Your Silence Hurts Me

Chapter One

The loud blares of car horns jerk Marie Dryfuse out of her bed.

"Darn Krauts," she mumbles, as she gets out of her bed and looks out her window onto the street below.

A procession of jeeps filled with German officers ride down the street and continue to blare their horns in an effort to clear the street and make their presence known. Frustrated, Marie puts on her robe and walks downstairs to the kitchen. There her father, Andre, and mother, Brigitte, are calmly sitting at the table eating breakfast and reading the morning paper.

"Good morning my dear," Brigitte tells Marie before she takes a sip of her tea.

Marie scoffs at her mother's words and asks rhetorically, "How can any of us be having a good morning with that commotion outside?"

Her father laughs half-heartedly at her comment, and replies, "We must look past the darkness and focus on the light my dear daughter."

Taking her seat at the table, Marie states, "I understand father; but it's so hard to when the reason for my dismay is constantly in my face."

Andre nods his head and returns to reading his paper. "Everything happens for a reason my dear. We may not always know why, but the Lord does, and that's what matters. As long as we trust and follow Him, we will be safe,"

Brigitte tells Marie. Realizing that her parents will not validate her frustrations in the way she wishes, Marie changes the conversation.

"Is it ok if I go to visit Louise?", she asks.

"Of course, you can," Brigitte replies perkily, "In fact, I need you to bring some eggs to her mother in exchange for milk."

Marie nods in acknowledgment, before standing up from her chair and heading out the kitchen area.

"Wait Marie," Brigitte calls after her, "Aren't you going to eat some breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry, but thanks," she yells back, as she continues to rush back up the stairs.

"That girl," Andre states with a slight snicker.

Brigitte smiles and him and asks playfully, "What would we do without her?"

After collecting all the eggs from the henhouse and placing them carefully into a basket, Marie cycles off to Louise's home. When she arrives, Mrs. Céline, Louise's mom, is out feeding the cow.

"Good morning Mrs. Martin," Marie yells out.

Céline turns towards her and yells back, "Good morning, Marie. Louise is in the house. You can just go inside."

"Thank you for letting me know. By the way, I've brought your weekly batch of eggs", Marie answers.

"That's great. I'll make sure to give you some milk to bring back home before you leave," Céline states, before turning back to tend to the cow.

Marie then walks over to the house to see Louise. As she opens the door, she yells out for Louise.

"I'm upstairs," Louise replies.

Quickly, Marie runs up the stairs and goes into Louie's room. There she sees Louise sitting at her desk, with all her focus on the book in front of her. Louise is an avid reader of literature; more specifically, romantic literature. Once she has begun reading, it is very hard to get her to stop. Knowing this, Marie just sits down on Louise's bed and begins playing with her hair. After a while, Louise slams her book closed and swiftly turns towards Marie.

Well aware that Louise is about to go off on a tangent about the emotional spiral she has just gone through, Marie straightens her posture and asks Louise, "What happened?"

"It's so frustrating! So, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth have been at odds since they practically met. This we know. However, Mr. Darcy have finally accepted that he has feelings for Elizabeth. So, after service one day, he follows her, in the rain mind you, to this like old building or whatever and proposes to her! And do you know what Elizabeth does?", Louise asks.

Mindful that Louise's question is a rhetorical one, Marie shakes her head.

"She denies his proposal on the grounds of him having, and I quote, 'Selfish distain for the feelings of others'." Louise exasperates.

"So sad," Marie says, while trying to keep herself from laughing at Louise's over exaggerated reaction to a fictional interaction.

Despite Marie's efforts, Louise can tell that Marie is internally laughing at her and calls her out on it, "Don't laugh at me. This is serious. I've waited thirty-four chapters for one of them to accept their feelings for the other, and this is what I get?"

No longer able to hold it in, Marie bursts out laughing. Louise tries to look hurt, but eventually also ends up laughing at herself.

Once they stop laughing, Louise asks Marie, "How's things with the Germans been at your house?"

Marie's smile fades away and she replies, "Terrible, every morning I have to wake up to the sound of car horns and people shouting. You're so lucky to live further in the countryside."

"Everything has it's pros and cons," Louise responds.

The two girls, spend most of the day together, before Marie heads back home in the later part of the afternoon.

As soon as she returns home, she rushes inside and places the two bottles of milk that Céline gave her before she left. After that, she walks to the living room where her parents are seated. The minute she sees their faces, she can tell that something is wrong. Carefully, she asks them if everything is ok. Brigitte looks at Andre and waits for him to speak.

"An officer came to the house today," Andre begins.

His words cause Marie's muscles to tense and her breathing to becomes shallow.

He continues, "Every home within a four miles radius will now be required to provide a room to a German officer."

Marie's cheeks flush as anger builds up inside of her.

"First they invade our town, and now they are invading our homes?", she asks in a frustrated tone.

Brigitte lays a hand on Marie's in an effort to calm her down, but to no avail.

"This is wrong father. There has to be a way for us to keep this from happening," she states.

Her father exhales deeply and tells her, "It's either we cooperate with them, or we die. As the head of this house, I have a duty to protect you and your mother. Therefore, I must follow the orders of the Germans. However, that is all I shall do. All I ask is that you respect my decision."

Begrudgingly, Marie nods her head.

"I will trust and respect your decision father; however, I ask that you do not require me to speak to him at any time," Marie requests.

Andre glances over at Brigitte, before looking back and Marie and answering, "I will not require it of you my dear."

"When does he move in?", Marie asks.

"Tomorrow," Brigitte replies.

The three of them then sit in silence, as they all prepare themselves for the next day.