Mary's Story

• Matilda Mansell, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2013

Today was horrible. Once again the Nazi soldiers were marching the town searching for more Jews, which is why I am getting nervous because every day they are getting closer and closer to our hiding spot in the attic. Yesterday mother told me to go down to the market to get some fruit. But when I got to the Main Street by going through all the hollow hideaways like ours where the rest of the Jewish families were hiding, I heard shrieks and people screaming. I got so scared that the Nazi soldiers had found all the Jews. I ran as fast as my legs would take me all the way back to the attic. I squeezed through the rotten hole that hid our family and ran over to mother. I blurted out all I had heard. She understood how scared I was. She told Jane my older sister who was sitting by the window reading the only book she had to put the treated cloth over the window so no one can see in. I ran over to Jane to help her and while I was helping her I was able to see what all the commotion was. Then my heart froze! The screams were coming from my best friend Edith's mum. I then realised that her mum was screaming because the Nazi soldiers were taking Edith. My best friend, my only friend that had not been taken away is gone. As my heart froze I fell on Jane and not long after she saw the site I had just seen. She called mother and told her to look out the window and she too realised what was wrong,she then grabbed me and gave me a hug and whispered in my ear, "Be thankful that you have us and that you have safety and I know that Edith will come home."
It has been three days since Edith was taken away. But if that wasn't enough mother has now fallen sick and because we are Jews we have no medicine so we are very worried that it mite just be me and Jane. Today was even worse then ever because when mother was getting some fruit the Nazi soldiers went up to her and took her away to one of the dreadful death camps up in the east. It now means that Jane has to take care of me now that mother is gone. The weather has just made the world sadder for me and Jane. I have been having nightmares about how the Nazi soldiers will have a bombing raid in the town and all the Jewish children are taken away from their families. The good dreams are about how the war will end soon and father will come home but the war will never end. So all Jane and I do is hope that we will never be separated from each other and that it will not be the end.