Edith

• Mackenzie Leeson, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2015

"Edith!" The shout echoed down the hallway. "Edith, where are you?" The footsteps tapped loudly on the hard floor. "Edith, we have to hide. The Nazis are coming."

The words filled Edith's heart with dread. The Nazi's were evil. They were the reason she was here. She could remember vividly the terrible night when Hitler's men came for Papa. The pounding on the old wooden door. The loud angry voices, the thundering footsteps. Precious ornaments falling to the polished floorboards smashing into millions of tiny fragments. Tears came to her eyes when she thought about Mutti. Dear, innocent Mutti. She had gone to find Papa and had never returned.

"Edith!" Martha's voice repeated insistently as she burst through the door, "Come with me!" "What about the others?" Edith cried. "What about Anna and Simone and....."
"They are safe". Martha cut her off sadly. "They left without us". Her short, dark hair waved as she shook her head dejectedly. "Now it's just you, me, Frank and Rudy. We will hide in the attic and hope to dear God that we are not found by the Nazi’s.” Martha spat the last word out as though it was poison.

Edith was silent as they ran through the empty halls searching for the attic trapdoor. She didn't say a word when they arrived at the long, steep old ladder. She stared into the empty blackness at the top of the ladder and took a deep gulp of stuffy air, her breath coming shakily as she tried to control her fear. If only the Nazi's would leave them alone. If only..... As Edith climbed hurriedly up the ladder, closely followed by Frank, then Rudy, her mind raced.....What were the others doing? Were they safe? Had the Nazi's found them? As Martha reached the top of the ladder and turned to close the trap door, Edith caught a final glimpse of a long empty hallway. A hallway she might never set foot in again.

As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, Martha, Edith, Frank and Rudy noticed crates surrounding them. Huge empty wooden boxes piled high against the white-washed walls. As they gazed around, their reverie was broken by the sound of loud voices and thundering footsteps pounding down the long hallways. "Quick" whispered Martha, her voice trembling with barely concealed fear. "Behind the boxes."

Edith crawled behind the huge wooden chests and curled up in a tight ball, listening to the pounding footsteps getting closer and closer. Then they stopped. They stopped right beneath the children and they made out a muttered exclamation as the trapdoor was discovered. Edith heard a grating sound as the door was roughly pulled down and a clanging followed by an angry curse as the metal handle fell to the floor. In spite of herself, Edith allowed a tiny smile to raise the corner of her mouth, and hoped fervently that the handle had hit the malevolent soldier. But the grin quickly disappeared as the Nazi entered the attic, followed by another, then another, then another. Soon eight of the Führer's henchmen had climbed though the old trapdoor, and stood in the middle of the tiny room, the tops of their perfectly groomed heads brushing the ceiling. A rough order was barked in German, and the soldiers began probing behind the boxes with bayonets fixed on the end of their guns.

Edith sat fearfully, willing her body to be still. A shiny bayonet slid past her shoulder catching the coarse brown material of her shirt. The soldier removed the weapon and examined the tip, frowning at the tiny brown thread attached to the tip. He moved forward with a hand outstretched, about to move aside the boxes. Edith held her breath fearfully as the crate in front of her slid to the side, and she stared as the cold, ice blue eyes widened in surprise...........