No Use To Run

We had 5 alarms today - one even after supper when 2 pursuit planes came tearing over the mountains + landed here - they took off again in about 1/2 hr - plenty fast.  Are getting our trunks off but now everyone says the Japs have been pushed back on 3 roads and there is no use to run.  - Annette, May 1943

A five alarm day!  For every alarm, they had to drop what they were doing, run to the cave near their house with kids in tow, and wait until the all clear signal.  That is a lot of running!  They watched the planes land and take off - truly on the front lines of a WWII battle.  How exciting - and terrifying!

Annette and Clary sent their trunks ahead to Wahnsien, and they planned to follow on foot a few days later.  Now, they received word that the roads were blocked and there was nowhere to go.  All that work and preparation - now what?  Do you trust what 'everyone' says?  What if it was just a rumor?  Maybe the roads were really clear.  Maybe their belongings were on their way.  Maybe everything was going to be ok.  Or maybe not.

What do you do when faced with an impossible choice?  Stay with the familiar, or head out into the unknown?  Neither option was safe for Annette, but she had a family to protect.  Next week, we'll find out what happened.