Hidden in a Box

"Mother, I'm home!" Erika Vanderbilt called loudly into her family's house as she came through the door. She dropped her school bag on the floor near the kitchen table and walked up the stairs to her room. It was Friday, which meant that she wouldn't be bothered by her homework until Sunday night. She began to gather her small weekly allowance into her purse. Hopefully her friend Gisela wasn't sick. She hadn't been at school at all today.
"Erika-" she heard her mother say from the door.
"Gisela and I are going to the theatre to see the new newsreel about what's happening out on the warfront. It starts in twenty minutes." Erika explained excitedly, not turning around. She was hoping-no, praying- to see that her older brother, Hugo, would be shown in one of the clips. He'd gone off to fight for Germany only a month ago, but she missed him terribly already.
"I don't think we should go today, Erika." A new voice said. Erika spun around abruptly to see Gisela standing beside her mother. Her friend stared sadly at her shoes.
"Why not? What's wrong?" Erika asked nervously.
"I'm going to be staying with you for a little while. That's all." Gisela replied. The girl kept her gaze down as she fingered the yellow star on her sweater. Erika knew what it was. Everyone in Germany knew. It was the Star of David. The Jewish star.
"Where are your parents?" Erika asked quietly, already knowing the answer, but hoping that she was wrong.
"They're gone." Gisela mumbled, tears welling in her blue eyes. "I-I wasn't at school today because- because last night, Nazis broke into my father's shop. They destroyed everything and took my parents away."
"Mother! Why would they do that? Gisela's parents didn't do anything wrong!" Erika cried.
"I'm sorry. The Nazis only arrested them because they're Jewish." Her mother sighed. "There's nothing more we can do. Dinner will be in an hour, girls." She turned and left the room, wiping her eyes.
"I guess you'll have to take the spare bed and you can put your clothes in my closet." Erika noted, gesturing to the second bed in the corner of the room. Hurrying to her closet, she pulled out a handful of empty hangers. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Whenever Gisela spent the night, that was the bed she used. Perhaps they could just imagine that this was just a long sleepover. She sat on her own bed as her friend began to unpack the few things she had brought with her. It wasn't anything much, just a few skirts and some blouses. Then Gisela pulled out the stuffed dog that Erika had seen at her apartment so many times. It was always there, just like her own stuffed cat.
"Maybe we can go see tomorrow's newsreel. We could stop for ice cream on the way home too." Erika suggested, trying to find something for her friend to be happy about.
"I don't know if I'm allowed to go into the theatre anymore. Soon they won't let me go to school either." Gisela replied sadly. "Besides, the Nazis would take me away as soon as they saw this star." She began to pick at it as though she were trying to remove it.
"Then we'll take it off! I read that some people did that in the paper." Erika exclaimed. The paper was the best way to stay updated on all these things that were going on.
"It was in the paper because those people got caught and arrested." Her friend sighed as she sat lightly on the spare bed. "It's no use trying to get me out of your house here. I don't want to anyways."
"Then I'll bring you some ice cream after school. How about that?" Erika said, not wanting to settle for anything less for her friend. Everything she was going through was just so unfair.
"Fine. I suppose that would be alright." Gisela said, smiling a little as she looked out the large window. The street below was crawling with Nazis, each one walking in a straight line, patrolling the streets, with their rifles over their shoulders. They watched the many innocent German people as they carried about their daily business. One on their side of the street glanced up briefly at the window the girls were staring out of. The two jumped back, frightened.
"They look so funny, standing straight and wearing those long coats in this warm weather." Gisela giggled. Erika stole a second glance at the officer who had already turned away. Her friend was right. They were funny looking. "Listen, I know I'm putting you and your family in a lot of danger, but I want you to know that you don't have to do this for me."
"But if we didn't, the Nazis would send you to one of those Jewish Residential Quarters. I've seen those people in there. They're half-starved." Erika argued.
"I know, but I think that's where they've got my parents." Her friend whispered. "I'm scared for them. Besides, if anyone found out you were hiding me, your family could be executed."
"I know, but I'm sure they'll be alright and so will we. Then after the war is over, you can see them again." Hopefully. She had heard a few rumors that the older boys at school were talking about. Rumors that Jews were being shipped off to camps where they were being killed. But that couldn't be true. At least, she hoped it wasn't.
"I hope so." Gisela answered quietly, holding her knees to her chest as she sat on the spare bed.
"Girls! Dinner!" They heard Erika's mother call. Quickly, they got up and hurried downstairs to the kitchen for dinner. Before they reached the table, they could smell the food. They both knew exactly what it was. Sauerbraten. It was a meat dish with rice on the side, and was also known as Gisela's favorite meal. They girls sat at the table which was already full of five steaming plates of food. Erika's father and her younger brother, Peter, were already there and eating their food.
