Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief - by Katrina Nannestad

around it are now part of the Third Reich, Hitler’s glorious kingdom. Their glorious kingdom. They shout that we must serve nobody but King Hitler and his princes. If anyone helps the Partisans, there will be consequences. I know what Partisans are. They’re Russian men and women who hide in the forests and the swamps, and fight against the German Army. They sneak out at night and blow up German trains and German trucks and German supplies of guns and food. I know what Partisans are, but I don’t know what consequences are. They sound bad. The German princes stomp around our village with their hard boots and muscly arms and big guns, smashing windows, kicking in doors, ripping up floorboards to get at potatoes and onions. They catch some of the geese and tie their legs together with string. The poor things lie in the dirt, honking and helpless, no longer proud. I want to sneak forward and set them free, but the knots the Germans have tied look big and sturdy and impossible to untangle, and Mama is digging her fingertips into my shoulder once more, holding me to the spot. The soldiers grow tired of kicking doors and start kicking people and dogs, and they laugh! One of them snatches the flowers from my hand, strikes them over Mama’s head and tosses them to the ground. They laugh at this, too. And that’s when I know that they are monsters – monsters disguised as princes.

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