Walk In the Park [E. Strumfelder/Open]

[Heidi]

Country: Germany
Current Time: 12:45
Weather Conditions: Breezy, cloudy, and the leaves are showing a hint of change. The early autumn weather brings the mercury down to 13 degrees Celsius, and the air is damp. There is a chance of rain.

Notes

Mütter and Väter - German Plural of Mutter (mother) and Vater (father).

Dirndl - Traditional German dress, worn in Austria and in Southern Germany.

++++++++++++++++++++



Her black hair was tied back into a low tail, and she was clad in a dark grey coat and her best dirndl. All around her, leaves spun on the wind, and people walked back and forth - some hurrying, some taking their time. Many had swastikas on their clothing, showing they were Nazis; Berlin seemed to have many of them. In fact, from the radio broadcasts she could sometimes hear from her room, Berlin was the centre of all things Nazi. The Nazi leader, whom people called either a "Führer" or "Adolf Hitler", was supposed to work in a big building somewhere in the city.

Shyly, Adelheid Strumfelder glanced up at her guardian, who held the child's hand tightly. The rhythmic thump, thump of his walking cane served as a reminder to keep quiet and obedient; he would hit Adelheid if she bothered him too much. In fact, he had threatened to beat her with it if she didn't come with him to the park that day, despite still not feeling all that well. She had only begun to start eating again a couple of weeks before, and mostly under threat of punishment if she did otherwise.

A big, furry German Shepherd passed by, two giggling children walking beside it as a woman with them held the dog's leash. Adelheid wondered if the woman was a Mutter; from what she had read in a dictionary in her room, a mother had children she looked after. The woman looked nice - she was smiling, and her blonde hair was neat and well-brushed. Everyone liked blond hair and blue eyes, it seemed; anything else wasn't quite as pretty. From when she was with Herr Jonas, Adelheid remembered how some of the Nazis with him said her hair and eyes looked like spilt ink. Herr Jonas was always mad when they said that.

For not the first time since the shooting incident, the child thought of her own father. How had he died? Had the Nazis killed him? Did he drown or hurt himself somehow? From what the Not-Nazis had told her, Adelheid assumed her Rhys-angel hadn't known that she existed. Why, though? Why didn't he know? The orphanage was where people without Mütter and Väter lived, but why had Adelheid lived there when her Rhys-angel was still alive? Such questions had kept her up at night at first, but as time passed, the girl found herself focusing on them less and less. If she couldn't find an answer at first, then she would get on with life and assume that was how things worked.

[∬: Erhard Strumfelder]

Strumfelder’s cold and gloved hand held the child’s that bit tightly, a slight reminder that escape was impossible. Come to think of it, this was probably the worst place for him to be able to catch her. A park is a child’s playground, and for an aging man with more than his fair share of battle scars, it would be a hopeless endeavour to find her quickly. Of course a small phone call as a caring and concerned father would soon change the situation. It was quite odd. The pair could be related; Strumfelder was so disfigured that unless someone looked closely, they would see no link.

It was cooling down after the warm summer, but it was still nice to walk through one of Berlin’s small parks, watching the wildlife and showing off to the world just how important you were. Having a child by his side made him seem all the move loving and wonderful. A brave warrior of the SS who had himself been terribly disfigured for his great leader, and who could also find time to take his daughter for a walk.

They were approaching the centre of the park, where a live size statue of a Hitler Youth stood, saluting with his right hand, holding a banner in his left, and with a rifle slung over his shoulder. He wore battle dress, but was still beaming. The stone statue was mounted on a plinth which was three meters high and surrounded by a fountain. Strumfelder stopped for a moment and admired the craftsmanship, before releasing the child’s hand and reaching into his trench coat. He removed a small wallet, and took out a RM1 coin, then crouched down to the girl’s level, and placed the silver coin in her hand.

“Voran gehen mein Kind, werfen es in das Wasser und bilden einen Wunsch. Das Führer sieht ihn zu kommen zutreffend. Das ganzes Geld im Brunnen geht auch zur Hitler-Jugend. Ist die nicht eine leuchtende Idee?” Strumfelder stood up and smiled at the girl, as he realised more than a few people were watching this wonderful and patriotic act. The world was such a wonderful place when it was putty in the palm of your hand.