"How was the hospital today?" Mrs. Vanderbilt asked her husband, a well-known and well respected doctor. Before the war began, he had always come home with an exciting story to tell, but lately, he'd come home with a stern face and no stories at all.
"Difficult." He nodded. "Very difficult today." Although their quiet conversation continued on, Peter didn't care to listen anymore.
"Erika, guess who I saw today." Peter grinned at his older sister.
"Who?" She asked. He'd gained both Gisela and Erika's attention now.
"Hans. He was at the ice cream shop." The little boy said.
"Why are you telling me?" His sister inquired.
Then laughing, he replied, "Because he asked me about you."
Before she could ask her brother anymore questions, their mother interrupted their conversation. "Girls, there's been a change of plans. Gisela will have to be moved to the attic for now. After dinner you can get settled in up there, Gisela. Don't worry, it's not too cold."
"Mother, why!?" Erika exclaimed.
Her mother sighed. "Apparently Nazis have been searching houses. It won't be long before they come here. We must be prepared."
"Don't worry girls. It won't be for long; just until the war is over." Her father explained to them in a low voice.
The words her parents had just uttered rang in Erika's ears. Whose houses were being searched? How many other people were hiding Jews? Would the war ever be over? This war had been going on for three years already, how much longer would it be until her friend was safe?
"Alright." She sighed unhappily. She was starting to think this was going to be even more dangerous then she had already anticipated. "Come on, Gisela." The two girls stood and brought their dishes into the kitchen then trudged off to Erika's room to relocate her friend.
The two sixteen year olds gathered Gisela's things in a bundle which was carried to the large rectangle in the ceiling that was the entrance to the attic. Erika had only ever been up there once to find Christmas lights last winter. She hadn't even found the lights before running away in fear. How was Gisela going to stay up here?
Erika pulled the ladder down from the ceiling and climbed up it, Gisela following closely behind her. There were so many boxes scattered all over the floor that it was nearly impossible to maneuver around, but the girls set them up in an orderly fashion, making little paths all around the space. In one corner, an old mattress was covered by a white sheet which they pulled off and decided that it would be used as Gisela's new bed. A short box was moved beside the mattress and deemed a nightstand. The stuffed dog sat on the mattress and after Erika returned from downstairs with blankets, a pillow, and they found a lamp, the corner looked like a perfect corner to live for a while.
"I guess I'll see you in the morning then." Gisela said, sitting on her new bed.
"Of course, and tomorrow, I'll bring you some ice cream." Erika grinned at her friend as she made her way to ladder. "Good night."
"Good night, Erika." Gisela called as the attic door fell back into the floor.

Erika woke up early two weeks later. Nothing had changed. Gisela still lived in their attic. She rushed into the kitchen where her mother had already started on making something for breakfast. "Good morning, mother." She smiled.
"Good morning, Erika. I'd like you to take the long way home from school today." Her mother replied, handing her two small plates of eggs.
"Why?" She inquired nervously. Her mother never told her to take the long way unless something important was going to happen. Of course, that was usually around Christmastime or someone's birthday, and the nearest birthday was hers, and not for another month.
"Well it's nearly your birthday. I wouldn't want to ruin any surprises for you." Her mother said quietly.
Unsatisfied with the answer she had received, she hurried out of the kitchen, clambered over to the attic door and climbed up the ladder, both plates still in hand. "Good morning, Gisela." She said loudly, wanting to wake her friend up, but she was already wide awake and ready to eat. "I think I'll bring you some more ice cream today."
"Oh that would be wonderful!" Gisela exclaimed as she began to eat her breakfast. For two weeks she had lived in the attic. Everything was always the same up there. The only thing that ever changed was the people walking by outside. That was what she loved to do. She loved to watch them go about their daily business.
"Good. I have to go now, but I'll see you later." Erika told her friend.
She climbed back down the ladder and hurried out the door with little Peter behind her, trying to keep up as they walked to school. The school day seemed to never end. With lesson after lesson and class after class, it seemed endless and pointless. It was nearly summer after all, and break was coming quickly. Forgetting her mother's words from the morning, she took a shortcut to old Mr. Hoffman's ice cream shop where Gisela's mother used to work. It wasn't very near to her house, but it always had the best ice cream in all of Germany. But the best part of it was that Mr. Hoffman, who knew how far she lived from the shop, always asked his son, Hans, to drive her home so as to make sure her ice cream wouldn't melt on the way. Of course, Peter would have to ride along too, but he sat in the back and kept his mouth shut while Erika, more often than not, made a fool of herself in the front.
