From Margaret

2

October 8, 1943

The war had been going on for the last 4 years. We still were alright I mean the food was gone but we had lots of stuff in our garden we grew.

My father said we could only be out there at night because we're likely spotted. The smell of bred made my month water.

My mom wanted to make the last of bread before we had to wait for however long until we got more bread.

"Mom I'm going to get eggs" "Alright be sure to take the forest trail please" "yeah of course"

I grabbed my basket and began my walk to Mrs. Fredrick. The forest the quiet.

People during the war would shoot down birds, rabbits, basically what ever you could find.

My father would set up traps in the forest.

Once I was coming back I could smell the fresh bread. I was so excited to finally eat something other than potatoes and beans.

"Hey I grabbed the eggs and is the bread almost done?" "Yeah and please wash your hands before we eat"

I went to wash my hands in the bathroom. There was one thing I didn't tell my mom or father.

I saw some Nazi soldiers walking when I went to go get eggs a couple of days ago.

I don't think they saw me. It was weird so I didn't see anything.

The door opened I could hear some footsteps. My dad must be back from hunting.

I finished washing my hands and wiped them real quick. I went to grab the door handle when I heard gunshots.

My body froze and I started to panic. There was a little whole in the wood that you could see through to the kitchen.

I took a small look and what I saw was horrifying. My eyes started to get wet and I was starting to breathe heavy.

I had to get out of here. There were Nazi soldiers in my house. The window in the bathroom opened. I pulled my self up and quickly turned the window opened.

As soon as I got up I ran to the hay loft. I covered myself in hay and waited the night. I could hear birds chirping and bugs howling.

My eyes felt heavy and soon I was asleep. The light woke me up from sleep, I didn't hear much but I knew I had to leave.

My eyes went to the window in the loft. I couldn't see anyone so I quietly got down carefully not to step on loose boards.

My brown curls had hay on my head. I started to run towards the forest. Once I got halfway in the forest I stood still for a moment.

I put my head up against the tree. I felt something cold go to my head. Holy shit please no.

"Turn around" my thoughts were dark and I wasn't going to make it out of this.

The Nazi look scared like he didn't want to do it. "Are you going to shoot me," I asked. "Shut up"

I closed my mouth. "Go before they get you" I ran and I mean ran. I could hear more footsteps behind.

I was behind a rock hoping I wouldn't get caught. Someone grabbed my waist and I tried to scream.

His hand went to my mouth and held me against the rock. I opened my eyes and I was pushed up against the rock with a man looking over me.

He put his finger up to his mouth. We waited for a while until let me go.

"You okay," the man said. I nodded my head. My eyes went everywhere, wait was he a pilot.

"I'm not going to hurt you" I looked at him. "Are you a fighter pilot," I finally asked him.

"Yeah for the 100th my crew got taken down" we sat there in silence. I wanted to talk to this fighter pilot that saved my life.

"Well thank you for saving me" He looked at me. "Your welcome, by the way where are we" "Berlin, Germany"

"Thank you by the way for saving me" "yeah" "I'm Margaret" "John Egan but my friends call me Bucky"

Once we started talking we ended up walking through the woods. "So this place hasn't been invaded yet," Bucky asked. "Well the city did not the country side at least" "But we just got invaded yesterday," I added.

We had been walking for a little while and had seen nothing. Bucky put his arm right on my waist. "Shh" I looked at him.

There was a bunny right in front of us. He got his pistol from his pocket and told me to cover my ears.

The boom shook the trees and the rabbit was dead in front of me. "You can go and clean yourself up, there's a river a couple feet away in the trees"

"Okay" I knew I had a little dried blood on me from yesterday. The river looked fresh at least.

I stripped off my clothes and walked down to the river. The water felt like ice on my skin. I got my hair wet and made sure to wash all the blood that I had been carrying around.

Once I was done I tried to dry my self up. My clothes were lying on the grass. My feet moved fast while putting my clothes on.

My hair was still wet when I saw that Bucky managed to get a fire up and going. "Hey you look fresh," Bucky said.

"Well the water did feel good so I think it helped" He held out a price of rabbit for me.

"How long have you been a pilot for" He's curls were in front of his face. "A while now" I nodded my head.

"Well I'm sure they'll hire you back" That brought a smile to his face. "Thanks"

We ate the rabbit in silence after. When it was dark outside we finally started to go to bed.

"We have to put the fire out unless you want Nazi's knowing where we are" He took off his jacket.

I was in a summer dress and I was cold. "Here" he handed me his jacket. "Thank you Bucky"

We fell asleep in the trees.