Thread: Love After a Time of Hate Revamped (Closed for The_PG)

Ester's entire body was quivering as she weaved back and forth in the train cart that was transporting her family, neighbors, and fellow Jews to an undisclosed location for no other reason than the stars that they wore on their chests. Heavy drops of ice cold rain plopped down on her little brunette head as she remained tightly squeezed between her voluptuous mother, Aileen, and her proud father, Abram, who was doing all he could to stand tall for the the family. Back home, her mother had been a renowned seamstress known for making gorgeous gowns when not attending to the needs of the household. She was an excellent teacher and nurturing mother who taught Ester everything about cooking a fine meal, keeping a fine house, and maintaining a happy marriage. Her father on the other hand had owned his own bank before they had to move to what the elders called a ghetto. Standing around them with their arms folded over their chest were her three elder brothers who she knew adored her very much. Ester was the youngest of the brood and had always been rather frail in spirit and in health. They'd been taught to protect their baby sister, no matter the cost, but how could they now? All Paul could do was wrap his thick wool coat around her shoulders as her teeth began to chatter and pray they'd be delivered to their new home soon. No one knew where they were going, why they had been taken from the ghettos in the middle of the day, or what would happen to them. Women were crying, men were praying, and children were silent throughout the night, numbing Ester to the bone. She had long, curly black hair, sharp green eyes, soft pale skin, and was wearing a green plaid dress with white stockings and black shoes. She had been in the middle of history class when her principal had called her and other students bearing the star of David to the front of the school. It was humiliating to take those nineteen lonely steps from her desk to the classroom door where all of her peers stared. Some with sympathy, others with hatred, but all in silence. It had been a miracle that she had found her brothers in the courtyard amid the SS Officers who were barking at them to load into the jeeps set to take them to the train station where Michael was the one to spot their parents. Alarm rushed through the cabin as the train slowed and the flurries that had been dancing through the air turned from a brilliant, pure white to a dingy gray color. Ester couldn't understand why. Why were they screaming? By the time the train finally stopped at their destination Ester's legs were asleep. Shooting a distraught glance up at her stiff father, she gasped as an arid air poured into the cabin as the doors slid open. The dim morning light illuminated Ester's heavy green eyes as she watched men and women rush out of the cabin in a stampede. That's when she heard her first gunshot and the commands, Get out! Move now! Faster! and as quickly as she could she ran out of the cart, falling to the ground as she did. Her heavy legs had failed her and now she was on her knees at the feet of a lieutenant who had no patience for her kind. You bitch! Snarled one of the SS Officers, grabbing a fistful of her obsidian locks and snatching her up off of the ground. You'll die first if you get in my way again, now move! He growled before carelessly throwing her head first into the crowd. Ester had feared this man's voice so much that she didn't even dare look into his face that she knew to be strained with hatred. Instead she ran towards her mother when given the chance, desperately clinging to her side and disregarding the polished black shoe she lost in the squelching brown muck beneath their feet. She didn't know what this place was or why she was here, she was only a girl of sixteen and had yet to experience true evil in the world. Mother? What's happening? Why are we here? She whimpered softly into her side as her eyes danced around. She'd been told on numerous occasions to avoid the SS Officers no matter what, but this place seemed to be littered with them. Aside from them were bald women, children, and men lined up in grey jumpsuits staring out over them with a look of utter death in their eyes. The shallow eye sockets were haunting, but were not the most distinct feature of this camp. No, what was perhaps more distinct was the dreadful smell and the thick air that settled around them. Ester would be quick to realize that this was in fact Hell on Earth and she would soon be the slave to one of it's devils. Forming as orderly a line as they possibly could despite the chaos of barking dogs, screams, and commands, Ester stood with her shoulder against her mother's and her brother Paul's when instructed. Quickly, SS officers began dividing them based on their gender and age it would appear. However, when it came for Ester's turn to be roughly thrown into a category, she wasn't touched. Rather, they moved to her brother and so on until she was left standing alone in the middle of the field with two SS Officers peering down at her as if they were calculating if watching her die would be worth the cost of a bullet. Ester felt sick as all eyes turned on her. Her mother, father, and brothers were as horror-stricken as she was, but were silent when it came to defending her right to be alive. Am I going to die?! What should I do?! What should I do?! She wondered to herself as she stared down at her feet, one covered while the other clenched the disgusting mud as she strove to stop quivering in fear as someone approached. She didn't dare look up. To look an SS Officer in the eye meant certain death. Maybe she still had a chance. Maybe if she stiffened her back and kept her head down they'd forgive her for falling down. The seconds that ticked away felt like an eternity as she stood there with as much pride as the little Jew could muster under the nose of the camp's commander.