“Adelheid, ist es zu mir dass Ihr ein feines Alter aufgetreten, um das Jungmädelbund zu verbinden. Heute gibt es eine Gruppe der Mädchen, die Ausrichtungsdetails nehmen, und sie sind in diesem Park. Ich glaube, dass es eine lohnende und des Lebens ändernde Bemühung ist.” The simple fact of the matter was that Strumfelder had seen the girls when he’d bought some bread and milk earlier, and only then had it occurred to him that the girl was not a member; an illegal act.

On that same point he needed to give the girl and education. He’d planned for her to be taught at the nearby SS Headquarters. They taught small classes of children if their parents were SS members. She would receive a good and proper national-socialist education, whether she wished to have it or not.

Translations:
“Voran gehen mein Kind, werfen es in das Wasser und bilden einen Wunsch. Das Führer sieht ihn zu kommen zutreffend. Das ganzes Geld im Brunnen geht auch zur Hitler-Jugend. Ist die nicht eine leuchtende Idee?”
~ Go ahead my child, throw it into the water and make a wish. The Führer will see it come true. All the money in the fountain also goes to the Hitler Youths. Is that not a brilliant idea?

“Adelheid, ist es zu mir dass Ihr ein feines Alter aufgetreten, um das Jungmädelbund zu verbinden. Heute gibt es eine Gruppe der Mädchen, die Ausrichtungsdetails nehmen, und sie sind in diesem Park. Ich glaube, dass es eine lohnende und des Lebens ändernde Bemühung ist.”
~ Adelheid, it has occurred to me that your a fine age to join the Jungmädelbund. Today there are a group of the girls which are taking registration details, and they are in this very park. I believe it will be a worth-while and life changing endeavour.

[Heidi]

Translations:

...Ein Wunsch? = A wish?

...Danke, Doktor Strumfelder. = Thank you, Doctor Strumfelder.

Wie ist der Jungmädelbund, Doktor Strumfelder? = What is the Jungmädelbund, Doctor Strumfelder?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++


Doctor Strumfelder stopped, and Adelheid did the same. Before them, a tall statue sat in a fountain's middle, one of a smiling boy in some sort of uniform. The doctor admired the statue like he was looking upon his own son - Adelheid couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of disgust. Whoever the statue was modelled after, Doctor Strumfelder probably wouldn't have hit them.

Suddenly, Adelheid felt the old Nazi's grip loosen. Her head snapped to the side, and she looked at him with surprise, taken aback by how gentle his hand was. The girl saw him reach into his wallet - perhaps he was just checking something? She could probably run now if she wanted to...but what about the police? His threat of calling the police on her would probably apply to anything else she did while out in public....

He withdrew his hand, and between a pair of fingers, there was a silver coin. Crouching down, causing her to take a step back, he gently took her hand again. With all the tenderness that one of the nuns might've shown her, the doctor placed the coin in Adelheid's hand. Her eyes widened further, and her mouth formed a little "o". What was Doctor Strumfelder doing -

"Voran gehen mein Kind, werfen es in das Wasser und bilden einen Wunsch. Das Führer sieht ihn zu kommen zutreffend. Das ganzes Geld im Brunnen geht auch zur Hitler-Jugend. Ist die nicht eine leuchtende Idee?"

...Ein Wunsch? thought Adelheid. Her mind then flickered back to a memory of the orphanage; after a rainstorm, a few of the other orphans had gathered around a large puddle, anything round and flat they could find in their hands. Pretending those things were real coins, they threw them into the puddle, pretending to make all sorts of wishes. Some had wished for horses, some for books, some for all the money in the world - Adelheid couldn't remember everything, but there had been plenty of wishes.

The nuns had said that God granted wishes. If she threw the coin into the fountain, she didn't want the "Führer" to grant it. If she didn't, though, then Doctor Strumfelder might become annoyed. Obeying whatever he said gave Adelheid a better chance of not getting hit.

"...Danke, Doktor Strumfelder," Adelheid said quietly, giving a small smile in an attempt to please him. She then walked over to the fountain, pausing for a moment, and then threw in the coin. It hit the centre of the water just in front of her, and nearby, she saw an old woman on a bench smile. Adelheid smiled back, the girl turning and scurrying back to the doctor.

As she came up to the still-kneeling Doctor Strumfelder, the man said that Adelheid was a "fine age" to join the Jungmädelbund. This, of course, brought forth a confused reaction from his charge - she had never heard of such a thing. Tilting her head to the side like a puppy, she blinked, and said quietly as to not embarrass him (and therefore not annoy him), "Wie ist der Jungmädelbund, Doktor Strumfelder?"

