Only Ava’s youthful face peeks from behind the partially opened door of their thatched house, hiding the rest of her body from the two Russian comrades, with Mosin bolt-action military rifles flung over their shoulders. Clearly rattled at the sight of the two men, standing there glaring and impatient, with her -- her eyes are wide and her lips barely parted, an instantaneous reaction from the questions they drill her with, in Russian.
Undoubtedly, the soldiers grow irritated, waiting for her to answer their questions. But she struggles to interpret the Hungarian words inside of her head into something they will understand.
One of them repeats the question, “Where is your father, then?”
She runs her eyes over their baggy brown, military …show more content…
Nevertheless, she is not nearly naïve enough to trust them, not any more than she did the Nazis.
Without a doubt, the smaller one clearly hopes to catch her lying in response to his questions. He blurts out, “He’s working in the rain?” His left eyebrow raises in a way that tells Ava he doesn’t believe her answers. He grinds his teeth and examines her in a way that sends a cold shiver, shooting up her back. There are two stars on the shoulder bars of his tunic. With his heavily-accented Hungarian, the authoritative man is difficult to understand. Nevertheless, he expects her to answer promptly and clearly.
He is aware that her school studies include Russian, so she speaks to them slowly and carefully in their own language. “My fader is farmer. He ver-rk through rain or …show more content…
The expressions on their faces and the way they crane their necks to look past her, are disquieting, telling Ava that the smell of the bean goulash she’s cooking and its paprika and caraway seeds are escaping. She recognizes the way they repeatedly swallow. They are clearly hungry.
The disapproving expressions on their faces is clear. They understand the villagers fear them. There will be no free meals in this village. Suddenly, they turn on their heels and leave, trudging through the muddy garden, walking towards the family’s wheat fields.
Overhead, the dark, steely gray sky is overcast and the piled haystacks are lying in swaths, cut and thrown together by a scythe. Next to the bleak skies, they appear especially golden, almost highlighted. The sweet scent of freshly cut hay blends with the rain and the smell of damp earth.
Down by the haystacks, her father works in the rain, bundling cut wheat and harvesting another field. Neither rain nor snow stops that man, if he has a harvest waiting. But, these men -- if only she could warn her father,
Undoubtedly, the soldiers grow irritated, waiting for her to answer their questions. But she struggles to interpret the Hungarian words inside of her head into something they will understand.
One of them repeats the question, “Where is your father, then?”
She runs her eyes over their baggy brown, military …show more content…
Nevertheless, she is not nearly naïve enough to trust them, not any more than she did the Nazis.
Without a doubt, the smaller one clearly hopes to catch her lying in response to his questions. He blurts out, “He’s working in the rain?” His left eyebrow raises in a way that tells Ava he doesn’t believe her answers. He grinds his teeth and examines her in a way that sends a cold shiver, shooting up her back. There are two stars on the shoulder bars of his tunic. With his heavily-accented Hungarian, the authoritative man is difficult to understand. Nevertheless, he expects her to answer promptly and clearly.
He is aware that her school studies include Russian, so she speaks to them slowly and carefully in their own language. “My fader is farmer. He ver-rk through rain or …show more content…
The expressions on their faces and the way they crane their necks to look past her, are disquieting, telling Ava that the smell of the bean goulash she’s cooking and its paprika and caraway seeds are escaping. She recognizes the way they repeatedly swallow. They are clearly hungry.
The disapproving expressions on their faces is clear. They understand the villagers fear them. There will be no free meals in this village. Suddenly, they turn on their heels and leave, trudging through the muddy garden, walking towards the family’s wheat fields.
Overhead, the dark, steely gray sky is overcast and the piled haystacks are lying in swaths, cut and thrown together by a scythe. Next to the bleak skies, they appear especially golden, almost highlighted. The sweet scent of freshly cut hay blends with the rain and the smell of damp earth.
Down by the haystacks, her father works in the rain, bundling cut wheat and harvesting another field. Neither rain nor snow stops that man, if he has a harvest waiting. But, these men -- if only she could warn her father,