Augenblick

Chapter 4

'The man who can keep a secret may be wise, but he is not half as wise as the man with no secrets to keep.' ~ E.W. Howe

As both boys crossed through the undergrowth and back into the sunlight of the clearing they were confronted to what Daniel had feared. They were already quite far from each other but the gulf remained seeming to enlarge as they moved out into the open, sat under their willow trees was a couple sprawled among the green grass blades. Both boys stood nervous and Otto allowed anxious awkward coughs to leave his parted lips as Daniel moved a hand to rub at the back of his head.

Rosalie had her legs on top of Emmanuel's her red hair rolled and pinned with locks flying free. Rosalie squealed in joy as she saw the two moving down the slope from the trail. She stood quickly unsettling Emmanuel as she stood causing him to tumble over a bit. Her eyes locked on both as she met them halfway waving wildly.

'Otto! Daniel!' She called happily; Otto felt very quickly overwhelmed and smiled, hugging her tightly before she danced over to Daniel.

Otto met her with a warm smile and even a warmer hug as he hadn't seen her in a very long time since the war and seeing her was like diving into a pool of pure nostalgia. Daniel instead looked about the lake and looked for something that might work for a place to sit and eat. He moved very slowly past the willow tree to a rocky side that had a large flat rock that peered out over the lake.

'Danny boy where are you off to there is a spot beside us that will work just find' Rosalie piped as she watched him move toward the rock

'We don't want to disturb your private time together we'll just be on the rock' Otto smiled as he went to follow running slightly to catch up with him. The spot he had picked out was warm and they set down the blanket quickly using their bags as weights to stop the light breeze from blowing it away. They snacked a little on food and concentrated on their books as they watched from the corner of their eyes as Rosalie fooled about with Emmanuel, it was a scene that reminded them of what life had been like before the war or even before anything majorly bad had occurred to them. It felt like home.

Daniel laughed slightly as he watched Emmanuel get pushed into the lake by Rosalie in one very quick action causing the water to splash up. Rosalie had grabbed the only cuff that attached him to his shirt as he fell in stopping the item of clothing going in with. Otto laughed with all his heart as he watched Emmanuel stand and then slip in almost two seconds making him out to be truly useless. It was a scene straight from a film and the two indulged in it rather than the slight sting that came from not being able to indulge in each other.

Rosalie stripped down to a red swimsuit and waded in after him signalling for the boys to join them in the cool waters. Daniel started to undress and so did Otto feeling slightly strange in Otto's swimwear but it could have been a lot worse than what he was currently feeling. \they moved quickly diving into the water and joining the other two in the centre of the lake treading water and laughing. Acting as though they were children and the world didn't exist, they fell into childish games of tag that were made harder by the water but yet Rosalie seemed to move through it with the same tact and grace as before and did not in the slightest seem to hinder her.

After a while they just floated on their backs staring dreamily up at the sky, the clouds seemed fluffier and the sky seemed bluer than before. Like every trouble had packed up and left them.

'Otto, I wish father didn't ban me from seeing you' Rosalie said softly as she moved back to tread on water again.

'It makes sense and he isn't the only one' Otto said softly also turning the right way up leaving Emmanuel and Daniel still floating on their backs and drifting away slightly only to be caught by the ankles and hauled back to them.