Okay guys. Here we go again! This story is set in the Spring of 2005, the 60th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Nazi Concentration camps. I hope you enjoy. Bold words are an English translation of ASL.

I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too ~ Anne Frank

All around her were shades of gray. Black, white and a myriad of gray. Even the leaves on the trees held no green, only mottled grays that seemed to dance in rhythm to the breeze blowing across her face. She glanced down, tightening her grip on Karl’s hand, the little eyes staring at her, the sapphire blue of his eyes the only color in the silent, gray world around her. She was use to the silence. She remembered nothing but the silent world that had been hers since birth. But now, the color had been taken from that world as well. It was a world that had tilted off its axis. Will it ever be uprighted again, she wondered, dread filling her heart even before the ground rumbled beneath her feet.

It was only a tingling sensation beneath the soles of the shoes she wore. Slowly, the ground beneath her began to vibrate more strongly, rippling beneath her feet in the manner of the air during the approaching thunderstorms that swept across the mountains. But this time, the rumbling didn’t come and go in rhythmic answer to the lightening flashing in the sky. This time, there were no clouds, no rain, no lightening; only bright sunlight filtering through the trees and the ever increasing tremble of the ground beneath her feet.

Her little brother clutched her arm with his free hand. She pulled him closer to her side, half pushing him behind her leg as her other hand reached to rub across the burning scar that ran the length of her abdomen; a scar that would be a constant reminder that she would never hold an infant of her own making in her arms. It was a scar that marked the end of her dreams to feel a little one moving beneath her hand, to feel the pain-filled joy of bringing a part of herself into this world in a squirming bundle of new life. It was a scar that marked the beginning of her nightmare.

The rumbling increased as the large ton trucks came into view. Her heart was pounding in her chest as they came to a stop in front of her and the crowd that had gathered in the streets of the ghetto. Suddenly, she was surrounded by gray uniforms and black helmets that shimmered in the sunlight. She couldn’t hear the ugly threats and curses. It was a jumble of moving lips that encroached upon her, pushing her until sheer panic overcame her. She turned around, then to the left, then right. There was not escape, no opening in the mass of uniforms, the butt of guns hitting and pushing her from all sides. She gripped Karl’s hand tighter, a soundless scream escaping her parted lips as she felt him ripped from her grasp as she was shoved towards one of the trucks. She was helpless to do anything save watch as Karl’s small frame was lifted and passed over the heads of the soldiers to another truck. “NOOOOO!”


Helga’s eyes fluttered open. She was drenched with cold sweat, the sheets knotted about her legs where she had fought with them during the height of the dream. She clutched her chest, pressing gently in an effort to stop the thundering that threatened to send her heart spilling from within. Just when I thought it was over, she mused. The dreams had all but disappeared after Zimmer was captured. But they had returned with a vengeance over the past few days. And I know why.

Freeing herself from the tangled sheets, she reached for the light that sat on the bedside table. Blinking and squinting until they adjusted to the brightness in the room, she stood and padded across the room. She lifted the flyer and paperwork from the corner of the dresser where she had laid them days ago after Ingrid Schmidt gave them to her. “You should go, Helga. It will help you heal.”

“I don’t need to heal,” she had replied vehemently. “I have already healed.” But if the return of the dreams were any indication, she had not healed enough. Perhaps it is time, she thought as she read the orange flyer she held in her hand. 60th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Dachau camp. May 1, 2005. She moved the flyer to reveal the paperwork underneath. A local Holocaust survivor’s group was planning a trip to the ceremony.

Immediate family invited to attend, she read as she picked up a pen to fill out the information sheet. Thanks to the Nazi plan for a perfect race, she had no immediate family. She smiled slowly as an idea formed in her mind. But the group doesn’t know that. She lifted the pen and slowly filled in the names and the relationship. So, it was a little white lie, so what. Jack Hudson, grandson. Sue Thomas Hudson, granddaughter.

