The marble pillars that support me took a direct hit and now I lean precariously on my foundation. Years of dust leak from my windows jarred loose by the howitzer that met its mark, I will not go down so easily. For me to fall is for me to fail. I will not fail my creator. I will not fail those who look to me for shelter. I will not fail myself. The sirens wail to life, another air raid. Hopefully I can withstand the bombardment from the aerial attack. I’m just afraid that I cannot handle being under siege from multiple terrains. The bombs are released screaming towards the ground, will they hit their targets? I brace myself awaiting the thunderous crashes and booms. The bombs begin to find their victims. Vast chunks of marble and wood are lifted into the sky across the river. I hear the clock tower at the crest of my hill clang and as I look up it erupts in a flash of light. I gaze in horror as the fire breaks out, our city will surely fall now… We simply cannot survive a fire without the humans who are at present nowhere to be found. By the time they notice it will be too late. The fire dances cruelly down the roofs towards me, laughing at its helpless victims. I’m next in line, all he has to do is cross the courtyard to the cathedral gates and I’m finished. I muster all of the courage I have and stand tall awaiting my fate. He is at the gates, melting them and crossing the inner courtyard to me. I hear the buzzing of an airplane, followed by the terrible screaming. a strange calm overcomes me, the allied bomb gets halfway through my center chamber then I am ripped away from my foundation. The Americans showed me mercy and granted me a swift and relatively painless demise. -JG