The Family Magdon---Part 2

Sorry these parts are so long. I would have cut them up shorter but I could see no logical way to do it.

           Part Two

I looked out my bedroom window and surveyed the blanket of crisp new snow one December morning as I sorted out the problem of Christmas presents for my family. I could perhaps find something pretty in my limited supply of jewelry to give Maria, and I was sure Carlos would be delighted to carve wooden toys for Pauol and Hamtath. Then I could give Heidi the skein of yarn indigo yarn I had been saving for her. Carlos and Stephono were harder but Alex was the one that puzzled me most.

 I smiled as thought about him; he had changed so much in the four months since his arrival. When I first found him, exploring my cellar, he seemed very stiff and hardhearted. Things had changed though and he was a constant blessing to me; I wasn’t sure what I would do with out him.

I heard a light tap on the removable ceiling in my bureau. 

“I am dressed and everything seems safe, Carlos. You can come down now.”

The noise from my bureau increased and finally the door flew open and out tumbled a large boned boy with hair growing abundantly on his face.

“Oh, well good morning Pauol! I thought you were you’re brother. Did he entrust you with dumping the pail today?” I cringed at the thought. Surely Carlos knows better than to give his brother the attic toilet…

“No Etard! I juth had a thecret I wanted to tell you before all the otherth were up!” his face beamed childishly innocent down at he from his six foot head.

“Pauol! Pauol!”

I looked toward the bureau as his face fell.

“It’s alright Carlos, he’s down here with me.”

I heard a sigh of relief from over head and soon Carlos appeared.

Pauol pouted. “ Tarloth! I didn’t want you down here. I wath telling Etard a secret that you tan’t hear!”

Carlos looked at his brother with some annoyance; I understood that even though he had lived with Pauol all his life there were some things about him he still didn’t understand.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming down here and wanted to be alone with her? I wouldn’t have gotten worried about you then.”

“I didn’t want you to know betauth you said I mustn’t tell her about—”

“Pauol! You weren’t! After we all asked you not to last night! You promised us you wouldn’t!”

I could tell Carlos was getting very annoyed now and Pauol was starting to look hurt so I intervened.

“I am deathly curious to know what you all have up your sleeves that I cannot know but I will sit on my curiosity and Pauol will not give me one little hint; will you Pauol?”

“My lipth are thealed.” Dramatically he stuck his lips out and pinched them shut with his fingers. 

Carlos looked back and forth between me and his brother with an almost pained expression on his face. Then he sighed again.

“I guess I’ll go get the pail. I forgot it in my haste to make sure Pauol was safe.” His trousers disappeared back up the ladder in the bureau.

“Pauol, do you want to help me make breakfast this morning?”  I offered this only as a great reward to him since my selfish side didn’t like the extra clean up later.

“No, I juth want to thit here. I don’t feel good.”

Worriedly I stepped over and felt his forehead, it was not hot. “What is the matter Pauol?”

“I juth feel like thomthingth wrong. I don’t know what.”

“Something’s wrong inside you?”

“No, thomething wrong ith happening.”

“Well there are a lot of things happening that are wrong Pauol. Maybe you should tell Carlos about it when he comes back down. Now I need to go make breakfast, how does a pancake sound? Maybe that will make you feel better?”

“Maybe.”

That breakfast anticipation and hidden excitement seemed to build around the table as I caught my family exchanging pleased smiles with each other. Finally I could hold it in no longer.

“All right, I told Carlos I would sit on my curiosity but I didn’t expect you all to be so open about having a secret and yet so closed about what it is.”

Hamtath looked eagerly up at Heidi, “Could we not just give it to her now? Why do we have to wait until Christmas?”

Heidi looked around at Alex, Stephono, Maria and the others and shrugged. “I do not care.”

Pauol jumped clumsily up, over turning his chair. “I’ll get it!”

Carlos looked anxiously after him but Alex spoke up, “He’ll be fine. It can’t be hurt that easily.”

Pauol soon returned holding something behind his back. “Cloth your eyeth and hold out you handth!”

I obeyed and felt something like a long strip of roughly woven cloth put into my hands.

“Open!”

There in my hands was a intricately braded piece of cloth or rather pieces of cloth all inter woven. It spoke loudly of Heidi’s talented handiwork.

