Disclaimer
I don't own the characters from inglorious Basterds
Apart from Alida and her family. I don't know where this is going to go but we shall see.
Please try and review it. This first chapter has took me weeks to write as I didn't want it to be boring.
I kinda took the style of death from the book thief
So thank you
Happy new year, my loves.
Chapter 1
"Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that any one who embarks on that strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter" - Churchill
Here is a simple relevant fact, one day you will die. This book will neither tell you how to die or simply when.
Hemingway once wrote that the Germans were not successful at winning the war because they were superman, but because they were simply practical professionals in war who had abandoned all the old theories and developed practical use of weapons and statistics to the highest point of common sense that has ever been reached. Sounds like common muck to me, in the end German's ended up using old weapons and foreign weapons to try and win the war, they also tried to attack Stalingrad in the winter, and look what happened there? Death.
People think when you die, you will see a bright light and be taken away while a choir of angels see your graces but in reality, it's more harsh than that, while your cold body is laying on the ground, the final croak of your last breath took, that's when I come in the picture. I would say a group of angels taking you to heaven while singing would be amazing but unfortunately when there's a war no one believes in heaven and hell, they're merely fighting to survive.
Those who are merely fighting to survive. Those are the ones you need to be careful of.
They've been left behind by others and carry on surviving, somehow, merely the lucky ones. I have countlessly witnessed on many occasions of those who are merely fighting to survive, they have punctured hearts, beaten lungs. Which brings me to the subject of this introduction. It's the story of those perpetual survivors - experts of being left behind.
It's just a small story, about, among other things:
A girl, Nazi scalp cuttings, some Allies, Some fanatical Germans and some words.
I met the girl three times.
Three times she got away.
ooo
August 1912, Vienna Austria
Diphtheria.
The kiss of Death.
It was August 1912, 4 months after our lucky adventurer was born.
Her father had already buried her mother and 2 other siblings, now it was just her and her older brother, if she made it. Her father was over the moon when Alida was born, 3 sons and then his wife gave him a beautiful daughter. That's if she made it.
Diphtheria.
Known to cause blockage in the airways.
Known for difficulty breathing and / or rapid breathing.
Known for death.
It took 6 days to kill her mother.
Might take less to kill her that was until.
"Papa," the little boy cried out as his sister had started to whine, Otto didn't believe it but by sheer luck after the smell of death had lingered in the house, the little girl had started to breathe properly and correctly on her own. She didn't need the assistance of the makeshift tube that the doctors had given her. It was a miracle.
Otto started crying, frantically at his little girl who had just finished coughing up the last of the mucus that engulfed her throat. She was alive and well.
June 1930, Vienna Austria
"So? Gonna fling yourself in the canal then? End it all right here? Put us all out of our misery?" Liddy's brother yelled at her, while pulling himself off his bike as she laid on the grass verge near the canal. "All right then, let's get you a job?" Liddy grunted in response, "What are you doing?" while she pulled a baffled look at her younger brother, "I'm writing you a CV" her brother chucked back, his dark brown curls fell in front of his face while he grabbed out his notebook and pencil from his grey ironed pants.
"Okay," she chuckled as she sat up on the grass, legs kicked over the metal verge as she pushed her hands up behind her, "I am a young woman from a very good family, I have no previous job experience so no references, unfortunately, but my school grades were terrible" her brother started to chuckle as he started writing what she had boasted with pride down, "My technical skills are non existent", and that's when her brother putted in, "Your grades weren't terrible, more like adequate and your skills, they're only just emerging Liddy, and anyway I spoke to a lady around the corner, and she's got you a job interview tomorrow." Liddy smoothed out her skirt as she slowly got off the grass bank and hugged her brother, her eyes smiled with kindness and everything else that was good in the world.
Liddy had no idea what she wanted to be when she left school, nor had any ideas of what kind of job she wanted to work at, but she became lucky. She's the only person in this entire story that I've personally met to be this lucky in life.
When both her and her brother walked back to her parents house, she had a slight spring in her step. "Alida, my love." Her father looked at her quite surprisingly, she sat and smiled while eating her dinner with her family, all gleeful and excited for the next day.
The next day came as soon as her head fell on the pillow in her room, she woke up with quite a shock remembering that she had an interview with the lady next door as secretary for the art gallery in Vienna. It wasn't something she was passionate about, but her father and brother were both painters, so she had grown around easels being in the living room or being outside when they were meant to be spending quality time together. By the time she was well put together she realised what time it was so she had to sprint towards her bike that was stood by the back door and pedal off to the job interview.
"Football assistant? I was hoping for someone with a bit more secretarial experience?" The lady read from the CV that her brother had helped her write yesterday. "Yeah, uh. I sprained my ankle and so I helped the coach. I didn't exactly play football but it was my brother's team and I couldn't take part in any sports, so I took it on to still feel part of the team. Oh, I had to keep track of the schedule so it had secretarial elements". Liddy realised that while explaining she had now started to ramble, the lady's glass fell towards her nose as she looked at Liddy and took in a sigh. "I'm a fast learner. Look," Liddy started to ramble as the lady passed her CV back towards her over the desk. "My parents are gonna make me marry my brother if I don't get a job, it's not as bad as it sounds, my brother is my step sibling." she sputtered out as she put her hands on the desk. "Would you want to marry your cousin? Don't answer that! I mean, I don't even know if you have a brother, but I'm desperate" she left out a massive breath.
She clapped her hands, stuffed her CV back into her black bag and decided to make a move. It was clear to her that she didn't get the job until the women looked at her and sighed. "You can start on Monday," And with that Liddy left the Gallery with a spring in her step.