Okay, so it was two little white lies, but so what. Jack and Sue were the closest thing to grandchildren she would ever have. And they should be married, she smiled, remembering what an adorable couple they made. And anyone could see they were helplessly in love with one another. Who knows, this little trip might just push them in the right direction, she thought. To remind the living, that was what the ceremony was for. And sometimes to be reminded to live, she mused. And that is what she needed, to remember to live. To see her dear ones happily married would add to the joy of remembering.

More later
Kim

She is one smart woman....I hope Jack and Sue can help her through the tough time she'll have facing the past....



~laura michelle~

What profound writing. I can see that we are in for a gripping tale.

The entire dream was so poignant and beautiful. I could see and feel everything Helga saw and felt.

I love the little white lies.

Looking forward to more

Love this beginning.

Love a scheming Helga... you go girl.

Love that you decided to join the challenge.

One question... isn't this like, the 25th story you've got going right now? How on earth... ?

But mine is not to question why, mine is to read and enjoy!

Tina

Have to agree with Ivory...very powerful start! WW II stories have always fascinated me...maybe that's b/c I was born in 1940 and spent countless hours beng regaled with stories, not to mention all the old war effort movies and books written over the years.

Looking forward to where you will be going with this; and, hopefully, I'll be able to stay caught up on reading.

Lynn

Profound and powerful sums it up for me! Taking us into Helga's nightmares was a chilling ang gripping way to begin her story. She faces so much horror in her life, reliving it still and then there she sits scheming over Jack and Sue...She's given herself a family and married them off in the process!
Brilliant beginning. Can't wait for more.

kav

Wow. What a great start. I cant wait to see what is in store for us. I have a feeling we might be bawling before this is over.

wow, this is going be to hard for her but also healing

cath

Okay, they already used profound and powerful and even wow to describe this. They didn't leave me any adjectives, so I'll just have to say that this is a brilliant idea. I can't wait to read more, and I promised myself that I would not fall behind on this Kim story.

so sad for helga but if anyone can get jack and sue together for life helga can
more soon please Kim this is wonderful
Lin

Wow Kim! This story is going to be incredibly moving! /

Great idea.

Loved that episode. Helga with Jack and Sue I loved the exchanges. Can't wait where you are taking this.

Well, Kim, it's a foregone conclusion that you are going to make me cry again!! Tears were popping up as I read Helga's nightmare!!!

But, on a lighter note, Helga makes a wonderful matchmaker!! I can't wait to see how Jack and Sue take her "two little white lies"!! I'm sure they will gladly go along with the plan!!!

Joy

She's right, they're as good as grandchildren to her and they deserve some happiness in their lives. This might very well be the thing that catapults them together.

Wow! Powerful start. I'll never forget when I first read Anne Frank. I think that was the first time I truly understand that there was real evil in this world and I couldn't understand how people could have let it happen (I was 9 at the time). I can't wait to read more. You'd think we'd learn how to treat one another better wouldn't you.

I'm sorry about the lack of a post yesterday. The electricity was out when I got home from work and didn't come back on until midnight! Hopefully, that will be the only interruption to the posting. Thanks for all the wonderful replies, guys!

We cannot afford to forget any experience, not even the most painful ~ Dag Hammarskjöld

Helga clutched the papers to her breast as she waited for the bus that would take her to meet Ingrid at the offices of the tour organizers. Last night, as she filled out the information sheet, she had felt nothing but peace and contentment; that she was doing the right thing. But now, in the light of day when the nightmare did not become a distant memory but remained a heavy reminder, the fingers of doubt began to shadow her spirit. It will be reliving Hell, she thought. Is it worth it? Can I do it?

She lowered the papers to her lap, bringing first one page, then the next into view. There, written in her own hand, was the name of the concentration camp, the name of her parents and her sister, whom she had seen die, the name of baby brother who she could only assume had met the same fate as each of her other family members. It was her story of survival, written in the halting language of a one who still felt the guilt of surviving when so many others had died; the guilt of being the “defective one” and the reason her sister and brother did not survive to have families of their own. I can’t do this, she frowned, the tears hot in her eyes. She lifted the papers between her finger, and began to pull downward, feeling the pages begin to rip and seeing the small tear appear at the edge. Maybe this will drive the nightmare away.

