A Love Story with a Prisoner of War - 10. Happy Birthday

1^st July 1941. Axel’s 19^th Birthday.

‘Good morning.’Axel said, smiling radiantly to all of us. He then settled himself down at the dining table for breakfast.

‘Good morning, Axel.’ Jake and mum replied warmly.

Axel did not have a clue about tonight’s well-planned birthday party; everything was kept safely under our hats. We pretended that we did not know today was his birthday.

*  *  *

Axel and I immersed ourselves in the farm work as usual. Seeding, plowing, watering, weeding, harvesting, milking were no longer strangers to Axel. Now, he was capable of doing all these as efficient as I did. There was only one thing that Axel could not get along with – the horses. There were two brown heavy draft horses on my farm which always helped us out for the plowing. If my memory serves well, my dad bought them when I was three. For God knew what reason, Axel felt intimidated whenever the horses were around. He never got the courage to pat the horses, let alone sit into the saddle. Anyway, Axel was now an indispensable member on the farm.

At four something, Jake and mum went back home to prepare the birthday feast and the cake, leaving Axel and I on the farm. Sensing something strange, Axel asked, ‘Why Jake mum go home? Sun is no down.’

‘They are not going home. They are going to the coop to take care the chicken.’ I lied calmly.

‘Oh.’ Axel said. Unlike his usual happy self, Axel was quite expressionless in that morning and afternoon. Perhaps, my fabulous acting skill successfully led him to believe that I had forgotten his birthday. The more dejected he was, the better.

We continued to harvest the golden wheat as the day worn on. As the summer solstice had just passed, the temperature was getting increasingly unpleasant. The big red sun was high overhead, baking us mercilessly. Our bodies were already soaked in sweat by noon. The summer of 1941 was exceptionally hot, much hotter than last two years.

Soon, the sun began to set and it was time to head home. Like a boss, I instructed Axel to put the harvested wheat to the back of the truck. By the end of the afternoon Axel looked so glum and gloomy. I had never seen his long face before. He must be thinking that I had forgotten his birthday and no one was going to celebrate his big day with him. Yes! Bingo! He would be thrilled when he discovered what was lying ahead of him.

‘Xavier, all ready.’ Jake shouted a few yards away.

*  *  *

The house was filled with the aromatic fragrance of a freshly baked banana cake; it was sense-awakening. There was no lavish decoration in the house, but the smell of celebration was prevailing in every corner. The dining table was laid completely with dishes of scrumptious food – tomato spaghetti, roasted chicken, broccoli cheddar soup, a loaf of bread and a bowl of salad. The sight of all these made me salivate. Axel stood transfixed with surprise. His gloominess vanished instantly and was replaced by a big grin. Clearly, Axel was not expecting this; he was so over the moon that he remained silent for a whole minute as if there was a lump in his throat. His face was in the color of joy and elation.

‘Did you think that I had forgotten your birthday?’ I asked Axel.

‘Yes.’ Axel replied sheepishly.

‘Sit down, Axel. You are one of us now. Your birthday is our birthday.’ Mum interrupted.

‘Yes! Even your birthday feast looks yummier and fancier than mine.’ Jake said jokingly, shooting a look at his mum.

‘What did you just say, Jake?’ Mum asked bossily.

‘Nothing.’ Jake replied promptly.

‘Good. Everyone sit down. Would Xavier offer thanks?’ Mum said.

After all of us had sat down, I offered my prayer. ‘Ok. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the delicious food before us and for giving us Axel to share it with. Bless the hands of those who prepared the food. Bless the soldiers who are now fighting in the battlefield. Bless the world and may peace soon resume its ruling. Amen.’.

‘Amen.’ The three of them said in unison.

‘Nice prayer.’ Mum said.

‘Thank you. Let’s start!’ I said.

The boys, me inclusive, bolted down the food like a flock of locust. We ate greedily until our appetite was fully satiated. The food tasted heavenly. It had been more than 2 months (the last time was when Axel arrived) since we had had such a feast. On normal days, we only had spaghetti with eggs or white bread with salad or chicken wings with corn. So, today’s dinner was extraordinarily appetizing.

During the meal, Axel kept on extolling mum’s superb culinary skills and he tried his very best to chat with us. He told us (along with a lot of body language) that he was not exactly a soldier but a doctor-to-be. He was selected to be a protégé of an army doctor. He needed to learn how to dress a cut, how to suture a broken hand, etcetera. Therefore, he was exempted from all the other military training. He didn’t even know how to operate a rifle. Axel had followed the Nazi army to Poland, Norway and later Denmark where he was caught by the Canadian troop. He thought he was going to be slaughtered right away, but our Canadian soldiers, who had hearts of gold, decided to send him to Canada, probably due to his young age (and possibly his breathtaking handsomeness.) And now, here he was. You may be wondering why he did not tell us this story when he arrived. Well, again, his English. After two-month of intense English training, Axel’s present English was at least communicable. So, his dramatically improving English gave him the medium to transmit his stories to us all.

