The Forbidden Six

May 20th, 1944

Liese ran outside to get the mail. Her life had mostly returned to normal, if you considered bombings every week normal. She had settled into life with just her, Mena, Elisa, and Pieter. If she was being honest with herself, her life had gotten boring. It began with her waking up, doing some chores around the house, listening to the radio, going to the store, then coming home and doing nothing for the rest of the day. One of the only things that made her days interesting were the letters she received from Werner, Otto, and Augustine, although the letters from Augustine were scarce.

As she walked out to get the mail, she said good morning to the mailman. He handed her a small envelope and her heart jumped, seeing it was from Werner. She smiled to herself and thanked the man. He struck up a conversation and she begrudgingly talked to him for a few minutes more.

She hurriedly walked into her house and shut the door. She sat down in her living room and quickly opened the letter, eager to read the words inside. Her eyes quickly roved over the paper. They widened and she quickly read it again. She screamed and her grip on the letter tightened.

"Oh, mein Gott im Himmel. Mena!" she yelled, her voice an octave higher than usual. "Mena, honey, come quick!"

Mena, who was finding something to eat in the kitchen as Liese went to get the mail, ran into the living room with a panicked look on her face. "What? What happened? Is he...?" Mena trailed off, fearing the worst.

"No, no. It's not that. He's coming home. Otto and Augustine too. Werner's coming home. Oh, mein Gott im Himmel."

Mena stared at her with an incredulous look. "You're not pulling my leg, are you?" She breathily laughed in disbelief.

Liese rapidly shook her head. She flopped back on the couch and grinned. She clutched his letter to her chest and started to imagine what she would do when he came off the train. Would she cry? No. She would not cry. To her, crying was like showing weakness. Whatever she did, she would not shed a tear in front of him.

"It's been five years," she whispered. She bolted upright. "There's so much to do. I have to bake something for him. Of course there's rationing. I'll work around that. I have to decorate the house, as well."

"When are they coming?"

"June third. It's so far away!"

The best friends looked at each other then started loudly squealing. They bounced up and down throughout the living room. Liese flew down the stairs, excited to tell Pieter the news. She showed him the letter and she wildly grinned. Pieter's face erupted into a smile. He hadn't smiled this wide in years. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time.

The days dragged by as Liese counted down the hours that she would see her brother and two friends. Mena started drawing a picture for Otto. It was the two of them in their willow tree. Somehow, the tree was still standing amidst all the destruction. Mena still found time in her schedule to visit it. Whenever she was alone at their tree, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to get lost in memories. Good ones. Ones that included Otto and the times before the war.

On one of the last days before Werner, Augustine, and Otto arrived, Liese wandered into Mena's house and found her friend in the parlor, furiously sketching something out. "Ena, I'm so scared. Everything's going to be different."

"Why?" Mena momentarily looked up from her drawing.

"Because I like him now," she wailed.

Mena squealed. "That's so cute. I'm putting that in my quote book." She ran to her room and grabbed one of her many notebooks. She quickly wrote down the quote and smiled.