Her eyes caught the words at the top of the page. Turning the page so she could read it properly, she felt a new determination rise, forcing the doubt away. “I can feel the suffering of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again ~ Anne Frank” She knew the only way to bring that peace and tranquility to her soul was to go back to where it had been taken from her. We must remind the living so it will never happen again.

“I’m glad you decided to go,” Ingrid Schmidt signed as she greeted Helga in the atrium of the office building. Her blue eyes twinkled in that I-knew-you’d-see-it-my way kind of way that irritated her dear friend to no end.

“I hope I’m glad when this trip is over.” Helga frowned as Ingrid took the paperwork from her hand. “It could be dredging up ghosts that are better left in the past.”

Ingrid nodded her head in sad agreement. “Perhaps,” she signed before her eyes glanced down the page. One eyebrow raised to her hairline as green eyes lifted to gaze at her friend. “Grandchildren? Helga, you don’t have grandchildren.”

“I know that. You know that. But the trip organizers don’t know that. I don’t want to go alone, Ingrid. They are as close as any family could be.” Helga huffed indignantly at the irritating twinkle that lit her friend’s eyes. I’ve opened my mouth one too many times when it comes to my dreams for Jack and Sue, she thought as she turned her eyes away so she couldn’t see her friend’s response. She reluctantly drew her eyes back to her friend at the insistent touch on her arm.

“Did they agree to go?” Helga felt the blush warm her cheeks and tried to avoid seeing the shaking shoulders that indicated her friend’s amusement. “Do they even know about this?”

“Not yet,” Helga admitted. “But they will when I invite them to dinner tonight. And I know they’ll agree to go.” She gave a short, adamant nod as she signed to emphasize her confidence.

Helga handed the paperwork to the smiling chunky woman sitting behind the desk. She was glad that her dear friend Ingrid was hearing for there was no way she could attempt to read the nearly lipless face that began to ask questions regarding the accommodations for the trip. “I would guess that you want to share a hotel room with your grandchildren?”

She avoided Ingrid’s eyes as she signed her response. “I thought Ingrid and I could share. My grandchildren are newlyweds. I don’t think they would want an old woman intruding. Would you?”

The woman smiled, shaking her head with a knowing blush. "I suppose not." She filled in the information and reserved the rooms. She handed the paperwork back to Helga with a friendly wink. "I hope they have a good time."

Helga smiled as she placed the itinerary, travel vouchers and accommodation packet into her purse. Okay, three white lies, she thought as she glanced heavenward and sent up a short prayer for forgiveness. She quickly left the office, Ingrid hot on her heels. She knew her friend was laughing at her attempts at matchmaking. But she also knew, once she met Jack and Sue, she’d be right there, ready to lend a helping hand. As they entered the copper-walled elevator that would take them back to the ground floor and the atrium, she felt Ingrid’s hand against her arm. “You know those ghosts of the past you were worrying about? Well you can stop now, Ms. Matchmaker. Those ghosts don’t stand a chance against that scheming mind of yours in full matchmaking mode.”

More later
Kim

Oh, I can see that we are due for an emotional ride. What an outstanding idea for a story. You have me transfixed.

Gotta give some props to Helga. She is very good at the matchmaking. I bet she could give Lucy an run for her money!!

This promises to be an interesting and emotional story.

Deep emotional trauma is so difficult to overcome. It is time, Helga, for you to put these lifetime of demons to rest, which, I'm sure, will take her and us on an emotional rollercoaster ride! I'm so glad for her that she has Jack and Sue whom she can focus on. Her matchmaking skills will be just the thing to counterbalance those emotions; but will surely be tested as she attempts to bring our favorite couple together. And she has made a great start which, I can see, is going to be fraught with humor! i.e.

QUOTE

QUOTE

“You know those ghosts of the past you were worrying about? Well you can stop now, Ms. Matchmaker. Those ghosts don’t stand a chance against that scheming mind of yours in full matchmaking mode.”

And hopefully with many warm fuzzies, too?

I think that bringing Jack and Sue together would do more to restore Helga's soul than anything else she could do. And maybe she could be a surrogate grandmother too!