[∬: Erhard Strumfelder]

Strumfelder’s eyes darted around at the child’s question, searching for his audience, and an answer. To have a child of an SS man who did not realise how she should be serving the fatherland or the Führer did not reflect well. He smiled again. “Vor ich erklärte dieses Ihnen vielen Monaten, Adelheid. Erinnern Sie sich nicht? Im Jungmädelbund dienen Sie das Führer und zeigen ihm Ihre Dankbarkeit für die Rettung des deutschen Rennens. Sie heben Geld für das Militär an und erlernen, wie man verletzte Soldaten und möglicherweise behandelt, wie man Waffen behandelt. Und Sie erlernen, wie man eine gute Frau und Mutter zu Ihren Kindern ist, zum zu sein, also können Sie um Ihren SS-Ehemann dich kümmern, also kann er um das Führer sich kümmern.”

Off the top of his head, Strumfelder did not believe that to be a bad answer. All great intellectuals were only great because they could bullshit for the world, and so he had to learn to too. He took the girls hand one again, and lead her off down another path, and past a long stream where some ducks ate bread thrown to them by small children. Mothers watched with toddlers close and discussed everything from the war to rations to husbands. Strumfelder wished he had experienced such a childhood, but that was long in the past. He had control of his life only at this moment, and not back in the past, where his family, wife and son dwelled.

“So Adelheid, werden wir Sie bis zu dieser Gruppe unterzeichnen. Sie bilden Freunde und Treffen zusammen mindestens zweimal wöchentlich und erlernen über, wie wundervolles Deutschland jetzt ist und wie Sie ihm helfen können Adelheid.”Several passers by were listening into their conversation which delighted Strumfelder. This brat could have some use after all.

After she received just a few months of tutoring and teaching, she would soon learn the truth and learn to accept it. He still had no idea why some were so against the Führer’s teachings. Germany was the great nation of the world, and made of a master race. That was why the Allies had tried to hold them back after the Great War, because they were scared. But you cannot stop God’s will, and he rectified everything. Now the Allies were again scared of Germany because they realised that they were fighting the not just the most glorious and powerful nation to ever exist, but the will of God. And nobody, but nobody, not Franklin Roosevelt, not Winston Churchill, not Josef Stalin, could defy God’s will.

Strumfelder took in a deep breath of Autumn air, pleased that the girl’s withering spirit would soon be mouldered to the truth, and all the left-wing, Western propaganda squeezed out of her skull. A few hundred metres in the distance, he spotted the uniformed girls, perched beneath the shade of an oak tree, with a table laid out in front of them. A father was signing his two daughters up just then. Strumfelder was just three hundred metres and one signature away from the girl’s mind.

Translations:
“Vor ich erklärte dieses Ihnen vielen Monaten, Adelheid. Erinnern Sie sich nicht? Im Jungmädelbund dienen Sie das Führer und zeigen ihm Ihre Dankbarkeit für die Rettung des deutschen Rennens. Sie heben Geld für das Militär an und erlernen, wie man verletzte Soldaten und möglicherweise behandelt, wie man Waffen behandelt. Und Sie erlernen, wie man eine gute Frau und Mutter zu Ihren Kindern ist, zum zu sein, also können Sie um Ihren SS-Ehemann dich kümmern, also kann er um das Führer sich kümmern.”
~ I explained this to you many months ago, Adelheid. Do you not remember? In the Jungmädelbund you will serve the Führer and show him your gratitude for saving the German race. You will raise money for the military, and learn how to treat wounded soldiers, and maybe how to handle weapons. And you will learn how to be a good wife, and mother to your children to be, so you can look after your SS husband, so he can look after the Führer.

“So Adelheid, werden wir Sie bis zu dieser Gruppe unterzeichnen. Sie bilden Freunde und Treffen zusammen mindestens zweimal wöchentlich und erlernen über, wie wundervolles Deutschland jetzt ist und wie Sie ihm helfen können Adelheid.”
~ So, Adelheid, we are going to sign you up to this group. You will make friends and meet together at least twice a week, and learn about how wonderful Germany now is, and how you can help it Adelheid.

[Heidi]

Translations:

Ja, ich erinnere mich jetzt, Doktor Strumfelder. Danke. = Yes, I remember now, Doctor Strumfelder. Thank you.

