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She looked down at the ground. She wanted to know why he was sorry, when he was a member of the Nazis. The ones who hated Jews. Killed them. Burned them. She clenched her fists, tears still flowing, refusing to look him in the eye.
She looked down at the ground. She wanted to know why he was sorry, when he was a member of the Nazis. The ones who hated Jews. Killed them. Burned them. She clenched her fists, tears still flowing, refusing to look him in the eye.
“Here, you can, um, have the cheese that I brought,” he said, getting it out his pocket and holding it out to her. He was horrible with crying people.
Ruth hesitantly took the cheese, holding it like it was the most precious thing in the world. And, right now, it was. "Thank you," she murmured appreciatively. "Wh-what's your name?"
“Henry,” he said softly. “What’s yours?” He studied her, hoping that his offer had helped.
"Ruth," she said, finally looking into his warm eyes.
“That’s a nice name,” he replied, with a slight smile. “And I really am sorry. I hope you know that.”
Ruth didn't say anything, she just slightly nodded, trying to believe him. But she had lost the trust of almost everybody a long time ago. She was afraid to trust anyone else.
“See you around?” Henry asked, a sad smile on his face. He hoped that she would find a way to survive on her own.
She nodded again, pulling off a smile, and walked past him, trying to fine somewhere to settle for the night. She finally found a dark alleyway, where she settled and scarfed down the cheese Henry had gave her. Ruth has never found a Nazi to be so kind. She smiled thinking about him, but then caught herself. What am I doing? The Nazis killed my parents. They're all horrible monsters. Trying to get rid of the thought, she curled up into a corner and tried to sleep.
Henry walked home, not looking forward to explaining what had happened to his book. His parents, especially his dad, were very strict and so there was no way he would ever tell them about chasing the girl down to apologize.
Ruth woke up to the sound of shattered glass. She jumped up and glanced around, trying to find the source when she saw fire coming out the shattered window of a shop. There were Nazis everywhere on the street, and fleeing people in their nightclothes. Cursing, she ran across the street, onto another, trying desperately to escape.
Henry trailed after his father. They were taking the teenagers with them more and more these days, and it made Henry want to scream. They were hurting people, even killing them, in front of his eyes. But if he tried to stop them, they would kill him too. Thankfully he was a mostly decent actor.
Ruth spotted Henry, the boy she had met earlier, and relief washed over her. She ran towards him but soon realized that he was with an adult man who seemed to be his father. She skidded to a stop, and started running in the opposite direction but was stopped when the man grabbed her arm with iron grip.
"Do you see, son?" He asked. "This is what happens to Jews in the new Germany." He kicked her in the stomach with his knee and she fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath.
He laughed at her, but his reaction was a moment too late to be believable. Inwardly he prayed his father hadn’t noticed that for just a moment he couldn’t hide the horror that he felt. I have to do something, he thought before the logical side of his brain intervened. Do you want to die? The cowardice won out.
He proceeded to kick her in the nose, causing blood to spurt out of it. She tried to struggle away but he grabbed her and kicked her again. Glancing up at Henry, horror swept over her. Was he lying about caring about me? She finally pulled her hazel eyes away from him, enduring more hits.
“Hey, I think I see another one!” he called, glancing at the other end of the street. “Come on, before he gets away!” Please let him buy this…
He fell for it, running in the direction he had pointed in. Ruth groaned and pushed herself up, blood trickling out of her nose. Maybe he really does care she thought, watching Henry lead his father away. Thank you.
Henry glanced back at Ruth as he ran, giving her a small smile to show that he had tried. He just hoped his father wouldn’t be angry when he didn’t see another Jew.
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