Elsa sat quietly for several minutes and did not move.  "I see", she said.

"Did you kill him?" she asked, looking right at him.

"He was not killed, I assure you ma'am.  He died in his sleep.  Peacefully."

Even though Elsa could not believe him, she felt over-whelming relief.  Trying

to fight the waves of tears filling her eyes, she turned her face away from him,

but they rolled down her cheeks in hot rivers and dripped off onto her folded white hands.  

Her lungs felt as though they would burst, but she used all of her strength to breathe, and regain full composure.  "I see.", she managed to say. "What has been done

with him, can you tell me please?"

"He was buried nearby ma'am." the soldier answered.  He was telling the truth.  He had buried the man himself.  "In the field behind the house where there are three trees, he was buried underneath the middle tree."  He had not been happy about it at the time, it was an unwelcome assignment, but at this moment he felt glad he'd done it, and that confused him.

Elsa searched the soldier's face and knew he was telling the truth.  She realized he had to be the person who had buried her husband, how else would he know exactly where the grave was.  "It is a shady spot." she said.  "Thank you soldier."

He did not like the feelings he was having, he didn't understand why he felt anything.  It was his job, he'd been ordered to do it.  It didn't matter to him, this woman didn't

matter to him.  Uncomfortable now, his mood suddenly darkened.  "I assume you have finished your meal?" he asked gruffly.

Elsa nodded and watched him take the tray and the plate and the cup and the napkin. Then balancing them precariously, he unlocked the door, stepped out, and locked it behind him.

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The next day, exactly at 3pm, once again the same soldier brought Elsa tea and food.

He gently set down the tea tray to her left, and the plate of food directly in front of her.  He then locked the door, put the key in his front shirt pocket, and took his same position at Elsa's right side.

When he'd first opened the door today and saw her, he was shocked.  She seemed to be fading away.  Still she sat up straight, always pulled together, her dignity intact.

She was neither doleful, nor resentful.  She exuded no anger.  She seemed to accept her situation as fact, and whatever she felt inside he could not know, she had hidden it successfully.  Her home was filled with enemy soldiers, her possessions had been ransacked, her cupboards emptied, and her husband had been buried. Clearly she was also starving, yet she held herself upright in an almost regal manner.

Elsa was growing weak.  She'd spent the night weeping which only sped the dehydration taking it's toll on her.  The small amount of food they brought her once a day was not enough to support anyone's body.  Between the hunger and the grief, she was doing all she could to fight the numbness that wanted to over-take her mind.

The young soldier watched her.  Although there was food right in front of her, she seemed not to see it.  She sat there as if in another world.

Elsa felt pain, without thoughts. Like a dark billowing cloud in her chest, it expanded

and pushed out of her ribs into the room itself.  It was difficult to breathe, and becoming ever more difficult to care.  She was not afraid as much as she was

expectant.  It would get worse.  It would be foolish to think otherwise.  

She looked down at the food on the little white plate.  A piece of moldy bread, and a large boiled turnip.  The turnip was totally rotted.  The sight of it revolted her, she could not eat it.  She did not have the energy to see what was in the tea pot.  She didn't care.

"Tell me soldier," she finally said, "do you have a wife back home in your country?"

A wave passed through him, like a sudden blaze, and his face grew hot. The sensation was strong but passed in one second.  "No ma'am", he replied.  He did not understand

why he felt anything at all from her question.  Again he felt confused by it.  He hoped she would say something else.

She did not, she only sat there.  Her thoughts were outside, where her husband was buried under a tree.  The orange tree.  She remembered the day they had planted those trees together she and Remar.  It seemed like such a long time ago now, in a different world.  The middle one was an orange tree and when in season it produced hundreds of oranges, sweet and juicy.  Reman loved that tree.  He would have been pleased to be laid to rest there. Under all those beautiful oranges.

"Is there something wrong with your food Ma'am?  Why are you not eating?" he asked.

 

"Because...I was thinking of oranges." she replied.

"Ma'am?"

"Because", she paused to choose her words carefully," because I have never eaten rotting food before soldier."

 

The young man was stunned.  "It bothers you." he said. It was more of a statement than a question.  