Love your quotes by Anne Frank and Dag Hammarskjöld. He was a great man and leader and it was a sad day for this world when he was killed in the plane crash.

Lynn

Sorry to hear about your power failure, but I'm happy to read another post from you now! I really love how you're balancing out the seriousness of this story with the sweet matchmaking scheme Helga is cooking up. This is great, Kim!

Well this trip will be most interesting for sure!

this is going to be a tough trip for sue too, we saw how hard the zimmer case was for her

however i am quietly confident that having jack there will bring new hope and lots of fuzzies

cath

She's a sly one. I have a feeling that this story is going to be a roller coaster ride.

kav

I've gotta hand it to her. She knows just the right thing to say to make things work and I have the feeling that her hard work actually pulls through. Seeing Jack and Sue together will make her see that surviving the concentration camp would have been well worth it in the end because then she can see that young deaf women like Sue can still have a future and a man who loves her more than life itself.

Wow - what a powerful theme for a story.

Is Lucy about to lose her 'master-matchmaker' status?

Looking forward to the next post.

I have to agree with cath on that poor sue but then again with the love of
your life being there for you and helga in matchmaker mode Im sure its going to be ok
Lin

We, the survivors, are not the true witnesses ~ Primo Levi, Auschwitz survivor

He had listened to his father’s stories of wartime in Germany. He had seen the shimmer of tears in the gentle eyes as he spoke of the horrors of seeing the smoke rising from the chimneys as he stood in the fields of his boyhood home. “It was almost as if you could see the spirits released from the burning bodies traveling upward with the swirling winds that blew the black and gray smoke in all directions. But a slow, steady stream in the midst of the smoke seemed to move upwards, only upwards, wavering neither to the left nor to the right, like the souls rushing from the bowels of Hell to the waiting arms of Paradise.” Those were the words his father had spoken after they had watched Schindler’s List. The tears had flowed as freely as the aging man’s memories. John remembered sitting in the dim light of the living room while the credits rolled across the screen and his father’s memories came alive in his eyes.

“I’d like to see it again, before I’m too old to travel. Just to see if beauty has indeed replaced the ugliness of the razor wire.” Those had been his father’s words just weeks ago as the news once again reminded them of the coming 60th anniversary of the end of World War II and the liberation of the concentration camps. He glanced at the flyer he had pulled from the bulletin board at the transit station as he waited for the train that would take him to his home in the suburbs. 60th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Dachau camp, May 1, 2005.

A group of Survivors from Baltimore were planning a trip. John had called, explaining that his father had not spent time in the camps, but had grown up in the area around Munich. “He was one of the many silent witnesses.” He smiled as he pulled the packet from his briefcase and read the enclosed itinerary. The group would allow them to join group for the trip. Now I can see it with my own eyes and through his, he thought. Now I just have to convince him to go.



Jack was keeping a closer eye on Sue these days. Her near transfer to New York a few weeks before had done more than unnerve him a little. It had absolutely terrified him. Never again, he thought as he watched her bumping her pencil against her chin as she stared at the report flooding the computer screen. The soft blue shirt she wore set off the pink tint on her cheeks and the blonde hair that was perpetually falling forward only to be shoved backward by a delicate hand. He vowed that he would never come that close to losing her again.

Since that fateful day in the hallway when he found out that Sue was indeed staying, he had been bolder, actually asking her to dinner and for the honor to accompany her to Deaf Club. He’d even taken to rising early on Sunday mornings to accompany her to the neighborhood church. His pace was still slow, but at least he felt like his progress was now of the forward kind, not the stuck in a rut kind.

He watched as the small light on Sue’s desk blinked, indicating an incoming phone call. He held his breath as he heard her answer. The smile on her face as she recognized the caller quickly disappeared as she pulled her lower lip between her teeth and began to chew. He waited, knowing it must be a TTY call as she typed her response. Her brows were furrowed and he fought the urge to rush over and smooth them by pressing his lips against the lines and ridges. When the call ended and Sue moved her eyes to look around the Bullpen, he quickly lowered his, not wanting to be caught trying to “eavesdrop” on a private conversation.

