Excerpt
The swirling snowflakes performed a silent dance in the dim light of the slowly swinging metal lamp that sent a meager beam over the open snow-covered platform of the train station.
The late night had the stillness that only a heavy snowfall could bring. The silence was periodically interrupted by the puffing sounds of the locomotive taking on coal for the journey that still lay ahead. The warmly dressed sleepy station attendant carried his lit oil lamp carefully away from his moving legs, cursing the night duty under his breath. He glanced briefly at the childrens faces that were pressed against the tiny squares of glass in the train cubicles. By now he was used to seeing the overloaded trains roll weekly through this station, filled with children from the big cities seeking refuge from the bombings, away from their mothers and homes. The children had been awakened by the jarring and stopping of the train. They had not enjoyed a sound sleep in their sitting position. Each time they tried to shift to be more comfortable, little shoves and nudges were exchanged, the way children do when they feel imposed up on. These kids had long passed their limit of tolerance and were now openly cranky. However, the nagging thirst and the imminent need to use the toilet was not enough reason to abandon ones seat, for fear that it would be taken by someone else. The discomfort for all was heightened by the shifting and hopping motions, accompanied by a constant crossing and uncrossing of legs trying to subdue the urge to urinate. Those unsuccessful ones with weaker bladders became painfully aware when they had lost the battle; with the warm relief came the awful smell throughout the compartment, making their accident so embarrassingly obvious. That in turn brought on loud protests and finger pointing, accompanied by cruel remarks that only children are capable of. Tears started to flow down shamed faces, and mothers arms were sadly missed.
Without warning, the door to the compartment was thrown open, and a cold blast of air entered, along with the attending Red Cross nurse. She was annoyed at these kids for bothering her again and again, forcing her to leave her comfortable warm seat to settle one argument or another. She was tired of attending to these brat trains, and wished she were taking care of some wounded soldiers in a convalescent hospital somewhere, preferably in Bavaria. She had signed up to be with the heroes of the war, and this is what she got! She was assigned a train full of sniveling, cranky kids, belonging to common people of no importance. Armed with a flashlight that she pointed at the childrens squinting faces, she would bellow, Whats going on in here, for crying out loud? She sniffed the air and screwed her nondescript face in to a grimace. Aha! someone tinkled, thank you so much. Very considerate to the rest of us who have the pleasure of smelling that! She was letting the beam of light wander mercilessly from face to face. The children shrank in their seats as if the beam had smacked them. They had fear in their eyes and wished that they were back in Berlin, even with the sirens going off at night and running to the air raid shelters. The nurse waved her ringless fat hands at the children that were asking for some water. She stuck the flashlight under her chin and produced a small bottle out of her coat pocket. With the other hand she fished out some sugar cubes. She popped the cork of the little bottle with her mouth and began putting some strong-smelling drops on the cubes, counting silently to ten and handing the cubes to each child. They eagerly popped this sweet treat in to their mouths, but right away experienced the slightly burning sensation of the drops. The train jolted and stopped as if in a hopeless attempt to leave this deserted station, and slowly moved forward, picking up speed and leaving the swinging light bulb behind waving a forlorn farewell.
The nurse slid the door shut, leaving the whiny, sleepy kids behind, knowing that soon the drops would take effect and sleep would overcome them. She went to her own compartment to get some shuteye, leaving the bothersome brood behind, and liking her job less by the second. She didnt even try to get a grip on herself and show some sort of compassion. What for? She was in charge and not interested in impressing anybody, least of all these mothers pleading to Please take care of my little girls. Sure lady, just yours, no sweat. Only if necessary would she look at the cardboard dangling around the neck of a kid to get some information for whoever wanted to know. She certainly did not do anymore than absolutely necessary. Just a few hours more and this lot will be gone. Sometimes it seems as if the future foster parents take forever to select the children, she mused. She took a last long drag on her cigarette, opening the window slightly to flick out the still glowing butt. Some snowflakes hit her face, and she quickly slammed the window shut. Shell have to get out into that white stuff when they reach their destination, Sudetengau. She thought that maybe the snow would stop falling by then, and she closed her eyes, drifting into a light slumber.
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