Live, Love, Lose - 46. Chapter 46

Soon September came, meaning each of its days would slowly get them closer to the end of summer.

The situation about the war seemed to be stagnating. Things were neither better or worse than before.

George had gone back to university only a few days earlier, meaning they wouldn’t be able to spend as much time together as they had in the last few weeks. He would be probably too busy studying again to pay any attention to him, or very little only. Only the nights would be theirs.

“Oh no…I had not realised there was practically no mustard left…I will not be able to make my dish properly if one ingredient is missing in it…”

Karl was with Mrs. Hopkins who wanted to cook a dish for tomorrow since it would be Sunday.

Mr. Hopkins was in the living room, probably busy reading. Paul was with Emma, so not there. And George wasn’t there either. He had gone out to spend some time with the university professor he had seen once with Paul, apparently, so he could help him study aside from his daily classes. He must have been told what happened.

“Would you mind going into town to get me some, please?”

Of course, Karl accepted to go. He didn’t mind at all.

“Or we can go together if you prefer.”

“No, it’s fine. I can go alone. You can do dessert when I’m out.”

Mrs. Hopkins looked truly relieved and delighted.

“Thank you so much, Carl.”

He knew where she was used to going to buy one thing or two when she needed it.

The air was warm and the sky a bright blue, so he should make the most of it while it lasted. It wasn’t that late. It must have been around 4:00 pm, but he could never be sure about the precise time, not that it really mattered.

It didn’t take him long to get what he needed once he got to the shop. The seller was really nice. He walked back towards the house without hurrying too much to enjoy some more of the nice weather. But he had hardly walked a few yards when he heard an explosion in the distance. It made him stop in his tracks, as he wondered what could have caused it. He looked around him, but everything seemed to be normal. He decided to shrug it off and started walking again.

But the more steps he made the more the noise was increasing. It only seemed to grow nearer and nearer. Next thing he knew there was an explosion nearby. He dropped what he had in hand, jumping in surprise.

But what could be happening?

He looked around him again and saw how people were starting to freak out. There was another boom as violent as the previous one. He suddenly had a bad feeling.

It happened again.

People were starting to run, shout as he was frozen in his spot, still trying to understand what was going on. He looked up at the sky and as he did a shiver crept up his spine and spread through his whole body. It wasn’t blue anymore but filled with a flock of planes. That’s when he made sense of the situation.

They were launching bombs, accounting for the continuous explosions. Before he could think even more, there was another explosion, and he started running before he could get hit by one of them.

The atmosphere around him turned into real chaos. The roar of the explosions was mixed with the people’s screams of panic and horror, creating a real cacophony. Smoke was rising in the air, and some buildings were already on fire and others being destroyed.

As he kept running, he saw a little girl standing in the middle of the way, seemingly alone. He slowed down and stopped as soon as he was close to her. She was crying, and it seemed people were too panicked and afraid to even notice her in the middle of all this chaos. He couldn’t leave her there in the middle of the street all alone. It was too dangerous for so small a child.

“Komme!”

He wanted to take her hand and make her run with him, but then he thought it would be too much for her. So he just caught her and carried her and quickly started running again. She kept crying and shrieking, but he couldn’t do anything to try to calm her down. He wondered how long this was going to last.

Should he take her to the Hopkins’s house?

He suddenly stopped in his tracks as he saw a bomb explode in the direction they were heading for. This was too risky. He had to find another way. Instead of keeping going ahead, he turned on his right in a nearby street. He had to do it several times, changing directions because of bombs that were continuously dropped. They were everywhere. They were lucky they hadn’t been hit by one of them yet. Maybe it wouldn’t last if they didn’t stop falling.

He ended up not knowing where he was going anymore. The confusion and noise made him lose focus. They needed to find a place to take shelter and hide until it finally ceased.

But where could they go? He didn’t even know where they were exactly at that moment.

He kept running faster and faster, almost forgetting where he was and why he was running, his head now aching. He shouldn’t wait for too long.

He entered the first building his eye caught sight of. It looked deserted as if people had preferred to run away to avoid the bombs.

He sat down in one corner of the room with the little girl in his lap. He could feel her trembling as he was holding her close to him. She must have been around three or four years old, but probably not older. She had blond curly hair that reached past her shoulders, blue eyes, and round cheeks. And she was still crying.

“Shhh…it’s gonna be alright,” he attempted to soothe her, but he wasn’t even convinced by his own words himself.

It didn’t really help anyway, so she must have felt it in some way.

