CH.18

Did You Hear the News? It was one year since the war had ended. It was May 7. Ellen was dreaming about the war when she woke up to the rooster. “ Cock a doodle doo!” Every morning she remembered being back with Annemarie. But, now she’s on Stora Nygtatan road in Malmo Sweden. She is in wide-open spaces and her closest neighbors are about a mile away. “ Come on Ellen we have to feed the animals,” called Ellen’s mother. Ellen came down the steps slowly. Her house was tiny but it was cozy. Ellen went outside by her mother “Ellen your father is milking cows. So you have to feed the chickens and the horse, ”said Mrs. Rosen. Ellen had just finished her chores when the mail came. She read the title of the newspaper, “The War has Ended, the War has Ended!” Ellen jumped up and down in joy. Ellen ran to the barn, and told her mother. When Ellen got back to the house she wrote a letter to Annemarie. “Dear Annemarie, I have just found out the war has ended! My parents said we would come back as soon as we can. I have missed you a lot.” Wrote Ellen. Ellen’s family went to the farmers market that day. They sold the chickens and two of the three cows because they could not take them on the boat, and they sold them for $ 20 each. The Rosens had then started to pack their clothes into their suitcases. Mr. Rosen walked in the room saying,” We’ve got the best boat captain in Nygtatan town to pick us up at 2:00 PM from the harbor.” Before they got to the boat they sold the last cow and horse. “ Now we are ready to go home,” said Mrs. Rosen. Ellen looked for a boat that had the name Sailing Storm with a sign “Rosens”. “ Ugh we’ve been looking for forever, said Ellen But a few minutes later Mrs. Rosen spotted the sign. They went on board, but no one was there. “Hello”, said Mr. Rosen. Then from below someone said, Oh! Sorry I lost track of time. I’ll be right up. Ellen then turned around and standing there was Uncle Henrick! Ellen was delighted. “Hello young lady! Said Uncle Henrick. ”Are you ready to go home?” “Yes sir!” replied Ellen. Then they were off sailing for home. “Crick creak,” went the boat back and forth swayed the boat. It had got very foggy and you could not see. Ellen asked uncle Henrick, “How can you see?” Uncle Henrick answered, “I can’t but I know the way from one side to the other side of the sea.” A few minutes had past and Mrs. Rosen was feeling seasick. “Don’t worry Mrs. Rosen we only have ten more minutes,” said Uncle Henrick. The minutes had past and they were at the shore of Copenhagen. Mrs. Rosen said,” Help me off the boat I’m dizzy.” As they stumbled off the boat Ellen looked in the distance and standing at the top of the hill was Annemarie. Ellen ran to the top of the hill as fast as she could, but when she got to the top of the hill it wasn’t Annemarie. She walked back down the hill to her parents. Ellen said, "I was so excited to see Annemarie. I guess I was wrong." Mrs. Rosen said," We'll see her in no time. Now come on we don't want to miss the train home." Ellen dug her face into her father and hugged him. "Tickets, tickets please." said the train conductor. "How much longer?" asked Ellen. "About ten minutes," said Uncle Henrick. The time flew by. It only felt like seconds and they were getting off the train. "Can we stop for something to eat? I'm starving, "said Ellen. "Sure sweetie," said Mrs. Rosen. When they finished eating at the Red Lobster, they were off walking toward their apartment. Mr. Rosen opened the apartment door. Mrs. Rosen started to cry, "How nice of our neighbors are to keep the house the way it was when we left." Out of the corner of Ellen's eye she saw something running toward her. "I missed you so much," cried Annemarie while she was hugging Ellen. While they were hugging each other Ellen started to cry too. "Let's go to my apartment, announced Annemarie. When they arrived the only people who were in the living room were Papa and Kirsti. Mrs. Rosen asked uneasily, "Where is Mama?" Papa answered, "She's feeding the baby, and we are sorry we didn't tell you sooner." Mrs. Rosen burst out crying, but the cry was joyful not sad. "That's so wonderful," cried Mrs. Rosen. "Mama," Annemarie said,” The Rosens are here." "I'll be out soon as I can,” replied Mama. As mama opened the door and came out she was holding a blue eyed, dark brown hair, baby girl. "Oh," gasped Mrs. Rosen, "She's beautiful." "She looks just like Lise, " said Ellen. The next morning Ellen and Annemarie meet each other outside. Annemarie said to Ellen, "Now can run in the streets without anyone to stop us." They laughed and ran all the way to the city's main park. Then Annemarie stopped. Ellen asked, "Why did you stop?" Ellen walked closer to Annemarie. As Ellen got closer Annemarie pulled something out of her pocket. "I kept this safe for you for your return," said Annemarie. Annemarie opened her hand, and there was the Star of David. "Oh, thank you," gasped Ellen as she hugged Annemarie.

Faith Lubner