"Erika!" Mr. Hoffman exclaimed as she entered the store. "How are you?"
"Oh I'm just fine, thank you." She smiled, as her stomach flipped the second she saw Hans. Peter jabbed his pointy elbow into her stomach after a few moments of silence. She glared at him briefly.
"The usual? Chocolate and vanilla?" The old man asked with a smile. With a nod from Erika, he went into the chilly back room and fetched the two large cartons of ice cream. As soon as he returned, she had laid some money on the counter to pay for the ice cream. "You know, I have something for your mother. It's rather heavy. You wouldn't mind if my Hansy brought it into your house, would you?"
"We don't need Hans to carry it. I'm strong enough." Peter crossed his arms unhappily.
"Someday you will be, but today, we need Hans." Erika laughed at her younger brother.
"I'd be glad to bring it over." Peter frowned and glared angrily at Hans who had taken the heavy box from the floor. The older boy grinned before making his way out the door and to his father's car. He placed the box in the back by Peter then hurried to the driver's seat.
"I could have carried it." Peter grunted as the car began to move.
"Oh I'm sure you could have." Hans laughed then turned serious as he asked Erika, "How's Gisela doing?" He knew, of course, because of Peter. The little boy was very proud to have a second sister living in his attic and he'd told his favorite person. After that he'd been scolded terribly, but he was still quite proud of himself.
"She's doing well. Better, actually. I think she's read almost all of those old books in the attic!" Erika grinned. "How have you and your father been able to avoid the Nazi's all this time? Gisela won't stop asking me. She knows your family is Jewish."
"Well you see, it was pretty easy for us. We switched from being a Jew to being a Lutheran and the next day, we switched to Catholicism so that if anyone asks, we can say we're Catholic and if they want to know what we were before that, we can say we were Lutheran."
"That's brilliant!" Erika laughed.
"Erika. We're home." Peter said in a dull voice. He paused. "Whose car is that?" He pointed his fingers to a greenish car that was parked directly outside their home.
"I don't know, but there's someone in it. Let's go inside." Erika said in a worried voice.
The three cautiously got out of the car and gathered their things, Erika with the ice cream and Hans with the box. They hurried inside, but only to find another surprise.
"Erika!" Her mother cried as they burst through the door.
"Mother, what's going on?" She asked quietly, looking around the room. Gisela stood in the middle of it, holding her full bag and looking dressed for a long journey.
"Gisela is going to Sweden. She has to. It's much safer there." Mrs. Vanderbilt explained quickly, trying to hurry Gisela towards the door, but Hans blocked their way.
"There's a car out there. I think it's one of theirs." He said in a low voice.
"What?" The woman whispered. She crept towards the shaded window and pulled back an inch of curtain. Sure enough, the car was still there, but now it was empty. Suddenly, a knock sounded from the door, causing everyone in the room to jump. "Gisela go. Back to the attic."
The girl nodded and ran down the hallway, followed by Erika and Hans. They could hear the front door open the sound of heavy boots step inside the house. Hans pulled down the staircase to the attic and quickly followed as Erika and Gisela climbed up it. The sound of the boots was coming closer and closer to them. Then the ladder stuck. It absolutely refused to come up into the ceiling. Hans tugged and tugged as hard as he could while Erika frantically searched for an empty box to hide her friend. Finally she found one just next to the opening in the ceiling. It wasn't in the most ideal place, but it would have to do as there was no time to move it. Fortunately, Erika's mother had picked up all that had been in Gisela's little corner.
Below them, they could hear a deep voice ask, "And what is up here? May I take a look?"
Terrified, Gisela clambered into the box and Erika folded the lid over her head.
"O-o course." Mrs. Vanderbilt replied as the man reached up and pulled down the ladder. He climbed up it as Hans fell back and ran with Erika to the window.
The soldier entered the space with a stern look on his face. Then he glanced back down at Mrs. Vanderbilt. "Your daughter seems to be hiding a boy up here." He laughed in an odd, cruel way before striding around the room searching for any signs of life, but could find nothing. He left the room and the three teens let out the breath they didn't realize they had been holding. The soldier left soon after, and they continued almost as though it had never happened.
Gisela was taken to Sweden where she stayed for the remainder of the war. After the war, she found her mother and they moved to America a few months later where they both married.
Most of the Vanderbilt family stayed in Germany for the rest of their lives. Peter grew up to be a doctor like his father and Hugo returned from the war and chose to settle down and become a simple farmer.
Erika married Hans and together they moved to America where they lived next door to Gisela and her husband and lived to be old and gray.