Berlin blood

Tanks move one after another, destroying the enemy. The Poles cannot give a worthy rebuff and leave their positions. After several hours, the border troops completely retreat into the interior of the country; the coherence and professionalism of the team does not allow them to relax. But at the same time, Thielike wants more of this adrenaline, more and more. He wants to feel the taste of victory again. *** A week has passed. Autumn was approaching in the city, obvious only to the locals. Externally, the city is still the same, and the sun still warms during the day. But Hilda got herself into a lot of trouble. She was fired from her job because she was rude to a visitor when he began to loosen his hands, she had a fight with the owner of the apartment, and her things, like herself, ended up on the street. Fortunately, we managed to stay with Louise. All she does all day long is look for odd jobs, but luck smiles on her quite rarely, and basically she spends all her time in the house and doing housework. She sits within four walls. The girl doesn’t really like to clean and generally take care of the house when she is distracted from her work, but she has to. The apartment itself is small: the corridor is combined with the kitchen, in the corner there is a stove, on which there is always something and sometimes it smells of missing food, a small cabinet near the stove, in which there is everything — from pots and pans to bottles with strange liquids and wax inside. What her friend did about it, Hilda didn’t want to delve into. If you go further, you can see a bedroom with a single bed and a shabby chest of drawers — this was Hilda’s room while she was staying with a friend. Louise herself sat on the sofa in the living room. A bookcase, a radio, a telephone that never rang, and a moth-eaten sofa. Yes, Louise can’t boast of an apartment, and Hilda is a little taken aback by where she lives. But it’s better than nothing when the lady of the house kicked her out of her own. Today she doesn’t want to leave her room. She lies and writes down her thoughts in a diary. It seems to her that this should calm her down a little and at least somehow put her thoughts in order after Thielike’s departure. He has now become the reason for her laziness, her reluctance to go out to people and contact them. The object of her crush, which drives her crazy. She wrote while sitting on the floor: “I don’t know why I became so withdrawn. Since the war began, it seems to me that the whole world has changed, that everything has changed. Everything became so black and so bloody. I heard that all this is for the benefit of the motherland, but I don’t believe in it. Why do people always need to destroy someone? Not animals, but ourselves… And I also miss Tilika so much. Damn, we should have met at that station! Yes, I really miss him very much and would like to see him in my dreams every day. He said he would be back, but for how long? And when will it be? He really wrote me a letter, although I didn’t fully believe it. He said not to go to Berlin, but I want to go there! Our city is too empty for me. It wasn’t full of men before, but now they’re gone altogether, and it saddens me. There are only witches, snakes and bitches left.” — Hilda! Can I come in? I have one interesting proposal for you,” Louise pestered her even more. She loved attention and couldn’t do without it for a minute! And at moments when the girl wanted to be alone, her friend would knock on her door or sit down and in a plaintive voice for an hour, or even two, ask her to open the door for her. And Hilda had to open up and talk to her about everything that was bothering her. “Yes, I’m on my way,” the girl didn’t know what her friend would tell her this time, so she decided to open it. Otherwise she won’t calm down. “You have no idea what I found for you,” Louise burst into the room as soon as the door opened a little. — What? — Hilda looks at her skeptically. She is infuriated by her friend’s good mood. The war has started, everyone is talking about it, and Louise’s good mood doesn’t fit into the picture in Hilda’s head. — Do you want to be close to your lover? — Yes. “Then here,” she handed her a newspaper, where on the front page it was written in large letters: “Recruitment of medical personnel for the front.” — What is this? — Well, have you forgotten how to read? — Louise was literally jumping around the room with happiness. “No, I haven’t forgotten how, I’m talking about your mood,” Hilda glanced at the title again and understood what Louise wanted. — Do you want to go to the front as a nurse? — Well, I wanted to propose to you, you would definitely agree. I just thought that you missed him, and so you would be close. “Are you suggesting that I take a nursing course to go