++++++++++++++++++++


Husband? Mother? Her, a Nazi's wife? Oh, no no no no no. Doctor Strumfelder was out of his mind; there was no way she would be a Nazi. The Nazis had ransacked the orphanage, taken away the nuns, and made all the little children blond and blue-eyed think they were the best. At this point in time, however, she had no choice; it was either having a cane hit her repeatedly, or being good and the doctor's perfect little angel. Speaking of which, where had Rhys-angel gone? Wasn't he supposed to be with her in times of trouble?

Deciding to go the safest route, Adelheid nodded, and said, "Ja, ich erinnere mich jetzt, Doktor Strumfelder. Danke." However, that didn't necessarily mean she had to have a Nazi's way of thinking. Maybe she could do whatever the doctor wanted, and still be Adelheid on the inside. Although it seemed like it at times, the old Nazi couldn't read her mind, now could he? Well, he could read her journal...that was something like reading her mind....

Wait. That old journal he had given her...she hadn't touched it yet, out of fear he would read it. If she wrote down her thoughts in it, then Doctor Strumfelder would know what she was thinking. What if, however, she wrote down something different? She could still write about how she was thinking, just in a way that made it harder for Doctor Strumfelder to read. How could she pull it off, though?

Her train of thought was broken by Doctor Strumfelder again; Adelheid kept her expression neutral, but frowned inside. Germany was not that great anymore - France had been better. The Pierponts had been a bit scary, especially Fräu Pierpont, but they had not hit her. When she had lived nowhere, Rhys-angel had been there. Ever since she had come back to Germany, Adelheid had been alone. If she ever got away from the doctor, Adelheid would make sure to get as far away from the country as possible. It was not her homeland anymore.

Finally, they reached the table where Adelheid was to be signed up. The two girls there waved goodbye at the ones leaving, and they happily greeted Doctor Strumfelder by sticking their arms out at an angle. Adelheid smiled in return, but decided to say nothing, leaving her legal guardian to do all the talking.

[∬: Erhard Strumfelder]

The two girls in front of him saluted smartly, exalting National Socialism. Soon the young girl would do this as a matter of course, her brain finally liberated. Strumfelder, clicked his heels smartly together and launched his arm into the air. “Heil Hitler!” he barked, exalting the Führer. He lowered it, then smiled at the girls, who seemed intrigued with his facial features.

“Dieses ist junger Adelheid Strumfelder, meine Tochter. Sie liegt bei 10 Jahren und Wünschen, zum Sie zu verbinden junge Frauen in Ihrer Suche, um die Eroberung des Führer, über den besiegten Europäern Zu fördern.” He beamed as he spoke, and held his hands up, as if gesturing to the world. Again, a few people walking along the path behind him looked over, seeing a powerful and loyal SS man follow his leader’s wishes.

“Herr Strumfelder?” one of the girls asked his name. “Es gibt einige Formen, die Sie ausfüllen müssen. Meine Kameraden bewirten eine bewegliche Abbildung im Parkpavillion über unsere Organisation. Möchte Adelheid sie sehen?” Strumfelder looked down at his daughter and smiled, before nodding. “Das würde wundervoll sein. Ich komme, Sie zu sammeln süß, nachdem ich diesen reizenden Mädchen mein Autograph gegeben habe.” he chuckled slightly. One of the youths took Adelheid off towards the edge of the park, while Strumfelder picked up the first of five forms.

He removed a gold pen from his uniform, its body gold and decorated with runes. A gift from when he had become an officer, it felt wonderful in his hands. The form was simple:
Name: Adeheid Strumfelder
Rennen: Deutsch
Geburtsdatum: 12/03/1934
Vater: Artz. Erhard Strumfelder
Mutter: Cloris Strumfelder
Vater-Besetzung: Schutzstaffel Unterärtzlichführer

It simply went on, and Strumfelder kept thing as close to the truth as possible, filling certain gaps with details which would allow the girl to progress faster in the movement and therefore become more embedded in it. He carried on though the forms, as his daughter was lead off for the first step of her training. Maybe once this was complete, he wouldn’t have to sleep in that cupboard any more; so long as she was willing to corporate, Strumfelder could see no reason why they couldn’t learn to like one another. After all, it was the western daemons which had forced her to shoot him, not her own mind. She was simply ill and needed to be cured, and she was going to receive her first does of medicine.

Translations
“Dieses ist junger Adelheid Strumfelder, meine Tochter. Sie liegt bei 10 Jahren und Wünschen, zum Sie zu verbinden junge Frauen in Ihrer Suche, um die Eroberung des Führer, über den besiegten Europäern Zu fördern.”
~ This is young Adelheid Strumfelder, my daughter. She is of ten years and wishes to join you young women in your quest to promote the conquest of the Führer, across the defeated peoples of Europe.