“Grandmama made it out of pieces of our clothing. We all gave something so that it would be from us all and always remind you of us all.” Hamtath piped up eagerly from across the table. He was right, there was Maria’s green dress, Alex’s black suit, Hamtath’s dirty shirt, Carlos’ brown pants, Stephono’s plaid hat band, and one of Paoul’s stained handkerchiefs. 

Stephono explained further, “We thought you might like it for a hair ribbon.”

Tears welled up in my eyes. “Thank you all so much, I love it!”

Alex reached over and laid his wrinkling hand on mine. “We can’t---“

A loud authoritative pounding sounded on the front door interrupting him. All faces immediately went white with at the sound.

“Move!” I whispered fiercely and then called out loudly to the knocker, “Just a moment! Let me finish dressing!”

“Open up! In the name of the Hitler!” 

My heart gave and extra hard thump and I felt as if I was ready to throw up.

“Just a moment!”

I heard the sound of gun butts on the old door and knew I didn’t have much time. I turned and cast an urgent glance towards my bedroom where I could still here sounds of hurried climbing coming from my bureau.

Just as I reached it the door burst open and fifteen Nazi’s spilled into the room and in a moment were rushing throughout the house. I followed hesitantly the head officer who to my horror went strait to my room. As he threw the door open I heard a stifled scream and saw Pauol come tumbling out of the bureau. Alex was still in the room but the other seemed to have gotten up the ladder safely. But something stopped me, what about Carlos? He would have never left Pauol behind. For a second time stood still and I found myself aware of the open window, shouts from outside and then gunshots. My heart felt a pang. Carlos!

Very slowly I became aware of a guns pointed at Pauol’s and Alex’ chests.

“Don’t move or we’ll shoot!” A guard screamed at them.

“You bad men! “ Pauol stepped towards one of them.

“No!!” I screamed and jumped towards him.

I felt a ruff hand shove me back with painful force and I slipped. I heard the gun shot but couldn’t look up. Both brother’s in two minutes?

“Look at him! He wasted his life for a simple minded boy whose going to one of the extermination camps anyway!” I head the mocking voices of the guards and looked up.

Alex lay, shot through the heart at Pauol’s feet.

Why him? Why not me? I had tried to make it me. My heart tore further open—Alex!

Stephono was the only one in the attic who could have fought but he didn’t for the sake of the others with him. They were all roughly shoved outside but no one touched me or spoke to me. I followed anyway.

The officer in command lined them up, “Heidi Oart, Jehovah’s Witness. Stephono and Maria Koath, Jews. Hamtath Sanders, Jew. Pauol Marhoffer, simple minded. The Third Reich has no interest in wasting camp space on these. Execute them!”

Eleven riffles rose. I heard a scream that must have come from my throat and felt myself flying forward, between my family and the guns.

The noise of eleven guns firing was deafening but I felt no pain. Was this what it was like to die?

“Very good! We are done here. Next!” I heard boots moving away and then cars starting than at last all was silent.

I was not dead.

I raised my head unwillingly and looked around.

Heidi, Stephono, Maria, Hamtath, Pauol! My heart broke and I wept, still clutching the hair ribbon they had given me, now covered with their blood. Why had it been them, and not me. I had tried, I wanted to go and not be left alone like I was before my family came. Carlos, Alex, Heidi, Stephono, Maria, Hamtath, Pauol!

Suddenly I felt my hands moving and looking down I saw that I was no longer holding a hair ribbon, I was holding a book, open to the last page. Confused I slowly closed it and looked at the cover.

The Family Magdon as written in black lettering on a background of flames. I burst out sobbing again, what was going on?

I had a weird tingling all over my body and with a jerk I suddenly found myself laying in a bed with my sheets and pillow soaked with sweat. The room was pitch black around me and I could hear my sister sleeping peacefully next to me. I shuddered, another dream? Last night’s had been just as real only it was futuristic and based on euthanasia.

I lay for a moment wide awake and disoriented thinking about my dream. The tears spilled over and fell down my cheeks--Carlos, Alex, Heidi, Stephono, Maria, Hamtath, Pauol! They were only people in my dreams, but their stories had been lived out by others.

*All the events recorded in this story did truly take place in a dream. I fictionalized nothing, (including the order and omnipotent voice,) except for the names (not including Magdon).