The Children’s Train

Peter and his family had gone to sleep in their cozy apartment over the butcher shop. Becca slept in her bed, holding onto her doll, Gina. The doll’s untied but well-brushed hair spread out like a fan on the pillow. Peter, in the bed on the other side of the small room, watched Becca sleep while he rested his hand on his violin.

His parents slept in their room. Baby Lilly was in her crib beside them, wrapped in her pink blanket with bunnies on it.

The night was unusually quiet, and that disturbed Peter. He fidgeted in his bed, straining to hear through the silence. Something seemed amiss, like when the wind calmed down right before the thunder crashed. He couldn’t figure out what it was.

Suddenly, glass shattered in the butcher shop below. Footsteps stomped. More glass crashed.

Peter jumped from his bed and looked out the window to the street below. Becca sat up suddenly. “What’s happening?”

Peter grabbed her and pulled her out into the hall. “Someone’s breaking into the shop.”

There was a loud pounding as something rammed the door to the butcher shop.