Past
The days flew past. Sigrid finally had the possibility to sleep for longer than a few hours. She got new clothes that looked like the ones other German girls were. It is not like she ever talked to them, but she saw them out of her window. On the third day, she got so bored that she asked Frau Stuhrmann if she had any chores she needed help with. From that day on, Sigrid helped with cleaning the house or washing the dishes. During these chores, she talked to Frau Stuhrmann in hopes of finding out more about what is happening to her country.
Sigrid found out that she was a German teacher, so Sigrid started learning German. Frau Stuhrmann was surprised by how quickly she learned it. Sigrid did not know another language. She was incredibly excited to be learning another language. Additionally, she was very excited to show what she had learned to Herr Stuhrmann who only seemed to be reading the German newspaper when he was home. They never talked about what he does for a living, but Sigrid thought that it must be important. Their house was much nicer than anything she ever saw, and the clothes were also better. Mostly, she talked to Frau Sturhmann but in the evenings when Sigrid would help to serve dinner for him, she tried saying sentences in German. It was obvious that he was impressed, that after only a few days she could already speak so well.
Sigrid has never gone to school before, so the process of learning like in a school was completely new to her. She came to like the language because the more she was able to speak it, the better they treated her. She thought that it might be because she now spoke the same language as them and there were not any awkward pauses where they did not understand her. One evening at dinner, Sigrid felt confident enough to ask about her parents. The couple has not told her much about the war. The only thing she knows is that the Germans have occupied Latvia. One day she even tried to read Herr Stuhrmann’s newspaper, but she could not read German very well, so she did not understand a word.
“Do you know where my parents are?” she interrupted the silent dinner. Herr Stuhrmann looked up first then his wife followed. Frau Stuhrmann opened her mouth to say something, but it looked like she did not know where to start. Her husband saw her hesitation and answered Sigrid.
“They are in a horrible place. You need to be thankful that you hid that night and that we took you in. Otherwise, maybe you would have ended up there too,” he answered with a grim look on his face.
“But are they in pain? You make it sound like they are in pain!” Sigrid answered quickly in German to gain more of his attention.
“As far as I know… Not anymore-” his wife stopped him from finishing his sentence.
“Oh look at the time, it is so late already. You should get ready to go to sleep,” Frau Stuhrmann said. Sigrid decided that it was enough for that evening and not to ask any more questions.
© Adelina Edelhoff 2023-06-29