AnnaMayZing
Stories
The Long Road Home. Chapter 26.
Katarina hugged her sister. “I'm sorry, Maria. I didn't mean to upset you. I...”…Neither Maria nor Katarina had any time to react before the office phone began to ring. Immediately, Katarina lifted the receiver.“Matron Langsdorff.”“Ah, Matron Langsdorff. This is Herr Frank's secretary. Please evacuate the hospital immediately. Al…
Disaster!
Danny turned and ran, hiding behind his father. To a three-year-old, it was all rather frightening.…Little Danny was excited as he stood and stared at the locomotive and its rake of nine carriages. He thought it looked like a dragon with the plume of steam rising from its chimney and from the cylinders either side of the front wheels.Suddenly, ther…
The Night
There is something utterly mesmerising about the River Thames at night.…The water flowed swiftly beneath my feet as I looked down from the parapet. There is something utterly mesmerising about the River Thames at night. The lights of the city reflected in the fast-flowing water have a beauty all of their own. Even on a w…
The Party
He felt his stomach lurch, the contents rising...…The music pounded in his ears, vibrating through his head. “Oh no,” he thought. I've got to go home.”He closed his eyes, the flashing of the disco lights made his eyes hurt. He could hear the guests shouting above the throbbing rhythm. He vowed that …
The Siren
Tales of smugglers and wrecks. Rescues, ships in distress and more...…Hartland Quay, North Devon. A place of absolute beauty. On a sunny summers day, with the tide gently splashing over the rocks, it is hard to imagine anything but a tranquil, restful scene. At low tide, however, there is much evidence of the destructi…
Stop it!
Please, just stop! It's not funny you know!…“Oh no, Harriet, no! Come on now. Please don't. I've asked you nicely, so please, stop it! I really don't like it. It makes me feel kind of weird. Oh! Come on. Please, just stop! It's not funny, you know! If you don't stop I'll... Oh, Oh my gosh! No,…
A Picture
A picture tells a thousand words…Pictures tell a thousand stories,If only that were true.An eternity have I tried,To take a picture of you.For your beauty is incomparable,You are my heart's desireBut a picture is not possible,My darling vampire. …
Water's Falling
To create the lake, the small village of Capel Celyn was to be drowned under the floodwater.…On the twenty-eighth of October nineteen-sixty-five, the Llyn Celyn reservoir in North Wales was officially opened. Its primary purpose was to supply water for the city of Liverpool.The whole project had been steeped in controversy. To create the lak…
The Long Road Home. Chapter 25
"Save yourselves. Germany is finished. The Russians will kill...”…Krakow, January 15th 1945 From time to time, news came through about the uprising in Warsaw. The stories that reached Maria and Katarina horrified them. Young, Polish men and women had risen up against the Germans. The word was that they had been exp…
The Long Road Home. Chapter 24
"That poor girl was shot by her own bloody colleagues..."…Krakow, September 5thth 1944 Although Warsaw was the capital of Poland, Krakow was where the general government of Poland was located. Maria and Katarina had both noticed that the military presence was strong there. Soldiers were everywhere. In cars,…
Hideous
Things that go creak in the night.…I awoke with a start but didn't dare move. Was it a dream? Had I heard a door creaking open?After a moment, I opened my eyes but remained still.In the half-light of the moon, filtering through thin curtains, I saw it and froze! It was hideous!I could…
The Long Road Home. Chapter 23.
By the time the sun was setting, they had reached the outskirts of Katowice in Silesia.…Krakow, June 10th 1944 The cobbled square was teeming with soldiers. It took Maria and Katarina a little while to locate someone who had even the slightest clue as to where they could eat. So far as refuelling the bus was concerned, that was not thei…
Whew, what a scorcher!
The heat was almost unbearable, reaching thirty-five degrees. Thank goodness for air-conditioning!…Not so very many years ago, I decided it was time for a change of holiday destination.Every December, for the past fifteen years, we had flown to Munich for the Christmas markets. How I love those visits.For the summer holidays, however, we always st…
The Long Road Home. Chapter 22.
As it turned back towards them, Katarina saw the red and blue circles stand out on the wings…Ostrava, June 08th 1944 Maria and Katarina had to wait a few more days before they heard anything at all about being discharged. They waited patiently and took the time to continue with the therapy but, more so, helped the other nurses with some of t…
The Long Road Home. Chapter 21.
He took a small hammer and a chisel and began to gently tap...…Vienna, April 30th 1944 Maria and Katarina settled into their daily routine, finally accepting that their recovery was not going to happen overnight. The long days soon became weeks which, in turn, became months. Oberstartz Ritter had been right abou…
The Long Road Home. Chapter 20.
"If the same happened to you then you have to believe me, it's better that you do not know.”…Vienna, January 1st 1944 The scene before him was enough to bring a lump to the throat of even the most highly experienced Medical Officer and Oberstarzt Ritter was not ashamed to let Nurse Winter see the tear fall from his cheek. He quickly wiped it…
The Long Road Home. Chapter 19.
All she could see was her long, tousled and bloodied, blonde locks covering her pillow.…Vienna, December 24th 1943 The Flight to Vienna was uneventful. Despite being wrapped tightly in blankets, the young woman was cold. Not freezing but, nevertheless, far from warm. It wasn't a long flight, little more than two hours but it seemed much…
The Long Road Home. Chapter 18.
The young woman tried so hard to see through the black fog that was her memory...…Innsbruck, December 21st 1943 The hours passed by so slowly as the young woman struggled to get her memory to return.Nurse Kissling had been called to an emergency before she had a chance to tell her anything about her 'companion' as she had referred…
Silent Movie
Please don't do this, I was thinking but he did.…I had plans for my time in lock-down, today. First, breakfast and then the usual ablutions. After some dusting and cleaning, I had decided to sit down and get to grips with some writing but, the best-laid plans and all that... I was in no hurry. I di…
The Long Road Home. Chapter 17.
She wanted to cry but there were no tears, just an intense pounding in her temples.…Innsbruck, December 20th 1943 The young woman opened her eyes. Where on earth was she? In the gloom, she could make out twisted and mangled pipes, many with steam hissing from the fractures. Loops of wires hung down from above and, worse still, the r…