The sweet smell of her perfume whispered in his nostrils, alerting him to her approach even before the soft voice hesitantly called his name. “Jack?”

He raised his eyes, reminding himself to breath as he gazed into uncertain hazel eyes. The lower lip was still being ravished by her teeth and he felt the burning desire to sweep her into his arms and replace her teeth with his own, swirling his tongue gently in their path to soothe the mangled skin. He took a deep breath, forcing his thoughts to return to the moment. “Everything okay?” he signed.

“Yeah. Jack…” He raised his eyebrows, silently urging her to continue as she hesitated. “Jack, Helga called. She’d like to take us to dinner before Deaf Club tonight.” The words were coming in a furious torrent, as if she had to get them all out before she lost her nerve. Jack’s heart smiled, noting the increase of pink along the cheekbone and the shallow breaths as she continued to explain. He was beginning to understand that he wasn’t the only one suffering the pangs of doubt and hope when it came to “them.” Oh how I hope there is a “them” where we are concerned, he breathed as he fought to follow Sue’s side of the conversation. “Anyway, I told her that I’d be there, but couldn’t speak for you…”

“I’d love to go, Sue,” Jack interrupted with a smile. “In fact, why don’t I pick you up and we could go together. Just find out the place and time. I’ll pick you up after I have a chance to go home and change.”

Sue’s smile warmed the very cockles of his heart. Her eyes twinkled with delight before she lowered them to hide the glimpse of her soul she offered him. “I’ll tell her we’ll be there.” She lifted her eyes, gratitude shimmering in the hazel depths. “Thanks, Jack.”

“My pleasure,” Jack smiled. I’ll be with Sue. And I adore Helga. What better way to spend an evening. He felt the heat rush to his own cheeks as images of Sue he had no right imagining flitted through his mind. Well, there is that. He watched as she moved gracefully to her own desk. He smiled softly as she bent to give Levi a friendly rub before sitting down in her chair to call Helga. And one of these days, they will be more than just dreams.

More later
Kim

Kim

I'm intrigued with John. It will be interesting to hear the viewpoint of his grandfather all those years ago, I assume he was too young to be drafted into the German Army? Hence he was still living on his family's farm (assumed this due to the usage of the word 'in the fields of his boyhood home') on the outskirts of Munich in 1945? This is going to be another tear-jerker storyline; but, I'm steeling myself as I know it will be a very moving story...one not to be missed.

Now, Jack's thoughts about Sue certainly brought out the warm fuzzies, especially this one: Loved the term 'cockles of the heart'! Had never heard that expression; so, I looked it up in the dictionary, and the term was there! It definitely fits Jack, and I wish I had a guy who thought that way about me!

Aw, well, since I don't, Jack will have to do; and, I love the way, you write Jack and Sue! (Oh, that rhymes!)

Lynn

The description of Jack and Sue's blossoming relationship is wonderful. Jack and Sue are in for quite the surprise when they join Helga for dinner.

stuck in a rut jack is cute but i know moving forward jack is even cuter

dinner will be interesting

cath

Hopefully he gets to live his dreams... I'm sure Sue wouldn't mind all that much.

Loved Jack's thoughts/feelings in this.

We hope so too, Jack!

perfect jacks going to pick sue up now helga you need your matchmaker hat on just be the one to get them together more soon please Kim
Lin

Kim....I love the idea of this story! I didnt realize that my birthday fell on that anniversary however!

Now I am REALLY looking forward to the weekend! Heehee. I wonder what JAck and Se will say when Helga tells them about her scheme.

BTW that part about the 'silent witnesses' was very powerful. Wonderful writing.

In the external scheme of things, this evening is as brief as the twinkling of an eye yet such twinklings is what eternity is made of. ~ Fred Rogers

Sue checked her reflection in the mirror one last time before she left her bedroom. She and Jack had been out together before, but something about tonight made the knot of nervous desire in the pit of her stomach expand upwards towards her throat, forming a lump that made it next to impossible to breath, swallow or speak. Her heart was fluttering in her chest like the wings of the hummingbirds that flitted around the flowers in the park across the street. Get a grip, Sue. Tonight is no different than any other night.

