Prisoners of Freiheit

Part 1

(Mary)

I was in a skirt and heels, running in the pouring rain, soaking wet. Not that I minded, that is, because I had a more pressing matter at hand...

I was in Nazi Germany. But not just Germany, the heart of Germany: Berlin.

I stowed away to Europe after I had found out that my husband, Clark, had been taken prisoner by the Nazis.

My father thought I was crazy to attempt something like this. If that wasn't bad enough, the rest of my family, especially my cousin Abigail, all had the same doubts. But I didn't listen to them. I was going to find my husband and bring him back, safe and sound.

No matter what.

(Clark)

I still couldn't believe that I was in such a situation. My first time in war, and I get captured. Some soldier I was.

A clap of thunder erupts, interrupting my self doubt. But it reminds me of when I was a little boy, and when it would storm like this, I would always be scared. I would run into my mother's arms, crying. And then my father would come up to me and hold me close to him, keeping me safe from the storm.

My father...I wonder what he would say if he saw me like this.

Would he have gotten upset with me? Maybe so. I would've been upset if my son had been taken prisoner and forced to work for the enemy, simply because he could have done a better job at being a soldier.

That is, if I had a son.

(Mary)

The rain had stopped, but it was still misty and cold. I shivered, rubbing my arms, and wrapped a cloak around me that my mother in law, Clara, Clark's mother, had given me before I left.

She told me that it had been a gift from her husband the day they got married. And she gave it to me.

Clara was the only one that supported the idea of me doing this. Of course she did. Clark was her only son, of course she'd want someone to bring him home.

But she also treated me like the daughter she never had. I could tell that she cared for me, more than my real family ever has.

My son is lucky to have such a loving wife as you, Mary.
She told me. I know she wanted her son back, but I could tell she didn't want me to go either.

And then it hit me: She didn't want to lose her other child.

I suddenly stopped in my tracks and went to my knees crying.

(Clark)

It stopped raining. Good, thinking about my father was making me even more miserable. But then I remembered why I was here.

I had tried to sneak away, but the Germans caught me and beat me and then sent me to a cell for the night. Once in a while, a Nazi soldier would come and look to see if I was causing trouble.

He looked almost exactly like he came out of a propaganda poster, which made him even more terrifying.

He had these piercing dark eyes that made me uneasy every time he looked at me. I could tell that he would much rather just kill me instantly than watch me suffer.

I quickly shook the thought out as the German walked away.

But suddenly, I thought of my wife, Mary.

Mary my darling, I'm so glad you don't have to witness this horror. I said silently.

(Mary)