Too Late
The captain woke to the sound of his seven children stampeding into his room.
"Father! FATHER! FRAULEIN MARIA HAS LEFT! WE FOUND HER NOTE!"
Georg silently cursed himself for being so careless to have not thrown that horrid letter out. The children were now on his bed, waiting for him to answer.
"Yes children, you're right. She left last night after you had gone to bed."
The choruses of 'whys' erupted.
"I don't know. I honestly have no idea. I would love to find out, but as Fraulein Maria said in her letter, she did not want me to follow her. I must respect her wishes." Georg said sullenly.
"Now, if you'll excuse me children, I must have a shower and get dressed for breakfast. As do you. I will see you shortly in the dining room." The children hopped off the bed and walked out the door.
"Oh, Liesel?" Georg questioned.
"Yes father."
"Can you help with the little ones?"
"Surely, father."
The Captain sat up in bed. He swung his feet around and touched the floor. He had not gotten much sleep last night, and he was already starting to regret it. He needed his first cup of coffee. He stood up and put on his robe. He walked into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. There were deep dark purple circles under his eyes. He rubbed his hands over his face, cringing in disgust. He turned the knobs of the shower and the water started to cascade down to the floor. He waited for the water to heat up, then shed his clothing and stepped inside.
The shower was a nice one, but he was so distracted thinking about Maria and why she had left (and why he cared so much), that he shampooed his hair twice! He was so distracted, he hadn't realized truly how long he had been in the shower. It had almost been ½ an hour. He was accustomed to taking 10 minute showers max, but today had been a huge exception.
He just needed to relax. How was he going to do that with the children and Elsa constantly vying for his attention? With Maria around, he was able to steal moments of peace. Now, peace and quiet was a distant memory.
Sister Margaretta woke early that morning and decided to have a walk. She ventured outside to the gate. She surveyed the sunrise over the buildings and closed the gate. She turned right and started walking along the walkway. She noticed something slumped against the wall.
She walked cautiously over to the being, realizing it was Maria, she bent down and shook her awake. Maria's eyes flickered open and she craned her neck up, immediately regretting the movement. She had a terrible kink in her neck. Sister Margaretta noticed how red and puffy her eyes were, and assumed she had been crying.
"My, my, Maria. What has happened to you!" Sister Margaretta said quickly
"Oh, sister, it was horrible! I can never return." Maria suddenly exclaimed, tears stinging her eyes again.
"Maria, lets go get you cleaned up and we can talk about this further then." Sister Margaretta said and gave her a warm smile.
Maria rose hesitantly and walked back into the Abby. She proceeded to tell Sister Margaretta everything.
6 MONTHS LATER
The Anschluss had come.
Maria had gotten a visit by the children. They told her of their plans to leave, unaware of where they would be heading, but before they left, they needed to come see her once more. They were very kind and considerate-they didn't ask her why she left.
To this day, she still didn't know why they didn't.
It's been a little over 6 months since they visited her at the Abby. The Anschluss had been too much for Maria to handle, so, telling the Mother Abess, she left the Abby and headed out of the country. She loved this country to much to see it destroyed by evil forces.
She lived in Paris for a year, loving the city of Montmarte. It was her type of city; small cozy shops, artsy, a view of Paris to die for, and great food. She had taken up a job at a small café. She was having a good time, but she realized that something was missing. She missed those hills she fell in love with when she was young, the ones she literally grew up on. She decided it was time to move on. Since the Germans were still occupying Austria, she decided to go to the next best place: Switzerland.
She decided to scope out the capital, Bern. Her first sight when she stepped off the train was the mountains. She immediately felt at home. She totted around her carpetbag, now full of Parisian clothes, and her guitar case, filled to the brim with music she had written in her spare time. One of which she was quite proud of. She silently sang it while walking through Paris to the train.
As the music at the banquet
As the wine before the meal
As the firelight in the night
So are you to me
As the ruby in the setting
As the fruit upon the tree
As the wind blows over the plains
So are you to me
As the wind blows over the plains
So are you to me
So are you to me
She wrote that song about he-who-shall-remain-nameless. She had written it right after she had left the Abby and was on her own for the first time in her life. Anyway, she found a nice hotel to stay at for the night, until she could find a place of her own. She ended up staying in that hotel for 2 weeks. It was hard to find a nice, cheap place to stay in. But, after some hard searching, she found one right on the outskirts of the city. Now, she had to find a job. Due to her skills at music, she applied for a job at a local music store. Do her delight, she had been accepted. Now she could be surrounded by music all day long.