"Yes soldier.  Does it not bother you?" she said.

She knew it was likely they would no longer feed her after this.

"That dumb bastard." he muttered under his breath.  

The soldier looked upset.  He picked up the plate and the tray, unlocked the door and left the room, locking the door behind him.  Elsa realized she was going to starve to death.

A few minutes later the sound of the key in the lock startled her, and Elsa felt terrified.  Were they coming to punish her now, for being ungrateful?  She sat frozen in place, eyes fixed on the door.  It was the young soldier again, carrying a sack and a liter of water.  He locked the door, put the key in his front pocket, and pulled out the chair next to Elsa at the table.  "The Commander told us to feed you." he said. He opened the sack and began to pull out 2 small cans and 2 packets of crackers, plastic utensils, and 1 candy bar.  He opened them all, one by one and told her, "I'm sorry.  I was told... something wrong.  Look, it isn't much, but it's the same as I eat.  Go ahead, it's all right."

He sat there and watched her eat. The soldier had never done anything like this before.  He didn't understand why he cared.  But he realized he did care.  As stupid as it sounded to him now, he could see she was a person.  A regular person.  Not some kind of sub-human freak.  

When she was finished he collected the cans and wrappers, and tossed them in the bag.  Leaving her the bottled water he simply said, "Good night Ma'am."  He left and locked the door behind him.

That night Elsa heard explosions in the distance.  Some were very loud.  Others came in clusters that shook the house.  There was tremendous activity outside, the sounds of boots and engines, and men yelling.  The sounds of men and bombs ebbed then thickened with explosions.  Elsa lay there on a small sofa, listening, trying to gage the distance of the battle from her house.  She was so tired, so tired.  Then it all stopped.  She was  deeply weary, she actually fell asleep, and slept for the first time in days.

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The sound of a key in the lock brought Elsa out of her sleep like a bullet.  She sat up and looked at the door.  The sun was barely up, something was happening.  The door

began to open, but it only opened a couple of inches then stopped.

"Ma'am? Can I come in?"

Elsa shot to her feet.  "Yes..." she stuttered.

It was the young soldier again.  Strangely, she was glad to see him.  He let the door swing all the way open.  Soldiers were passing behind him, exiting her home.  Her heart leapt.  "They are leaving!" she thought.

"We're moving out", he said.  "I have orders to deliver you to the Commander's

HQ."

"You are taking me, away from my home?" she said.

A passing soldier stopped and looked in at her.  "Is there a problem here?" he said, sneering at her.  

"No Sir." the young soldier replied.

"Well get a move on then." the elder one barked, frowning. He turned and walked briskly away, barking orders at the men.  

The young man approached her and said, "I'm sorry Ma'am".  He placed plastic  handcuffs on Elsa, and walked her out the door.  Her house had been all but destroyed, the furniture was demolished, and little else was left.  

The soldier led her to a jeep, and told her to get in, which she did.  Troops had been camping in and around her house.  Now they were loaded into trucks and transports and heading to the east. The young soldier hopped into the driver's seat, started the jeep and when he released the clutch the vehicle jerked forward.  He then sped toward the river, heading west.

It was very windy, and cold.  Elsa felt like there was a boulder in her stomach.

Being taken to the Commander's headquarters, she understood what that meant.

She'd wondered every day that she'd been locked in that room why they hadn't bothered her yet.  She could think of nothing to say.  She did not understand the mind of this young soldier.  So cold, then last night, he seemed...   She sat quietly, enduring the bumps and cold wind.  

The young soldier suddenly began whistling.  He looked at her and grinned, raising his eyebrows twice, twink-twink.  Elsa was incensed.  He was delivering her to a monster, and whistling about it along the way.  The handcuffs were making it impossible to sit back in the seat, and she was tossed roughly back and forth.  Knowing there was nothing to lose, she yelled over the wind and engine noise. "It is not necessary to make me wear the handcuffs.  I have no weapons.  Are you that afraid of me still?" she said reproachfully.  "As you deliver me to that monster!" she cried.  "Where can I go?  I am here, I have no choice.  These are not needed!"