“Es gibt einige Formen, die Sie ausfüllen müssen. Meine Kameraden bewirten eine bewegliche Abbildung im Parkpavillion über unsere Organisation. Möchte Adelheid sie sehen?”
~ There are a few forms which you will need to fill in. My comrades are hosting a moving picture in the parks pavilion about our organisation. Does Adelheid wish to see it?

“Das würde wundervoll sein. Ich komme, Sie zu sammeln süß, nachdem ich diesen reizenden Mädchen mein Autograph gegeben habe.”
~ That would be wonderful. I will come and collect you darling after I have given these lovely girls my autograph.

[Heidi]

Translations:

Süß - Translated as "darling" in Strum's post, but according to my translator, it means "sweetly".

++++++++++++++++++

Doctor Strumfelder, once again, made a point of being overdramatic. The more he seemed like a proud father and loyal Nazi, the more people looked at him. He was like one of the children at the orphanage who always wanted attention; they would climb to the highest spot they could and wave their arms around, not caring how dangerous (or crazy) they looked. Some would take a more low-key approach - instead of risking their health, they would just talk loud and strut around the orphanage grounds like royalty. The doctor performed a mix of both, a wide grin on his scarred face as seemed to motion to the world. Adelheid watched quietly, looking up at him with a neutral expression on her face - she wasn't impressed.

One of the girls asked for Doctor Strumfelder to sign a few forms. She then asked if she could take Adelheid to see a moving picture; Adelheid could not help but blink owlishly, surprised. A moving picture? When had that been invented? All the orphanage had had were picture books and the like - never one that moved. To the child, such a feat was impossible; her head tilted to the side, a sign that she was curious and wanted to know more. The other girl at the table smiled encouragingly, interpreting the gesture as a sign that Adelheid's interest had been caught by the offer of a movie on the Jungmädelbund.

"Das würde wundervoll sein," said Doctor Strumfelder suddenly, causing Adelheid to snap back into reality. She glanced upwards at him, expecting him to be angry at her head-tilting, in case he saw it as a sign of being stupid in public. Which, of course, annoyed him to no end, like most things. Imagine Adelheid's shock, then, when she saw the doctor actually smiling, her eyes widening a little when he called her "süß". The girl mentally shuddered; since when did Doctor Strumfelder call her a "süß" when he considered her a...well, Adelheid couldn't exactly say it without feeling guilty.

As the two girls led Adelheid toward the edge of the park, Adelheid glanced back over her shoulder. There were many things wrong, she felt, with what she was doing, but she had no choice. Doctor Strumfelder was stronger than her, despite how frail and injured he looked. Everyone seemed to listen to him, and he was still angry with the child for accidentally shooting him. The only thing Adelheid could do now was keep pretending she was a perfect little Nazi.

The journal came to mind again, and suddenly, Adelheid had an idea as to how she could write in it without Doctor Strumfelder understanding her. That idea continued to develop as she was led to a small group of benches, a sheet hanging on a line at the far front. Some sort of odd contraption with wheels on top of it was pointed at the sheet, and there were twelve or fifteen other little girls there. Adelheid was helped to a seat near the front - only the best for a child of an SS man, and a fine, future wife for another SS man.

[∬: Erhard Strumfelder]

After ten minutes of ridiculous bureaucracy, Strumfelder finally reached that one dotted line he had been searching for. He scratched his signature onto the paper, dark crimson ink cutting a blood-like stain into the paper. The deed was done. The girl was finally free. He sighed and pushed the small stack of papers back across the table to the waiting girl. She stamped it with the German Eagle and bound the papers together in a file. She then reached under the table and lifted up a small cardboard box, about the size which might hold shoes after purchase, and then handed it to Strumfelder.

“Das ist für Ihre Tochter. Es gibt einige Blättchen nach innen, ein Plakat von Adolf Hitler mit Zwanzig seiner Jugend, eine Kopie von ' Vertrauen Sie keinem Fox' und etwas Informationen über die Maßeinheit, die sie verbinden wird. Haben Sie guter Tag Herrn Strumfelder. Heil Hitler.” She saluted and Strumfelder returned it with a “Heil Hitler!” He was waved off and wandered away, as a Wehrmacht man moved to take his place.

