The Voice of Heart

14| Propaganda

Adeline was under surveillance by Jeanne all day long. She would never let her daughter be alone with Wilhelm again. She kept an eye on her as if she was a prisoner. She was determined to prevent their relationship from growing much deeper. Since then, Wilhelm didn't have a chance to spend time with Adeline like before. Whenever he tried to speak with her, a cold expression appeared on Jeanne's face. To relieve the tension, he kept behaving nicely toward her by greeting and asking about her health. There was only one possible attitude: a cold indifference, the tone of voice she used when she replied to his question, "I am well. Thank you for asking." Then she gave him a fake smile.

Jeanne could restrict freedom but she couldn't control Adeline's soul. In her soul, she was free. She could think of Wilhelm; she recalled the days they spent together and the moment he confessed his feelings for her. "He's a good man. He cares for me. It seems to be impossible to be with him. It will hurt my brother's feelings if he knows I am dating a German soldier," she said in her solitude. To her, Wilhelm was like a beautiful dream she didn't want to wake up from. He made every moment a memory that she would cherish forever. But now she had to wake up from her dream because she had to face reality.

At noon, Gisele came to Adeline's house. She stood on the doorstep and asked her to take a walk. Outside, the summer sun was shining and it was hot now; beneath the large straw hats, their faces took shelter from its heat. They walked along the street that was lined with acacias and poplar trees with leaves rustled in the wind. They saw a group of young German soldiers from the opposite direction; the two of them smiled from afar and made eyes at them. They pretended not to see them and remained silent as they walked past. "Did you see it? They tried to flirt with us." Gisele rolled her eyes.

After walking for a few minutes, they saw a young French woman with a bicycle distributing papers to passers-by. They might have thought she was distributing commercial flyers. She cycled toward them and then stopped in front of them. Beneath her green fedora hat, her rosy face looked as fresh as apple blossom. They thought she was seventeen years old.

"Let's unite to kick out the Boche," she stressed the forbidden word "Boche" because the French people knew the Germans never liked being called with that contemptuous term. She took out the flyers of her sling bag and gave them to them. "Vive la France," she said in a tone of voice that showed her patriotism and then she went away.

With the flyers in their hands, they started to read it.

Advice to the occupied

Have no illusions: they are not tourists. They are the conquerors. You don't know their language or you have forgotten it. If one of them speaks to you in German, shrug helplessly and go quietly on your way.

"Our people rose to resist the occupiers with everything they got. Some resist with a bloody fight and some with subversive words. They do it for our liberty," Adeline said thoughtfully.