Soon, the feast was over and my mum proudly presented Axel her delectable banana cake. Axel was so thrilled to see the cake and he nearly burst into tears. We sang Axel Happy Birthday and then, the four of us savored the cake to the fullest. It was probably the best banana cake you could find on planet earth. The sweet taste of banana would linger in your mouth long after it was swallowed. The taste of it was just majestic!

‘Jake, can you do me a favor?’ I whispered.

‘What?’ Jake replied.

‘Can you wash the dishes for me?’ I asked in a pleading tone.

‘What are you going to do in return?’ Jake smirked.

‘You’ll not have to do the dishes for the next two weeks. I’ll do it for you.’ I said.

‘Ok, deal.’ Jake said, grinning evilly. ‘But why do you want me to do the dishes tonight?’

‘Secret.’ I muttered.

‘Tell me the truth. Otherwise, I’ll not do it for you.’ Jake said, like a boss.

‘Ok… Ok… I have a surprise for Axel.’ I said quietly.

‘Oh. What surprise?’ Jake said, trying to dig out every single detail of my plan.

‘Please, Jake. Just don’t ask. I’ll do the dishes for you for three weeks. Okay?’ I begged.

‘Three weeks? No. A whole month.’ Jake said, clearly knowing that I would say yes.

‘Ok. Ok. You da boss.’ I said.

‘Great.’

*  *  *

Yes, the time had arrived. Mum had gone upstairs for rest and Jake was cleaning the dishes in the kitchen.

‘Axel, come.’ I said.

‘Huh?’ Axel asked, slightly puzzled.

‘Follow me. I have something to show you.’ I said, beckoning to Axel.

‘Ok.’ Axel said.

It was about 10pm when I led Axel to the surprise. The night was alluring. Countless stars were twinkling brightly in the sky and the full moon was as beautiful as Axel. Axel followed me to the hay barn, which was only a 5-minute-walk from home. I had planned this surprise for a whole week, so please, god, I don’t want anything to go off course.

Finally, we arrived at the hay barn. Darkness pervaded in the barn and the smell of dried hay filled our nostrils. The barn was so quiet that even a pin drop could be heard.

‘Axel, stand at the door.’ I ordered.

‘Here?’ He asked.

‘Yes. Turn around and close your eyes.’ I said.

‘Okay, okay.’ Axel said timidly. Then he turned around.

Inside the barn, there was nothing but hay. The previous night, I removed the hay at the interior right corner so as to create some space for my surprise. I went to that corner, took out the matches that I brought along, and, one by one, lit up the short candles that I had placed on the ground yesterday. The candlelight flickered in the darkness, and the previously pitch-black barn instantly came alive. The sight was not only beautiful but also incredibly romantic. On the ground, the candles were deliberately planted to form his name– Axel. Like this:

X X

X X X

X X X X XXXXX X

X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X XXXXX X

X X X X X X

X X X X XXXXX X

‘Axel. Turn around.’ I said

Axel, who was standing about a few yards away, turned slowly around. When he saw what I had prepared for him, his jaws dropped to the ground. He told me later that he couldn’t believe his eyes; he thought he was dreaming. Our gaze met, then my version of German Happy Birthday began.

‘Zum---ge---bur---stag---vi---gluck.

Zum---ge---bur---stag---vi---gluck.

Zum---ge---bur---stag---lie—be Axel

Zum---ge---bur---stag---vi---gluck.

When I sang the song, Axel was smiling from ear to ear and his watery eyes were glistening in the weak candlelight. He walked slowly to me, trying to make sense of everything. He stared at the ‘Axel’ candles silently, and at the same time, relishing my not-too-good singing voice. No sooner had my song ended than Axel began to sob. I wanted to hug him right away but the candles on the ground blocked my way to him, so I jumped across the candles, stood on tiptoe and wrapped him up in my arms. His body was shivering in happiness and he remained speechless for a long time.

‘Zum-ge-bur-stag-vi-gluck’ I whispered in his ear. Axel just kept on wetting my right shoulder while I was patting him. He finally stopped weeping after minutes. In his shaky voice, he said, ‘Thank you Xavier. Beautiful. Beautiful.’

In my mind, a voice shouted, ‘I love you.’ I tried my best to suppress that voice because I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. I so wanted to pour my feeling out, but I was so afraid that Axel would freak out at my confession.

‘You are welcome.’ I responded.

‘We are good friend.’ Axel said, breaking away from our hug.

Hearing him say that, a pain suddenly well up in my chest. Good friend. Yes… Good friend. That’s all we can be. Thanks for reminding me.