Strumfelder felt pleased with himself. That was one job nicely taken care of, and the items inside the box should interest the girl. He was told Trust No Fox was a classic children’s story which was also very educational. It would keep the girl happy at least, and now she could see that the Führer loved little children, but loved them even more when they loved him in return. Hopefully the girl would no longer relate to that ‘angle’, who seemed merely an imaginary friend who was based on her late father, but rather the Führer who was their God. Strumfelder had to show her that her father was an evil, evil man who had tried to destroy all the great German people, and that the Führer was a loving and kind man who was liberating millions from Stalin with his military genius.

As his boots tracked around the gravel, he began to near the pavilion where the moving picture was being shown. He was looking forward to seeing it, and seeing the girl. He had a small proposal for her, but she would have to be good and follow it up. If she did as he wanted from now on, her quality of life my improve considerably, she just had to let go of all that disgusting and warped western propaganda which had been squeezed into her mind in the most subtle of ways by the most corrupt of people. She had to finally start listening to what was right, rather than what she had been taught what was right when she was small child.

A young Hitler Youth stood guard on the wooden door of the pavilion, a rifle slung over his shoulder. As Strumfelder neared he snapped smartly to attention, his polished brown shoes clicking together. Strumfelder stopped, looked him up and down, before placing his hand into the boy’s left breast pocket and dropping something in it. It was a RM5 coin. He then stepped inside the dark room, where a machine was playing the black and white film, and a commentator was speaking, sitting at the back of the room with a microphone and a script, dressed in an adult helper’s uniform. Sitting at the front of the room was the girl.

Translations
“Das ist für Ihre Tochter. Es gibt einige Blättchen nach innen, ein Plakat von Adolf Hitler mit Zwanzig seiner Jugend, eine Kopie von ' Vertrauen Sie keinem Fox' und etwas Informationen über die Maßeinheit, die sie verbinden wird. Haben Sie guter Tag Herrn Strumfelder. Heil Hitler.”
~ That is for your daughter. There are several leaflets inside, a poster of Adolf Hitler with twenty of his youths, a copy of 'Trust No Fox', and some information on the unit she will be joining. Have a good day Mr Strumfelder. Hail Hitler.

[Heidi]

The moving picture lasted roughly an hour. Adelheid's ears were filled with prideful words - claims of glory, the purity of the German race, the role of the Jungmädelbund in Hitler's Germany, and so on. At a few points, Adelheid had to admit that her heart fluttered excitedly; the girls looked so proud...they were living up to their country's expectations. They were accepted, and they had friends and family they could count on. They were making people proud, and they were wanted. Adelheid, as far as she knew, had never been wanted by anybody. Everyone just thought of her as a black-haired, black-eyed annoyance, especially Doctor Strumfelder.

But even though the Jungmädelbund seemed appealing, Adelheid could not help but feel guilty. Why was she allowing herself to feel this way? The orphanage had been her home. She had been accepted amongst the nuns as a good girl, and a girl God was proud of. The person who kept talking about the Jungmädelbund said that the Germans were God's chosen people, and that He was proud of them all. How could He proud, though, when they were taking away His nuns and the children His son, Jesus, especially loved? If Adelheid was God, she would be crying her eyes out because of how the Nazis had taken everyone away. In fact, she couldn't stop crying for a week or so after escaping the orphanage. To her, it was all so confusing, and her stare at the sheet for a screen nearly blanked several times.

There came a point where everyone could ask the speaker questions. Saying nothing, the young girl listened to the questions of others, storying away the answers to them in her head. She remained still and quiet, glancing around here and there at the others, a little disturbed by how transfixed everyone seemed on the speaker's words. Well, Adelheid was guilty of that too, but certainly to a lesser degree, right?

As everyone filed out of the pavilion, Adelheid found herself slowing, until she was at the very back of the line, where some girls were talking loudly about what they had seen. Several of them had golden hair and clear blue eyes; feeling slightly jealous, the child moved away, remembering the remarks she had heard from Herr Jonas's men about Adelheid's own appearance. Adelheid glanced Doctor Strumfelder's scarred face over the shoulders of the other children, and made a beeline for him as everyone left. Like a loyal dog with its master, she stood by his side, albeit shyly. He had something in his hands, but Adelheid dared not question him, fearing punishment for prodding at some unknown, taboo subject.

[Daniel Brennan]

Mod Post

[/center]

CP:
Strumfelder: 13CP ( )

Addie: 11CP


~Dan[/colour]