering her finger tips, she found the same thing waiting before her. Everything had been charred to a crisp; the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the furniture...the memories. A fleeting thought of her toys passed through her mind but she quickly shooed it away. The only good thing about going through the camps and being stripped of everything including your own identity was that it made you a lot less materialistic.

"Excuse me, what are you doing in our home?" Louis's voice echoed in front of Sabine, sending her skyward. It seemed that the memory had started up again where it had left off but this time the house remained in crumbles and her family remained out of sight.

A crinkle of papers preceded the gruff voice of a Gestapo officer. "You and your family are to come with us."

"Where?" Louis asked. Sabine couldn't see it, but she knew at that moment that her father was standing in front of her mother, her siblings, and herself to protect them.

"You don't get to ask questions," the Gestapo officer continued to speak in French.

"Daddy, I'm scared," Yvette's little voice whimpered to Sabine's right.

"It'll be alright, baby," Louis tried to his best to keep an even tone. At the time Sabine thought he had sounded so strong, but now she could hear his voice wavering. He was just as scared as they had been.

"We don't have time for such nonsense!" the Gestapo officer screamed before a commotion ensued. Sabine followed the voices back outside after the heavy clomps of boots marched straight through her.

"Hey! Let go of her!" Louis's shout was accompanied by the high-pitched screams of Lucy as she was torn away. Yvette and Vivienne's yells followed soon after. "Please, I'm begging you, leave my family alone!"

"If you don't stop struggling we'll shoot you here and now."

"Take me! Take me, just leave my family!" Louis begged. "Please, I'll do whatever you want!"

"We're taking all of you, including the disgusting Jewish-negro abominations you have created, and you have no say in the matter."

Sabine heard three sounds before the telltale gunshot that would take her father's life: the rustle of clothing as Louis fought against the Gestapo's grip, the shouts of the Gestapo officers as he broke away, and the thuds of his shoes on the cobblestone as he ran towards his family.

Bang!

And then screams, only screams.

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