to war with him?!” Louise, do you understand what you’re saying? The chance that we will meet there is very small. Besides, do you think this is all a joke? Do you imagine that these are all toys and pink snot? No, this is serious! I don’t know if I can help people, if I can even be responsible for other people’s lives! — Hilda begins to raise her voice. No, she is not angry with Louise, she rather wants to reason with her, so that she at least understands a little what she is offering and what she is getting herself into. — No, I just want you to be happy! I’m tired of you sitting at home and only thinking about how your Tilike is doing. I want you to have at least something behind you too! I want you to be closer to him,” Louise could not remain calm and was already starting to scream. — Did I tell you that I want to be next to him?! — the girl herself is already breaking into a scream. — I don’t know what I want! How can you be sure of this?! Please go away. I don’t need any of this. I don’t want to think about it, I just don’t want to. — Hilda, you are such a fool! Use your brain if you have one! — the door slammed, and the girl was left standing in deathly silence. You can only hear the noise of passing cars from the open window. Hilda is shaking with rage, her thoughts are in different directions. Not only has she decided to drag her into some kind of heresy, but she is also interfering with her life, where no one invited her. Having calmed down a little, having thought about it and realizing that she shouldn’t have slammed the door so hard in front of her friend, Hilda decided to go out to apologize and dissuade her friend from joining the ranks of nurses. The girl opens the door and goes out into a small corridor lined with boxes. — Louise, where are you? Louise, I want to talk,” no one answers. From the sound of water in the bathroom, it became clear that my friend was there. Heading towards the bathroom, she mentally wished herself luck. — Louise, are you there? — the girl wanted to turn the handle, but the door was closed. — Louise, please open the door. You know how difficult it is for me now. Yes, I have always told everyone that I will not marry a guy who has nothing. Yes, I lied to myself. But I didn’t think that my feelings would get the better of me… Louise! — Footsteps were heard outside the door. Louise stood on the threshold in tears, and it was clear that her friend’s words had hurt her. — Hilda, you’re just a fool! Do you love him and are not ready to take risks in order to be near him? — Can I change anything? — You can help the soldiers. And he is a soldier. Maybe you’ll see me there. — Louise, but that doesn’t interest me. And I wouldn’t want to get involved in this war. Why did you decide to go there? “Well…” the girl thought. “I want change, and now is the time for it.” — If you want a change, then get a haircut or buy a new dress. Why so radical? — Hilda walked into the living room, sitting on the sofa and watching her friend put the kettle on. — Well, I want to leave at least a small mark on history. Besides, why not? I don’t want, like you, to work in a cafe as a waitress all my life, hoping that someday a rich groom will come to us and take me away. There is no later, Hilda, tomorrow or near future. There is only now. And you yourself must decide your fate here and now. I’ve already decided. And you? — Hilda looked at Louise. Yes, she’s right. All her life she does nothing but wait. And now, when she has a chance to somehow turn fate in the right direction and start doing something herself, and not wait for Tilike to come from the war… she needs to act. Maybe he won’t come at all. — Okay, you’re right. I agree. Only you understand that… “Don’t worry, I’ll arrange everything,” Louise happily jumped around the room. Hilda sighed heavily. And why do changes come when you don’t expect them at all? They barge into your life without knocking on your door or asking permission. But that’s their beauty. *** Louise really kept her promises. The apartment was sold in the shortest possible time, and she quit the cafe in a big way, spitting in the owner’s face and saying what kind of friend she was. They really went to study. Unlike Louise, who skipped some classes, Hilda enjoyed it and immersed herself in her studies, catching up on everything she missed in her teenage years. She devolves book after book, and not only on medicine, but also on philosophy, literature, history, and even textbooks on politics. True, she likes the latter least of all. She reads them out of boredom or because she had to. After graduating, she feels like a different person. And Louise notices that she is different — more confident. They are sent to work in Poland. Hilda is happy about this, because she will be able to see Tielike again.