The airfield was paved in the
center of the field at the edge of the city. Unlike the bomb blasted
ruins where the dead rotted underneath the layers of rubble the plane was
untouched by the war and alive with the new generations born from the spring.
The meadow’s flowers blossomed among the green glades that sprang up as if
reaching for the sun in the unblemished blue expanse.
The airstrip was
used by the armies that had just conquered the country. Their planes flew uncontested
in the skies, the long shadows of the bomber and cargo planes cast themselves
over the crumbling skeletal remains of the centuries-old cathedrals and houses
of culture as they passed above their vanquished foes.
Dozens of children
dispersed throughout the field sprang up like prairie dogs in the tall grass at
the sound of the approaching engines. The massive bombers that only recently
dropped payloads of fire and death on the city were now jettisoning chocolate.
The aircraft became a silhouette as it passed across the sun. The children
simultaneously craned their necks when they came under the belly of the machine
and all at once cashed after the descending aircraft.
The coveted
chocolate morsels came attached to small fluttering white parachutes that
wafted gently down to earth. The children positioned themselves under the
falling candy as it gently twisted in the breeze.
The sweet morsels
rained across the field, and the hungry boys and girls went about tirelessly
hunting down each and every bar. Many of the children were war orphans who
hadn't eaten anything of substance since the last handout that came from the
occupiers. Most of them quickly ate up the blessing from the sky; others
scurried away with their prize back to whatever miserable den they'd made for
themselves in the destruction.
Christof and Fabian
were life long friends, they and what was left of their families had made it
through the war because of the mutual support they provided each other. Both
families had lost all their older male members to the war, and even though they
felt it their responsibility, neither boy was able to take on the duties of the
family patriarch. Their mothers and older sisters had to find a way to scrape
out a living clearing the rubble and the bodies from a crater-pocked city.
Helping cart off the shattered fragments of their homes and the piles of their
neighbors and loved ones was the only way to provide for their respective
broods, each living on the edge of starvation. Collecting the chocolate was one
of the few ways the boys could hope to contribute to their survival.
Between the two of
them, they had gathered up five of the Hershey bars dropped by the plane. They
each had two to bring home so they decided they could divide the fifth amongst
themselves. Hunger superseded guilt, and they reasoned that since if it weren't
for them taking the time to find the chocolate, there would be nothing to bring
home, so they were each entitled to half of the fifth bar.
With unrestrained
excitement, Fabian tore the wrapper from the top corner all the way down to the
bottom. He then turned it horizontally and broke it into two even halves. Christof
held his hands out, and Fabian dropped his half of the sweet loot in his palm. Christof
took a bite out of the entire half while Fabian methodically broke up his
portion square by square careful to savor every piece. The pain of hunger was
briefly dulled. Fabian wadded up the wrapper and threw it over this shoulder.
“Let's go home,” he
suggested so they wouldn’t have time to rationalize eating another entire bar.
They were almost
out of the field when they came across four other boys lingering around a small
tree. Fabian sped up pretending not to see them, Christof quietly followed his
lead.
“Hey you there,”
said the biggest boy.
Christof slowed
down, but Fabian kept walking.
“Hey I was talking
to you,” the boy repeated.
“Yes?” Christof
responded sheepishly.
“My name’s Henry,”
he said with a friendly tone as he continued his approach.
“What’s yours?”
“I’m Fabian, and
this is Christoph,” Fabian said suspiciously.
“Nice to meet you,”
Henry smiled. “That’s Eric, Walter, and the little one is my brother Albert,”
each boy subserviently waved with his introduction.
“Nice to meet all
of you,” Christof said nervously taking a step back from the advancing Henry.
“Hey did you manage
to find any Chocolate?” Henry asked.
Fabian quietly
resumed walking away towards the city and Christof stumbled on following.
“No,” Fabian said
sharply right as Christof was stuttering “yes,”
“Can I ask you to
spare any?” Henry asked. “My little brother is very hungry, and if I don’t feed
him, there’s a good chance he won’t make it.” All three boys were now slowly
walking behind Henry.
“I’m sorry,” Fabian
said briskly.
“Just one piece
please,” Henry feigned his plea.
“Christof run!”
Fabian shouted giving his friend a shove. They ran as fast as they could, but
they couldn’t outrun the tiny band of child robbers. The three smaller boys
quickly decided on Christof and brought him down like a pack of wolves. When
Fabian turned to see what was happening Henry fell upon him with a massive blow
to the head that sent Fabian down. The boys tormented their prey with kicks to
the ribs and punches to the face. Only after they drew blood did they take the
chocolate bars and leave the battered boys writhing in the dirt.
