Die Kinder Hat Angekommen | armine's Blog

It was the first week of November, and Emil was sitting at his usual place in the parlor, numb from the liquor's effects. He was starting to doze off, watching pellets of icy rain hit the windowpane in fits and starts as a northerly wind picked up and howled through the glass. His mind was racing with thoughts, almost manically; he had fought with Bernadine earlier over something so trivial he had already forgotten what it was. He was thinking it was midnight but in fact it was nearing half-past two; a couple of lights were still on, and he thought about getting up to shut them off since he didn't want to argue with his wife anymore tonight. Still, his eyelids were heavy, and soon he would be in a slumber.

Then he heard it.

A child.

A child was crying, somewhere in the adjoining hallway.

Mitzi and Daegan should be sleeping - they had school in a few short hours.

Emil slowly stood up, steadying himself on the table he used to scan through the newspapers.

The crying sound was slight, but it was there.

Emil made his way over to the lightswitch that would illuminate the hallway.

No one was there in that area.

He frowned, shut the light off again... returned to his spot on the sofa, got the blanket and was at last ready to sleep.

The crying sound came again.

Emil checked on both of his children and found them sleeping soundly in their beds.

He checked around the ground floor windows; found nothing, no one anywhere.

He returned to the couch - but the crying of a child could still be picked up by his ears.

Fifteen minutes later his wife appeared in the parlor and went to turn off the light.

"Don't", Emil commanded, startling her. "I want that light to stay on".

THe dinner could have been more cordial and pleasant that evening; Bernadine had done what she could have to be a good hostess to her husband and his guest but the two had barely seemed to notice. Immediately after the meal they had slipped into a wing of the parlor's sealed-off den, a room that Emil had not stepped foot into since he'd gone away during the war.

As she proceeded to clean up in the kitchen, Bernadine could hear bits and pieces of the conversation taking place behind closed doors.

"thought that you took care of this..."

"wasn't finalized until after the documents were found..."

"can't give you anything, this wasn't what we agreed to..."

"the lawyers will just have to look at it..."

Then suddenly, the door to the private den opened and Herr Ehrens stormed out of the house.

Emil followed at his heels to the front door, then slammed the door shut as soon as his guest was past the threshold...