But somehow, she knew it was. Since she had turned down the job in New York and Jack had hem-hawed around in the hallway, he had somehow become bolder. Although their flirtatious routine had not really changed that much, there was an intensity in the deepening chocolate eyes and a bold possessiveness in his touch that had not been there before. It was as if he were trying to silently tell her what was in his heart; whispers of promises that his brain wouldn’t yet let his lips reveal. If only they would, she sighed. If only he would tell me what is in his heart. I’m so tired of trying to read between the lines and hoping that what I’m reading there is really what he’s saying instead of the wishes of my heart filling in the blanks. If only he’d be honest with me, I could handle whatever was in his heart.

She frowned at the image in the mirror as she heard the small reprimanding voice in her head. You know Sue, Jack isn’t the only one who isn’t being honest about her feelings. He might be thinking the same thing about you; wanting the same honesty from your heart. And that might be so, but she wasn’t about to make a fool of herself when he just might not reciprocate those feelings. She had done that before in her life; read things into a man’s gestures that had not been there. And it had brought sarcastic retorts that still stung her memory. This time, Jack makes the first move. Or there will be no moving at all, she vowed as she strode across the bedroom, grabbing her purse from the foot of the bed a she passed by. A sly smile curled her lips. But that doesn’t mean I can’t give him a gentle nudge in the right direction.

Jack couldn’t breathe as Sue opened the door and invited him into the apartment. The long-sleeved purple baby doll blouse teasingly hid the curves underneath. Since it skimmed the top of her thigh, it made the denim clad legs seem even longer and more defined than usual. He neck of his navy sweater seemed to shrink, making him have to resist the urge to tug at it even though it lay well below his adam’s apple. He blew the remaining air in his lungs into his cheeks, puffing them out as he slowly let the air escape through his pursed lips. “Wow,” he signed as he fought to find his voice. He cleared his throat and raised one eyebrow until it bumped into his hairline. “You look amazing.”

That endearing blush that rose to her cheeks at the compliment made his heart melt as he fell even deeper in love at that moment. He wanted to do nothing more than brush his fingers down her cheeks and feel the heat he was sure came along with the tinge of color that gently mottled the skin he remembered to be as soft as satin from the brief encounter all those months ago in Dragon Lady’s office. “Thank you, Jack,” she smiled. She dropped her chin, her hazel eyes shyly returning his gaze through the veil of her bangs. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

“Thanks.” Jack gave her a lopsided grin, turning slightly to offer her his arm. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.” She pulled her purse on her shoulder and hesitantly slipped her arm beneath the muscular one he so gallantly offered. “We don’t want to keep Helga waiting.”

She started forward only to feel the resistance as Jack continued to stand in the same spot. She glanced at him, furrowing her brow in puzzlement. She shook her head as she followed one set of brown puppy dog eyes to another. Her heart warmed to see the man she loved looking longingly at a pleading Levi. He turned back to her, the swirling coffee depths as pleading as the ones that stared at her from across the room. “Aren’t we taking Levi?”

Sue chuckled as she shook her head. “Not tonight.” She turned to watch the dog as he cocked his head from one side to the other. “Levi’s been getting too many table scraps lately. Luce’ll feed him and bring him with her to Deaf Club.” She couldn’t hear the mournful rumble in the golden chest as he dropped to the floor, his sad face lying on the floor between his paws. “Sorry pal. That look won’t work this time.”

She turned just in time to see Jack’s reassuring smile as he spoke to the bereft puppy. “Don’t worry, Buddy. I’ll smuggle you something home tonight.”

Home. Sue couldn’t quell the flutter of hope that entered her heart. The word had been spoken innocently. But something about seeing the barely hidden twinkle in Jack’s eyes as he spoke that simple word added to the expectant faith that the man who held her heart would one day give her his in return.



Helga was quietly wringing her hands as Jack and Sue approached the table in the restaurant just down the street from the Deaf Club. Jack’s heart ached for the grandmotherly woman who raised haunted eyes to greet them. It was a look that he had somehow hoped the capture of Zimmer would have taken away. And although her eyes did seem to twinkle more when she teased them or talked of her friends and her life here in D.C., the haunted hollowness was still present, lingering even as laughter bubbled from her lips. “We’re not late are we?” he signed before he pulled the chair out and held it while Sue settled into it.

