Pauline

-Polina! Wake up... wake up, it's already dawn, we need to go to the field. "Yes, Mom," Polina said very sleepily, turning over and throwing off the thin blanket, which was torn in two places, with one deft movement. The girl opened her sleepy eyes: to be honest, she didn't get enough sleep at all. Kicking off her bare feet on the cold, inhospitable floor and stretching hard, yawning, Polina squinted at her mother in disbelief. "And Tanya?" Is she awake yet? "Your sister has been awake for a long time, daughter. We're just waiting for you. — Okay. Please give me a chance to change my clothes, Mom. —Oh, of course, of course," the mother left in really fast manner. Polina Orlova, eighteen years old, was a frail-looking young girl. Polina was braiding her medium-length blonde hair in two tight braids, as usual. Her delicate features, huge, indescribably beautiful brown eyes, and straight, thin nose only added to her really special charm. She has got a beautiful forehead. And also, the plump lips with the color of unripe cherries: Polina was considered the first beauty in the entire village of Bely Kolodets, which was located in Mtsensk district, Oryol region. During her school years, Polina was actively courted by Grisha Smirnov: a very outstanding guy, which was adept at all forms of wit. The girl refused Grisha without a twinge of conscience, because she didn't love him a bit. Then, Grisha's family had moved to the Tula region, a little bit closer to Moscow, and from that day on, Polina did not hear anything about him. She didn't even know if he was alive or if he had gone to the frontline. Polina Orlova's father, Valery Orlov, died heroically at the frontline, defending his native Soviet Union. When the well-known dreadful telegram had come, the mother — Olga Orlova did not cry at all. The woman did not even shed a single tear in the presence of her daughters. Olga seemed to disconnect from everything that was happening for a while. Abstracted away. And only when the daughters climbed into the cold beds, the woman silently gave way to tears. In the empty small kitchen and in the pitch dark. Polina's sister, Tatiana Orlova, sixteen years old, took the news of her father's death very painfully: the girl was silent for three days in a row. She was not hysterical or crying, she did not show her emotions, but simply remained silent for all this time. In the end, the now incomplete Orlov family gradually got used to the loss of the breadwinner. They really can do nothing about that. Tanya, Polina, and their mother tried to live, and well, they seemed to live an ordinary life. That life which was before the start of the terrible war. As if their village could never have been occupied by the damned German invaders...as if such a possibility had never existed at all. When their mother finally was shot by Germans in front of Polina and Tanya, right after her funeral Polina had taken all the really difficult household chores on her fragile shoulders. The compassionate and really caring neighbors had helped with the funeral itself. So, this way Polina and Tanya became the true orphans. They continued to live an ordinary life, or rather, they tried to convince themselves of living it. Exactly until the Germans entered their village, the «White Well»…

***

Exactly one day before the invasion…

Hans Klein, the young officer of the Wehrmacht, was sitting in his armchair made of thick material, smoking a pipe and constantly thinking. He was thinking about life. Was he a really bad officer?... Did he perform his duties extremely poorly?.. The recent events that have taken place over the past week have shown, and most importantly, proved that it really was like that. The residents of the occupied territories, towns and villages were absolutely out of control, disobeyed, ran away and committed many other undesirable things. It is today that he and his subordinate soldiers plan to occupy another village in the Mtsensk district, Oryol region — the «White Well»… Hans Klein was a white-skinned, tall, fair-haired man, twenty-four years old, with an insanely handsome face, who was an arrogant, selfish and very cruel man. Rather, he was arrogant and selfish since his early childhood and youth, and exactly this war made him cruel... The kind of war he didn't want to get involved in until the last moment. The war that completely changed his understanding of the structure of this cruel world. When Hans first saw the thin, fragile brown-eyed blonde girl, at the village well, in a dress that barely covered her knees, The German officer's heart beat not twice, but three times faster… However, Hans pulled himself together in the blink of an eye. Exactly, this very skill was developed by a young guy in a way that could only be envied. With an impenetrable face, Hans moved towards Polina. She stood rooted to the spot, when she suddenly saw the gleaming muzzle of a rifle… There was absolutely no point in running… At the moment, Polina was fearlessly peering into the pale and the really handsome face of the German officer, right into his green eyes. However, the eye contact lasted less than twenty seconds: Hans grabbed the girl painfully by the arm and dragged her into the house.To their house… Polina!...- Tanya squeaked, but when she saw the muzzle of a weapon pointed at her by another German invader, she immediately fell silent, pressing her whole body against the wall. Do you have groceries?" Warm clothes? Do you have the supplies in the basement? — asked Hans in his native language. —What?"… I don't understand you,"the girl said with annoyance, not even fearing the rifle, which Hans was stroking right now. Hans Klein repeated his questions in broken Russian: the guy was capable of languages, and he learned the basics of the Russian language pretty quickly. "We don't have anything you're interested in,— Polina finally said rudely . — Our house is completely empty. She lied. Of course she lied… The girl stopped talking when she caught the demanding gaze of bottomless green eyes. —And don't look at me like that," Added Polina in very unfriendly tone. — What the hell are you doing, Russian bitch?... Another German suddenly exclaimed from the corner in his native language, still holding a rifle at gunpoint. "Shut up, Friedrich. Mind your own business! I'll deal with this girl myself," Hans growled at his subordinate for some reason. "What's your name?" — the guy asked again in a broken voice, turning to the blonde girl. "I don't think you really should know my name,— she spat out with distaste. "It's really necessary, if I'm asking,— Hans flashed his eyes terribly. — My name is Polina. And don't imagine for yourself that I'm afraid of you and your weapons," the eighteen—year-old blonde girl said with real proud. Hans was completely stunned: this Russian girl was not only incredibly beautiful, but also very brave. The young German had never met such fearless Russian girls. Of course, this fact further aroused his male sympathy for Polina, and this sympathy turned out to be much more tenacious than the fleeting interest he felt when he first saw the girl at the well, who was wearing a really short dress. Hans Klein was not married, he had also no children, so no one was waiting for him from the Eastern frontline. No one except the elderly parents, who literally lived out their days in Berlin, Germany. "Let's go," Hans Klein said in Russian, grabbing Polina again in a very unfriendly manner. Klein literally dragged Polina outside. Her sister suffered the same fate . "What are you going to do with us?" She hissed furiously, being not scared at all. "You're coming with us," said Hans. "Why?"… — Stop asking stupid questions, Russian bitch! "Stop it!" the second German barked, raising his rifle threateningly in the air. There was nothing to do, both girls had to obey in silence. A little later, Tanya and Polina were forced into a car, and this was, as the girls believed, the very last time they saw their small house…