Bämer Against The World

Zwei

    When he heard the news that he could actually go to a lifelong camp with his friends, he completely forgot about beating the night before. When the sun rose, Freddy jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. Luckily his parents weren't home, otherwise, his father would have chastised him for running inside the house. After jumping over a few steps, Freddy saw a box with a velvet bow wrapped around it sitting in front of his door. Freddy could almost scream. His uniform finally arrived. Freddy kicked his clothes off as he went upstairs due to his excitement and put everything on with as much honor as his tiny little mind could hold. When he looked in the mirror his stomach dropped. He didn't know why. He wasn't afraid at all. But something about taking another step in his life made him extremely nervous. But he wouldn't let his nerves stop him from serving the Fatherland. Freddy took a deep breath and stared into the mirror. "Heute ist dein tag, Soldat." Freddy stomped while straightening his poster to imitate being one. As the nerves left him, he thought more and more about how much his Father had exaggerated the intentions of the Führer. Scoffing at the thought, Freddy left the house to start his new adventure.

    ~~~

    "Name?"
    "Friedrich Bämer." the man who checked off every boy's name put a stamp near his and raised an eyebrow. "Bämer huh? Son of Paul Bämer?" he asked. "Yes, sir." the man let a chuckle escape his throat. "You're father was a real pussy in battle," he joked, causing him to laugh even harder. The man humoring himself made Freddy smile even though he didn't appreciate his father being insulted. "We'll address you boys in a minute, head left for the young ones," he ordered still cracking up. Freddy blinked a few times, not understanding how the comment he made was that funny before he started to head toward the left meeting room. He could barely take a step before he heard a voice. "Freddy?" it was Claus. With the usual crooked-teethed smile on his face and his dirty blond hair in his diamond eyes. "Claus!" Freddy exclaimed as he ran up to hug him. "Where's Bruno and Christoph?" Freddy asked letting go, although his arm was still around him. "Inside. We were all waiting for you. Bruno bet you'd never show up." The thought made Freddy roll his eyes. Bruno and Christoph were just as happy to see Freddy as Claus was. But their reunion was cut short when a man in a high-ranked military uniform shot his pistol in the air. "Aufmerksamkeit!" he screamed, making all the boys freeze. "My name is Captain Heidelberg. Welcome to the most important role...in your lives." his careless disposition was so unlike any Nazi the boys had ever seen, they became to snicker and giggle whenever the man opened his mouth. These childish giggles caused every boy in the room to laugh uncontrollably. Annoyed, Captain Heidelberg shot another cap into the air, silencing them once more. "I have more of these to go around, " he said. "especially for you you little lemon tart," he said waving his gun around at Freddy, who looked around in confusion. "Yeah, you, Bämer. Step forward so everyone can see you." some children 'ooed', some children whispered, but Freddy was too busy dreading what Heidelberg was about to do. But nonetheless, he stepped forward. "Since this little chatterbox has a lot to say, we'll have him speak to everyone here." Heidelberg made him face the entire room and gripped his shoulder. The nervousness that Freddy felt before he left automatically came back. So he resorted to talking about the only thing he knew by heart. Nationalism. "Um...hi," he cleared his throat. "The Fatherland is under attack by the devils of the world," he had just started and some boys were already nodding. "But evils cannot get rid of our liberty." the more boys agreed with him, the more comfortable he got. "The Führer gave us one job in life and that is to protect Deutschland. We cannot listen to the wretched people who think that our world is not worth fighting for. Especially not the children who have 'other priorities'." some children cheered, boosting Freddy's confidence. "This is our land! And we'll murder anyone who tries to sneak into it!" Freddy exclaimed. "We'll slash the pirates, hang the Jews, and have all the Americans running!" his comrades cheered at Freddy's boldness. But the wide smile on his face dropped when he saw the image of his father upset with him through the corner of his eye. To him, Paul was never happy with him. But to Paul, he had failed at preventing his son from being a Nazi. Freddy shook the thought out of his head when he noticed Heidelberg let go of him. "Not bad kid. Not bad." Heidelberg noticing his talents made Freddy smile so wide his face got sore. He finally had a home. A real home. A home of people who knew him for him and not just a dumb boy. Things were finally looking up.