COMMUNITY (WW2 Monologue)

COMMUNITY

I've never really been a part of anything before - family, friendship group, community, nothing... But all of this changed when the soldiers came. They took my family and I away from everything that was safe and from that day forward, we were plunged into the unknown. There were people like me, girls like me who spoke like me and dressed like me.

Like ME!

I'm not much of a trendsetter, but they followed me. They looked like me and lived like me. They were scared like me. Still, we were so alike, they treated us the same. We were all called "Hundin" - if we all had the same name, surely we were equal. They valued me so much that they gave me a tattoo with my number on it. This obviously meant that they didn't want to lose me.

I mattered.

Maybe I did belong to a community? A community of "Hundins?"

(**A HUNDIN IS GERMAN FOR B*TCH)

I've never worked before. But here, we always worked. We worked together, helping each other. "Work" consisted of digging holes for the soldiers. The more we dug, the more we were rewarded. I like rewards - I've never been rewarded before. In all honesty, bread wasn't much of a reward but it was still a reward. That's what really counted. The more we dug, the more bread we were given. Sometimes, the other girls wouldn't dig fast enough, so I helped them.

I like to help people. This is what community is. This is what family is. Family means "No-one is ever left behind."

I've never felt sad before. Today I felt sad because my family is now smaller. People are always moving on, I guess they don't like this community. Everyday, the numbers decrease. But I guess I shouldn't complain because it means I have more room to sleep in at night. I roll around a lot - maybe that's what they didn't like. Whatever it is, they didn't like it, so they moved on. They're always going away, but more people come. More girls like me, who talk like me and dress like me.

Like ME!

My family is constantly changing. Different people come and go, but I'm still here. I belong here, I'm wanted here. The others are always going away, when will it be my turn?

I've never been angry before. Today I lost my bed, so I had to move somewhere else. It wasn't really a bed, but it was mine. MINE. Is this what a community is? I don't think people in a community get angry. I'm not supposed to be angry, but I was kicked out of my bed by a girl who talks like me and dresses like me. There are too many "me's" here - I don't like being angry...

I've never had a friend before. Now I have a friend called 321789 and he is exactly like me. We are the same age and he gave me a butterfly. My sister used to say that her friend-who-is-a-boy used to give her butterflies. 321789 didn't give me lots of butterflies, only one...

I've never been in love before. Everyday, 321789 and I talk and talk. We talk when we are eating, digging, resting and marching. We talk like we have known each other forever. We haven't really known each other forever, but it feels like it. We are the same person and he holds my heart in his hands - I told him to wash his hands first though, they were very dirty from all the digging we do all day. I hold his heart in my hands because I love him. Yesterday he said "I love you" to me. I love me too.

I've never moved on before. As weeks pass, I see people come and go. They come in their own families and they go with their own families. I have never been called to move on. But today, my time has come. I am finally moving on to another community. I don't know where I am going because I have never heard from the people who went. But I am moving on with 321789 - we do everything together now.

The soldiers pushed us all into a dark room and closed the door. The people around me were crying and the mothers were shouting. The girls who dressed like me and talked like me were sobbing fearfully. I'm brave, so I'm not going to cry. I want to go and see my new family in my new community.

I look down to see that 321789 is holding my hand. I love him and we will always be together. He smiles at me, I look up and close my eyes...

The liquid slowly pours down onto my face.

DRIP DROP. My new community lived where it rained.

I don't like rain, it hurts...