Man Out of Time

1

I woke up and found myself in an alley. Weird. Last time I remember, I was in the Ardennes forest.... I got up and adjusted my helmet. I walked out the alley and found myself on a busy sidewalk.

Some people yelled at me in a strange language... Wait, oh. It was English.  I knew some English, but not enough to yell much back to them. I wandered into a building that seemed to be a grocery store. Funny, it was full of food. No store was like this because of the war. There were cashiers at the registers, maybe they could help me.

I walked to a cashier with dark hair. I tapped on her shoulder and she turned around. The cashier held a small device I never saw before. I stared at her, forgetting my question. What is that? I thought. "What are you looking at?" The cashier spat," You wanted my number or something?" I backed away and glared at her,"Nein..."  Well, she couldn't help me, and she was ugly anyways...

I walked back out onto the street. A taxi sped past. At least something was familiar. I continued in my quest to find someone that could help me. I spotted a woman with a stroller. Maybe she could help me. "E-excuse me, Fraulei- I mean, miss. Could you tell me where I am?" I asked her. She stopped," Umm.. Your in New York." "New York? That's not... Germany, is it?" I questioned. "No!" She laughed," United States, sir." "Oh." I muttered. Allied territory, great. "I'm lost. Do you know where I could get some help?" I asked the woman. She looked at my uniform,"Oh yes! The museum can help you. It's down the street. It has a Sherman tank in front of it." "Thank you, Fraulein!" I didn't have anything to give her to show my gratitude. I finished my last chocolate ration back in the forest (Ardennes).. I walked down the street looking for a Sherman.

It shouldn't be hard to find. I've seen many of them before. I passed by a group of people who dressed.. quite sloppily. Me, being trained by only the best officers knew that one had to always keep looking sharp. I decided not to look at them. Probably low-lifes, thiefs, and  Resistance members... Not my main priority right now. I could come back for them later.. As I walked passed the group, they muttered things at me," Nazi.", "Racist slob."... It made me boil, but I shouldn't get involved. They spat at me, and I nearly lost my mind. Just look for the Sherman... I thought. I kept going, and I found it.

"Second World War... Museum." I read. There was a museum... about the fight? Was the war... over? I was going to find out. I marched right in, and that's when I spotted some of our AA guns. I ran to them. So familiar. And there was a motorcycle like the ones we had. I hadn't paid to get in the museum. I mean, it's not like I could anyway.... I didn't carry American money. I continued on and saw all the things I was used to seeing. Kubelwagens, MP40 MGs, the flag of the Reich. There was American and British stuff, too.

I read something off a plaque,"-Dönitz authorized Jodl to sign the  unconditional surrender at 1:30 on the morning of 7 May. The war in Europe was pretty much over. May 8th is known as "Victory in Europe Day", or "V-E Day" to the Allies. The Nazis were beaten, and the Allies had won. Europe's war was over." I gasped and dropped to my knees. The Allies won. Everything we fought for, gone. Right down the drain. I started crying, not noticing the crowd of people gathering around me, or the soldier approaching me.

I felt a light tap on my shoulder and I looked up to see who it was. An American soldier looked down at me,"Sind Sie auch verloren ?"

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AN:

Lars here! Umm, yeah. Time traveling soldier. Or soldiers, as I should say. So Gerhard isn't the only one stuck in the wrong time period.

Ardennes forest: Where the Battle of the Bulge (1944-45) took place in Europe

Sherman Tank: An American WW2 tank

Kubelwagens,: The German's equivalent to the American Jeep

MP40: German machine gun

Admiral Donitz: German naval commander and Hitler's successor to leading the Germans

Jodl: German General during World War 2

VE-Day: Victory in Europe

Nein= No

Fraulein= Miss

Sind Sie auch verloren? = Are you lost, too?