The Iron Cross

Chapter I Iron Cross

10 January 1950

It was a normal afternoon, Evelyn was studing in her bedroom about the history of gemany. Just recently arrived fromschool, she was dressed in a long white dress and shoes. Her blonde hair was tiedinto braids, and her green eyes flickered with interest towards the fascinatingbook in front of her. She was the most beatiful of the school. Her big, brown school bag, positioned right next to her,was decorated with the German flag.

While studying about NaziGermany, she read out loud the names of important people, including that of herdeceased uncle's, Bren Ritcher. She smiled as she said his name, and continuedto read her uncle's biography within the book. It stated, "Bren Ritcher wasknown to have been one of the only soldiers of the Germany army who has neverraped a woman or killed a prisoner (including Jews). All he wanted was toprotect those he loved."

"Hi mommy!," Evelyn exclaimed as she hugged her mother and looked at her for a moment before asking, "Mommy, do you remember Uncle Bren? Did you know that he's in the history books?!"

Her mother giggled and then answered, "No I didn't know, but I do remember him of course since he was your father's brother." After giving her daughter a warm smile, she asked "what would you like to eat for dinner?"

After contemplating for a moment, Evelyn answered "Spatzle," and upon receiving confirmation from her mother, followed her to watch television together. After a long while, a pang of curiosity suddenly hit Evelyn, and she asked her mother, "do we have a photo of Uncle Bren by chance?"

"Yes, I believe there should be some photos in theattic." 

Evelyn quickly ran upstairs towards the attic, and she started to search for photos of her uncle. After a few minutes, she found a cardboard box with the name 'Uncle Bren' written on it. She carefully opened to see inside it. It was full of photos of her uncle in his military uniform, and located just right underneath them, was his iron cross. She took it and examined it. The words "gott mit us" were inscribed on it. She smiled, having understood its meaning, and said to herself "I don't think uncle will be upset if I tried it on..." As she did, the words of "gott mit us" begun to emanate a strong light. Scared, Evelyn began to shake in fear. She couldn't move due to the light becoming increasingly stronger, which forced her to close her eyes.

After a couple of minutes, Evelyn opened her eyes and realized that the light and the iron cross were gone. She laid down for a moment, trying to think of what had just happened. She arrived to the conclusion that it was all in her head. She got up and went downstairs, questioning if the iron cross had even existed in the first place. The rest of the day passed as normal. After eating dinner, she went to her bedroom to lie down. Once again, she began to think about the iron cross before she succumbed to sleep. She couldn't have imagined from that day forward, her life will change forever.