A Simple Question
"What do you think of all this, Maria?" he asked.
As much as I love Master Bruno I can't help but wish that he remembered I wasn't a mind reader. So much was going on in his head that I thought that one day it would just short circuit like a fuse box.
"All what?" I asked in return.
"This," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "coming to a place like this. Don't you think we've made a big mistake?"
Yes I did. Somewhere along the line we made a terrible mistake that ended up with us here.
Really it was such a simple question, 'Did I like it here?'
I knew the answer deep within me, buried under the orders of the master.
'NO!' I wanted to scream. It was horrible here! I couldn't bear to look at the Jews from the window; their faces were so gaunt I wanted to hide away from the guilt I felt.
But for the sake of the children I couldn't.
'They're people too!' I wanted to yell, as the soldiers, both old and young, tormenting the Jews, standing over their cowering figures and laughing when they tripped and fell.
But out of fear for myself I couldn't.
'I'm not like them!" I wanted to beg poor Pavel, when he gave me a fear filled look as I walked into the kitchen, doing nothing more than washing dishes.
But I felt that he would only run away.
As the days wore on I could feel my heart freezing over, the beatings becoming an everyday occurrence that I could just ignore, or at least pretend they weren't happening.
But one thing kept my heart from freezing completely.
If not for the fact that they needed me. If not for the fact that the kind man, who saved me from the streets all those years ago, was still hidden somewhere inside the stoic commandant. If not for the fact that the little boy in front of me needed a friend and someone to confide in. it was through these layers of reason that I answered that one simple question. The one question I can't truly answer. For he may be able to say that he hates it here, but as for me…
"It's not my place to say Master Bruno," I replied
And it isn't.