The marketplace in the town was nice and humble. There was something to be said about outdoor markets. They were different from the stores. Maria loved being outside and reveled in every second she could. Months passed, and Maria established herself in the close knit group of this society town. Upon her trips to the marketplace, she would be greeted by parents and children, and would reply in a sing song voice "Isn't it just a wonderful day out today!"
The children were now a year older, and missing Maria just the same. The Captain wondered whatever had become of her. He had sent a letter back to Mother Abess to find out how Maria had been doing, and much to his dismay, a letter returned to him stating that Maria had left the Abby because of the Anschluss.
Slowly, more and more each day, he let his mind wander to thoughts of her. It all started out when he suddenly started singing Edelweiss, instantly reminding him of his home country and thoughts of her in that blue dress and how lovely she had looked.
Taking care of the children had been a tough job, tiring him out terribly. Luckily, he had Liesel's help with everything. She mostly took care of the cooking and cleaning in their homely cottage settled at the bottom of one of Switzerland's famous mountains, right outside the city of Bern.
At night, the Captain often dreamed about Maria. How he and Maria would take the kids to go on picnics, go rowing in the boat, bike riding-all the things he had missed out on. He also wondered what it would be like to kiss her. She was possibly the most beautiful being he had ever laid eyes on. A little rough on the edges concerning her personality, which made her seem like a real person with real feelings. Elsa had never expressed herself quite like Maria.
Elsa was such a good woman, but realizing that they were not right for each other, he told her and let her down easy. She seemed to take it well. Almost too well. He got a letter a couple months ago Max. He and Elsa were to be married this summer. They'll be perfect for each other.
It was just turning to spring, and he was feeling upbeat again. The winter was long and hard, but they got through. It made them closer as a family. One day, the children asked to go into town to spend the afternoon. He granted their request, and surprisingly went with them. After stopping at the market to pick up a few things, the Captain and the children went into a few shops in town. They came upon a brand new store, one that they hadn't noticed before. A new music shop. The children begged to go in, and reluctantly, the Captain motioned for them to go on in.
The shop was wonderful. There were guitars and violins and big band instruments lying around. Liesel picked up a guitar and started to pluck some chords. The other children were checking out the music in the back. The Captain wandered over to Liesel and listened to her playing. He decided that they needed to buy a guitar, but would come back to get it later, for he didn't have the money at the time.
"Liesel, how would you feel about us aquiring a guitar?" The Captain said with a hint of glee in his voice.
"Oh, Father. That would be wonderful! We could bring music back into our lives again!" Liesel responded happily.
"Well then. It's settled. The next time we visit the city, I'll bring the money to buy whichever one you children want. Does that sound good?"
Liesel nodded vigorously.
An older man came up and asked if they needed any help with anything.
"No, but thank you. You have a wonderful store here!" The Captain stated.
"Why thank you, young man. I have just opened it a few weeks ago, and we're doing quite well. It seems everybody just loves the sound of music these days!" The old man smiled and walked away.
Liesel put the guitar down and walked back to where the other children were. They were fingering through popular sheet music of the day. She looked at her father and told them that they would be buying a guitar in the near future, and the kids erupted in joy.
"Oh Father! We can't wait! It will be so much to sing with the guitar! Just like old times with Fraulein Maria! She was a wonderful guitar player." Brigitta said.
The children wanted to get the music for "Edelweiss" so they could play it on the piano, and the guitar, which they were going to get soon. They didn't see it on the shelf, so the Captain went up to ask the old man if they had it perhaps back in the stock room. He said he'd get right to it and disappeared behind a door in the back.
"Maria, I need you to find a copy of "Edelweiss" for the piano and guitar. A gentleman is looking for one. Once you found that, could you please re-stock the sheet music out there? It's looking a little sparse." The old man asked.
"Why of course! I was just about to go and do that when I finished with these books." Maria replied happily. She loved her job so much.
"I am going to head back out there. Do you think you could give the copy of "Edelweiss" to the gentleman out there?"
"Why of course."
"He's standing out there in a brown corduroy coat. Tall, handsome man if I say so myself."
"Great. I'll find the copy and bring it out to him." Maria said and rushed off to find a copy of the music.
The old man went out to tell the Captain that there had been a copy of the music and that a young woman would be out shortly with the music.
The Captain and the children kept shuffling through the sheet music.
Maria had found the music and gathered a bunch of others to fill the music section with. She walked out the door and into the general shop, bumping into someone. Her music scattered all over the place.
"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry miss!" The man stated.
No, Maria though. It couldn't be him. No. Now she was hallucinating. Every man these days sounded like him.
He bent down and started to help her pick up the music. He held out the music for her and stood up. She took them, piled them in her arm, and stood back up, not daring to look in his eyes.
Georg watched her rise. She handed him the music and looked up at him.
It was Maria.
It was the Captain.