Broken Memories

He didn't hear the planes anymore. He didn't hear the rapid gunfire anymore. He didn't hear the explosions anymore. All Lieutenant could hear was his own commanding voice, guiding his platoon through the town and preparing to counter-attack the German troops. He faced his soldiers and barked out his orders, staring at each of them in the eye with fierce determination. His troops rushed forward into the street at the Lieutenant's command, raising their weapons and preparing for battle.

They were gone too fast, too quickly. Lieutenant didn't have time to warn them when he saw German troops pop up all around them, take aim, and fire. The Germans must have somehow known they were coming. These thoughts flew through his mind as he fired at the enemy, rushing behind whatever cover he could find, but there were too many. Soon it was only the Lieutenant and his old school friend, Truman. Lieutenant turned to his friend to make an escape plan, but just as he faced Truman, a loud bang was heard. Truman froze, eyes bulging from their sockets. He opened his mouth to say something, but all he could do was cough blood onto Lieutenant's face before falling forward, lying still on the red ground.

Lieutenant was frozen. He could vaguely hear the Germans shout something to each other in their foreign language as they picked him up by the shoulders roughly. They turned him around to face their leader. The tall German man scowled at Lieutenant, raised the butt of his gun, and brought it down roughly onto Lieutenant's temple.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Lieutenant's body ached all over. He groaned and opened his weary eyes. He was in a dark, dirty room with three other people. The room was all stone except for a metal door on the wall opposite of where he was lying. The memories of the previous day flooded into his mind and he sat up quickly, ignoring the painful pounding in his head. He shakily got up to his feet and stumbled to the door. He managed to reach it and he pounded on the unmoving metal, shouting. When he realized he was not going to be freed that easily, he slid down to cold floor and stayed in that position for a long time.

"Do you even know where you are?" The raspy voice filled the room and Lieutenant was snapped back to reality. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a frail man in worn out clothes staring directly at him.

"N-No," Lieutenant said warily, afraid of the answer.

"You're in Karlsruhe. And you're probably going to go to The Listening Hotel soon."

"What is that?"

The man looked annoyed as he explained, "It's really called Europäischer Hof. We just call it The Listening Hotel."

"Why is that?" Lieutenant asked. But the other man just sighed and wrapped his lanky arms around his legs, looking into space.

The sound of heavy footsteps was heard even before the metal door was opened. A German man pointed to Lieutenant and a few men grabbed him and dragged him down the long hallway, into a new room. This room was smaller than the one he was just in, and certainly dirtier. The air was heavy as if it was carrying a large burden. Lieutenant was pushed against one of the walls and he could do nothing to stop the chains from surrounding his wrists.

He heard the door slam shut, and a human figure emerged from the shadows. They held a small knife in one hand and a lighter in the other.

Lieutenant soon realized the reason for this place's name.

Lieutenant shot up out of his bed, breathing rapidly. He felt a cold sweat cover his body as he shakily tossed the blankets off himself. He sat at the edge of the bed, resting his feet on the carpeted floor, and put his face in his hands.

He didn't jump when he felt a familiar and warm hand lightly touch his shoulder. He shuddered and broke down, trying but failing to stop the memories that flooded into his mind. Rhoda sat by his side and laid her head on his shoulder, one hand on his leg and the other lightly tracing the array of scars on his back. They stayed in this position until Rhoda whispered to him, "I have to wake the kids, sweetie. I'll be back soon."

Lieutenant nodded and sighed when her touch left his body. He saw her put on her favorite robe out of the corner of his eye and then she was gone. He laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

He heard giggling out in the hallway and a shushing sound. He opened his eyes as the door burst open, and his wife and kids burst into the room with a large plate that contained badly made pancakes and unsymmetrically cut fruit. Probably the kids' doings. His kids squealed, "Happy birthday, Daddy!" and jumped onto the bed, hugging him. Lieutenant laughed loudly and embraced them back before planting a sweet kiss on his wife's lips, in which the kids groaned in disgust.

He smiled as he ate his breakfast, grateful for everything and everyone in his life.