The Forbidden Six

August 14th, 1937

Liese woke up that morning to Nelke bursting into her room. Augustine could be heard cheering the dog on from outside the door. The black lab jumped on Liese's bed and spun around. A red balloon was tied to her neck.

"Liese," Augustine barged into her dark room. "Happy birthday! You're seventeen. Yay! Now we can do stuff that I can't do."

"Like what?" Liese asked as Augustine opened her curtains. She pet Nelke and blinked from the onslaught of bright light. Her brother momentarily looked out the window before turning back to her, his lips contorted into a smirk.

"Drink alcohol."

"That's sixteen, dummkopf," she replied.

"Drive."

"That's eighteen. And where are you going to go?"

"To my friends' houses." He stepped onto her bed and began to lightly hop up and down.

"You have no friends."

He started to drag her out of her bed by her foot.

She shrieked. "Don't touch me!" She swatted his hand away. He ran out of her room before she could say anything else.

She climbed out of her bed with a groan and a stretch. The summer sun streamed into her bedroom. Throwing open her window, she deeply inhaled the redolent air. The sun hung high in the resplendent sky, free from clouds. Trees full with leaves swayed in a pleasant breeze.

Liese opened her closet and pulled out a green dress. She put it on and tied a white ribbon in her hair. Opening a drawer, she pulled out tins of makeup. They had never been used; Liese had always felt too young to be wearing makeup. She dabbed a bit of rouge on her cheeks and red lipstick on her lips, hoping to look like Carole Lombard.

Once she was ready for the day, Liese walked to her kitchen. Augustine seated himself in his usual spot at the breakfast table. A plate of cinnamon rolls was situated in the middle of the table, still steaming.

"I made these. Mutti and Vati aren't up yet so I woke you up because I could." He held out the dish with a proud gleam in his eyes.

"Did you cough on these?" she asked, ever the germaphobe. "Also, I'm surprised that you made these on your own accord."

"I'm thirteen. I can do stuff for myself, you know."

"Are they poisoned?"

"If I wanted to poison you, I would have done it a long time ago."

Liese sighed and took one. As she bit into it, she thanked her brother and left her house to go to Werner's. She knocked on the door and he quickly opened it. The first thing she noticed was his hand, which was clutched around something. Before Liese could say anything, he opened his hand and threw bits of colored paper in her face. She cried out in surprise. After realizing there was no real threat, she began to laugh.

"Happy birthday! I hope you like the confetti I made for you. I worked very hard on it." He smiled.

"He spent the last two minutes ripping up the paper. It wasn't hard." Jakob peered around his brother.

"Honey, that's a waste of paper. Anyway, do you like my makeup?" Liese asked with a smile.

"Of course I do," he answered. "It's very beautiful."

She grinned. They stood, looking at each other.

"Could I come in?" Liese wondered.

"No," Jakob yelled with a laugh. He climbed the stairs to the second level. Werner gave him a look and she chuckled. Werner's mother walked down the hallway that separated the reception hall from the kitchen. She bid Liese a good morning and a happy birthday before making her way back to the kitchen.