“What’s your name?” He tried again, but it was more out of curiosity rather than helping to soothe her.

It seemed she didn’t dare meet his gaze, she only glanced at him.

“Rosemary,” she replied with a very small voice after a few moments of silence.

He smiled at her.

“I’m Karl.”

She glanced at him again but kept quiet.

He found her really cute despite the tragic circumstances.

“I want Mum and Dad…!” She whined with a shaky voice after a long moment of silence. Tears were still rolling down her face.

He wondered what had happened to her parents. They may have got hurt by one of the bombs, or worse. No, he shouldn’t be pessimistic. Maybe she had just got lost in all the panic and confusion and that they were safe somewhere, wondering where she was.

“We’ll find them.”

“And my rabbit…”

It broke his heart to see her so desperate with all those tears staining her pretty face. He wiped them away with his thumb gently, hoping he wouldn’t scare her even more. She flinched at his touch and fresh tears replaced the ones he had just wiped, making it useless.

He needed to find something more efficient to help her calm down. He tried to think about something that could work but didn’t see anything. He thought over and over again, turning his mind upside down, desperately in search of a good idea. He finally came up with something that was worth trying.

He started singing softly as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Ti no stell mi bette dreng,
Be quiet now, my little boy

leg dæ nie å sow,
Please lie down to sleep

Mue hon sedde ve di seng,
Mum is sitting by your bed

synge bysselow.
Singing rock-a-bye

Mue hon æ få dawen træt,
Mum is so very tired

trænge hått te hvill,
She badly needs to rest

de æ mørk å silde næt,
It is dark and late at night

sov do no bånlill.
Go to sleep my child.

Fåe han slidde dawen long,
Dad is working very hard

Mue må å go mæj,
Mum has to help

Hans han grædde manne gong,
Hans cries again and again

næe hon goe hind væj,
When she has to leave

vi må tien få fød å klæjr,
We have to work to earn a living

bønen må li ild,
The children will suffer.

vi kan itt gi dem et bejr,
We cannot give them any better

liså gjan vi vild.
even though we want to.

Men næe no, om itt så læng,
But in a little while

høsten æ fåbi,
The harvesting is over

så foe Fåe og Mue pæng.
Then Mum and Dad will have money

Mue foe bæje ti,
Mum will have more time

så foe hwer ow bønen lett
there will be enough money

vintestøv å sku,
for a little winter clothing and shoes for each child,

Hansemand vi å ska hett
Little Hans for sure

tråj a vinter lue.
will get a sweater and a hat.

Hwodden ska et go jer sien,
How will it go later,

nær I blywe stue?
when you kids grow up?

I skal sajtens ud å tien,
You’ll have to earn a living.

hvem ska vær jer gue?
Who will take care of you?

A vil tænk po jer hwæ daw,
I’ll think of you every day

bej å te Wohæer,
And pray to The Lord

han må bliw jer støttestaw,
He will support you,

bæjr end a kan væer.
much better than I can do.

His grandmother would sing him to sleep with this lullaby. He used to have trouble understanding the lyrics since it wasn’t proper Danish, but a dialect. But his grandmother had told them the real meaning behind the words, and he realised it was best not to know.

It seemed to work well as he could feel her relax in his embrace. He smiled softly at her.

He could still hear noises in the distance, meaning it was still going on. He could wait for a long while, as long as they remained safe.

It happened so suddenly… Why were they doing that?

What a silly question. There was a war going on. The same war that had forced him to leave his own country.

Suddenly a terrifying thought crossed his mind.

What if they were to invade England like they invaded Denmark?

Where would he go this time? What would he do?

But then he thought about Mr. Hopkins and Mrs. Hopkins, Paul, Emma; and George. He hoped they were all safe. He didn’t want to think about something happening to them. He couldn’t.

Before he could think any more, there was an explosion near them. Rosemary shrieked in fear. He didn’t have time to think any longer. He instinctively pushed her away and instantly there was another explosion, where they were.

Everything went too quickly. He found himself buried under rubble, dust all over his eyes. It stung. He tried to blink it away but in vain. And he couldn’t rub his eyes to make it go. His head was hurting, and most of his limbs were too. He just couldn’t move any longer.

He could hear Rosemary shriek again, calling his name. But it became fainter and fainter.

Everything was becoming a blur. He was feeling heavy, like a dead weight. He slowly drifted into unconsciousness, freeing him from the unbearable pain.

Was this how it was supposed to end?

Hey!  
So as you can see, the previous chapter was just the calm before the storm...
Take care ❤️