Exhilarated by
their act of piracy and violence the child gang gathered up the chocolate they
had beaten out of the other children on the field and raced back to the city.
When they stopped to catch their breath, Henry took one of the bars and tore
open the wrapper. He promptly broke it up into four pieces and handed them out
to his crew.
“Are you sure you
should do that? Walter asked apprehensively. “What if Anton finds out?”
“Why would Anton
find out?” Henry asked lowering his eyes.
“I don’t know,”
Walter said looking down at his feet.
“You won’t tell him
will you?” Henry asked taking as he took a menacing stride towards Walter.
“No,” Walter said
meekly.
“You swear?” Asked
Henry.
Walter nodded, “I
swear,” he repeated.
“Swear on your
father’s grave,” Henry said clenched his fist.
“I swear on my
father’s grave,” Walter muttered.
“Good,” said Henry.
“We’re the ones who go and get the chocolate if we take that’s up to us,” he
declared defiantly. They boys all agreed, and each ate his piece of the
forbidden treat.
Anton was a robust
man with a stubbly gray beard, beady dark eyes, a shaved head with a bulge in
his receding hairline. He was in his fifties, and this was the second
catastrophic war he had seen in his lifetime. In the previous Great War Anton
was a soldier, but this time he endeavored not to fall victim to the
deprivations of wartime. He spent his time getting ahead of the rest of the community
by stockpiling everything he could, and the seemingly endless supply of war
orphans had helped fill his cellar with canned rations, packs of cigarettes,
coffee, and of course chocolate. Essentials of modern life he used as leverage
to get what he wanted from the masses of people broken by their desperation.
Anton's operation
was based in the cellar of a house that had survived the destruction rained
down by the fleets of bombers. There was always people qued up outside waiting
for an audience with the self-made baron of the ruins. Men came to offer their
labor in exchange for whatever he may offer, women and girls came to sell
themselves for enough food so their sons and brothers might live to see another
day.
They knew Henry was
an employee of Anton’s and they let the emboldened boy push past them on his
way to the door. He knocked hard.
“Who's there?”
Anton shouted from the other side.
“It’s Henry,”
After a moment the
door opened, and Anton was there staring down with a stern gaze.
“What is it?” He
asked sounding almost annoyed.
“We brought you
this,” Henry said proudly holding up the small buck of cholate bars.
Anton nodded
approving. “Come inside,” he said.
They followed Anton
inside, and he closed the door behind them. They descended the rickety stairs
into the cellar. A kerosene lantern burned in the smoke filled haze. The
earthen walls were covered by shelves stocked with carefully organized
provisions. Anton took a seat at a small round table.
“Show me,” he said.
Henry stepped
forward and spilled the dozen chocolate bars onto the circular surface.
“Good, good,” Anton
said with a grin.
“Thank you,” said
Henry said standing as straight as a soldier at attention.
“Alright let me see
what I have for you,” Anton said standing up and walking over to one of the
overburdened shelves. The boys watched with hungry eyes and irrepressible
smiles. Anton turned back to them. He was carrying a loaf of bread and a pack
of cigarettes.
“This is yours,” he
said. Henry was big for his age, but the robust Anton still towered over him.
He held out the bread and cigarettes, but as Henry reached for his prize, he
quickly pulled it away.
“Now you didn’t eat
any of my chocolate did you?” Anton asked suddenly.
“No sir,” said
Henry with a shaky voice.
“Are you sure?”
Anton asked.
“Yes,” nodded
Henry.
“Yes, what?” Anton
said cocking his head and bending down to force eye contact with the frightened
boy.
“Yes sir,” Henry
repeated.
Anton fired his
gaze at Albert, “is he telling the truth?” he asked. Albert nodded yes and
looked down at the floor.
“What about you. Is
he telling the truth?” Anton asked Eric.
“Yes, sir,” Eric
said trying to keep from trembling.
Finally, Anton
turned to Walter. “Now you, are they all telling the truth? If not now is the
time to tell me,” Anton threatened.
Henry resisted the
urge to turn back and look at Walter. He felt his heart start thumping against
his chest and the pain of anxiety washed away the hunger.
“Yes sir,” Walter
finally mumbled.
Anton was silent.
He looked at each boy again and quietly nodded. “Alright good,” he said as he
finally handed the bread and cigarettes to Henry.
“Thank you,” beamed
Henry.
“Now go if you come
back tomorrow around dawn I may have some more work for you,” said Anton.
The four boys raced
up the stairs and back out into the street. They kept low as they returned to
their little burrow, the whole time they kept the bread and cigarettes
concealed so the human predators lurking in the debris wouldn’t take notice.
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