Life Is Beautiful

The sky was turning into a hazy grey and the clouds were moving in, warning all of Germany that rain would fall heavily onto anything in its way.
Frank sighed heavily while looking forward at the field in front of him. His hands shook and he closed his eyes, imagining what would happen to Rebecca as soon as he let her go.
Rebecca was busy on her feet, passing around rations of food to soldiers and lending a helping hand to whoever needed it. The soldiers had quickly fallen in love with the young girl, not understanding how the Germans could portray someone as sweet as her as a "rat" or "scum" and that was putting it nicely for the Jews.
"Frank," Alex spoke and came around to him.
Frank looked up and Alex spoke quietly so only Frank could hear, "We got her a spot on a boat to London, but we have to smuggle her."
Frank's chest perked up, the news being better than her going to France.
"She'll be placed in a home with the rest of civilians that managed to escape."
Frank breathed in fresh air and laughed lightly, the news being golden to him." He pulled Alex into a hug and thanked him.
"Thank you so much Alex."
Alex smiled and hugged Frank back, the brotherhood of soldiers corresponding through their bones.
"You'll be a part of my squad now, we're going to start moving towards the front to help out the Russians, we leave tomorrow and so does Rebecca."
Frank nodded and took a deep breath again, trying to take in everything that was about to happen.
Alex patted Frank on the back softly and walked ahead to the rest of his squad.

Frank turned around and caught Rebecca smiling down at an injured solider and cleaning his face with a wet towel.
He felt his stomach twist with the realization that by tomorrow morning she would be gone and he would hold a gun again, fighting for his country and his life.

-

Rain had started falling that afternoon and it was thudding against the tents soldiers were resting under.
Rebecca sat in silence on the edge of the tent, looking up at the sky.
Memories of her parents flooded her mind, making her eyes water and her bones ache with sorrow.
Terrible images of concentration camps were stuck in her mind and she imagined her parents being thrown into gas chambers and imprinted with numbers and sleeping on wooden bunks with rats among them.
She cried silently to herself and shook her head up at the sky.
'How is God real with all of this pain surrounding the world?' She thought to herself.

Frank sat behind Rebecca his body facing the conversation among the soldiers but his mind focusing on her. He looked towards her and saw her back hunched and her head up at the sky.
Quietly he moved over to her and grazed his nose against the back of her head, smelling her hair.
She closed her eyes and let the tears out, knowing who was behind her.
"You need to get some rest." He whispered by her ear.
She shook her head and looked down at her hands.
He came around and sat next to her, his hand taking hers in and rubbing it softly.
"I know nothing I can say is going to make up for how...utterly messed up things are right now...but I'm sorry. I really am. I don't understand how the world is supposed to function with all of this evil but we'll make it through. That's why I'm here. To fight for you and for all of the injustice that's circulating us," Frank spoke softly but confidently, his eyes closed in on hers. He took them in, how blue they were and how broken the girl behind them was.
And she took his in, how the green and brown mixed together to create the lovely shade of hazel his were and how courageous he had become for a 17 year old boy who snuck his was into the war.
"You've taught me a lot Rebecca. About myself and about life. And I will forever be indebted to you and your family for what you have done for me. But there is something I want you to do for me..." He gently put his fingers on her chin and turned her face completely into his.
She looked straight into his eyes and didn't speak, she didn't have too.
"Keep going. Don't give up. Don't give those filthy bastards what they're craving. Show them how wrong they are and never let them see you down." His voice didn't skip a single beat, it went in sync with the strings attached to his heart and the beat against them.

Rebecca didn't look away from the boy in front of her for the rest of the night. Her arms were kept tight around his waist and her head laid gently on his chest, taking in the sweet heartbeat that belonged to him.
"I'll never let them see me down." She spoke up and her eyes didn't falter.