“No,” Helga smiled. “I was just a little early.” She gazed at them for a long moment, her eye twinkling as Jack began to feel the heat rushing to his cheeks. He cleared his throat nervously as he glance sideways at the blonde by his side, noticing the same crimson glow he was sure matched his own. He turned back to Helga with a smile. “You do make a lovely couple,” she signed with a sigh.

Sue lifted her hands to start to sign. But Jack’s hand covered hers gently. She held her breath as she watched first his lips then as his hands he revealed just enough of his heart to keep her hope alive. “I couldn’t agree with you more, Helga.”

More later
Kim

Well at least Jack knew what Helga signed this time! And he agreed with her which is even better!

It seems that our Jack and Sue both sense that something important is about to happen.
I love how the hope in their hearts that their love is reciprocated is gently building.

I’m simply melting at Jack and Sue’s thoughts, words and actions. Ah, this kind of longing for love from the other is magic Kim Indescribable magic!

Favorites? The whole post, but if you forced me to choose it would be: and

Lynn

poor levi missing out on the scraps, loved jack's promise to bring him something home

i loved his answer to helga about being a nice couple

this is wonderful again kim

cath

Actually, I still think he understood the first time. The face he made right after she'd signed that was priceless and when he lowered his gaze and scratched his ear... which he always does when he's embarassed... I just melted, because it's almost obvious that he knew. I say almost, because I could have just imagined it, but I'm pretty sure it's there.

I love that he agreed with her! If I may borrow a quote: "That's one small step for man..." and let me just say "Whooo-hoo!"

Despite the subject matter, you brought a huge smile to my face with Helga's scheming.

Well my dear, you definitely have a way with words! And now I have a little more hope alive in my heart about oh so many things too!

kav

I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking that about the episode... to me it almost looked like he was asking for confirmation of what he thought she'd signed!


I'd like to join in with the woo-hoos!

I couldnt agree more either!!!!!!!

Love it.

It is not flesh and blood, but the heart which makes us fathers and sons ~ Johann Schiller

“Is Dachau the concentration camp where you were held?” Jack signed after passing the flyer back across the table to Helga.

He saw the flame of anger blaze in her brown eyes, just as it had during the Zimmer case. “No.” The signs were short and terse, giving silent voice to the anger behind the words. “I was at one of the smaller forced labor camps. But this place, this place of razor wire and barracks is where the nightmare started. Not just for me, but for all of those who were different.”

Jack glanced back and forth between Sue and Helga as the older woman signed more of her story. His heart broke for the unshed tears that shimmered in the dark eyes as she spoke of her family; her father and mother who were shot because Zimmer thought they were not working hard enough and wanted to make an example out of them so the others would meet their work quotas, her sister who had died of starvation in her arms because she had refused to eat her meager rations, choosing to share them with the younger children in their barracks so that the cry of hunger wouldn’t be so loud to her hearing ears, and her brother who never made it to the camp with the rest of the family. “He was torn from my side.” Her sobs were deep and guttural, yet not loud enough to draw attention from the other patrons. “It was my job to protect him. To walk him to the park and play with him each afternoon so we wouldn’t forget to be children in the middle of chaos. But that morning, the ground rumbled beneath my feet as the trucks approached. I pushed him behind me, trying to hid and protect him. I couldn’t hear what the soldiers said as the surrounded us. It was an encroaching mass of snarling red faces and moving lips that I couldn’t make sense of. He was holding onto my arm as the men moved closer. Then suddenly, he wasn’t there. I turned to look for him and watched as the men lifted him over their heads and passed him from hand to hand to another truck. I tried to follow, but the butt of a soldier’s gun knocked me to the ground.” She paused, wiping the tears from her eyes. The water in the glass sloshed over the side as her hands closed around it and moved towards her mouth. She drew in a deep, ragged breath as she returned the glass to the table and continued her story. “That was the last time I saw my baby brother. I held onto the hope that I would find him once the camps were liberated. But being deaf, I couldn’t communicate effectively with the people on the roads as the prisoners walked into freedom. Eventually, I gave up hope, assuming he had met the same fate as the other members of my family. If only I had held on tighter…”

Jack reached over and placed his hands over hers, squeezing them gently as he watched Sue’s hands gently signing words of comfort she so often repeated to him when he felt that he had somehow failed. “It’s not your fault, Helga. You were only a little girl. You did all that you could to protect him.”

Jack glanced at Sue, the tears shimmering in her hazel eyes matched the ones that he felt trickling down his face. He turned back to the older woman across the table. He released her hands so he could speak to her. “Are you sure you want to go? Are you sure you want to relive those nightmares?”

“I relive those nightmares every day of my life, Jack,” she sighed. “I want to make those nightmares go away, permanently. I think going will help me do that.”

“Is anyone going with you?” Sue remembered how the stress of the Zimmer case had affected her. She couldn’t bear to think of Helga going to Germany on her own to face her demons. She glanced at Jack, wondering what he would say if she offered to go with the woman. “Because if you are…”

Helga’s shaking head stilled her words. She almost chuckled at the twinkle that returned to the older woman’s eyes as she started to sign her plan. “My friend Ingrid is going. But I was really hoping you two would agree to go as well.”

Helga watched Jack’s lips as he started to protest. She gave him a stern look that caused his lips to snap shut and his hands to still as a rosy blush crept to his cheeks. “I know what you are going to say, Jack. That you and Sue are not family and that it would be against the group’s rules to go. But you’re wrong. You and Sue are my family. Zimmer may have taken my blood family, but out of the misery of seeing him again, God granted me a new family. You and Sue are as much my grandchildren as you would be if you were related by blood.”

Jack knew Helga made a valid point. He did look on her as family and he knew Sue did too. They often spent evening and weekends in her company, sometimes together and sometimes apart. He owed his improving signing skills to her patient tutelage, just like any grandmother seemed to possess when trying to pass on her knowledge to another generation. His gaze drifted to the woman beside him. He could see the desire to accompany the older woman glistening in her eyes and on her cheeks. She’ll go no matter what I say, he groaned. She can’t bear the thought of seeing Helga go through this alone. His mind wondered back to that day in the Bullpen during the Zimmer case. His heart ached as he watched her struggling with the knowledge that such evil could exist in the world. Later, after the case was over, he had accompanied Sue to the Holocaust Memorial. He had held her hand as they walked through the museum. Then he had held her in his arms as she cried in the park, overcome by the emotions of that horrible time in human history. His own tears had trickled into her hair as he held her against his chest. And I couldn’t let Sue go through that alone.

He took Sue’s hand in his, gently stroking his thumb across the knuckles. As he stared into her hazel eyes, he had his answer. He only hoped he could survive the journey with his heart intact. He was afraid he couldn’t spend the twelve days of the trip with Sue without revealing his heart. He could only pray that she would return his love if he found the words spilling out somewhere between D.C. and Germany. If not, he’d leave the broken pieces scattered from Germany back to D.C. He moved his gaze back to the woman across the table. He took a deep breath, drawing his lips into a thin line as he raised his free hand to speak. “Okay. We’ll go.”



John waited for the knock on the door to be answered. He had decided to stop off his parent's house before he continued down the block to his own. His excitement was tempered with the fear that his plan would be refused as he gripped the flyer in his hand. The door creaked as it was pulled open. Please don't let it be Mom that answers the door, he prayed. He needed to avoid questions from anyone until he had the chance to present his case. He smiled as his father's sapphire blue eyes twinkled at him from the now open doorway. "Hi Dad. I need to talk to you about something."

More later
Kim

That was amazing. I am crying now. (I think you people here love to make us cry, hmm?)

Yay! Sue and Jack are going. Cant wait to see what they say about the shared hotel room. Hehehee.

You had me feeling those tears right along with Helga, Sue and Jack. Please carry on.

I'm so glad you're taking Sue and Jack on this journey and letting us go along with them. This is so awesome, Kim!