The rainbow never sets

"Wow, do you think we could have a look at the machine?" "Sure, after I finished my lunch. That's mighty good food, by the way. I haven't eaten such a nice piece of salami for years."

"It's all home made." "You are lucky."

We crawled all over the plane, and the pilot was very kind to us showing us all the things youngsters are interested in.

Mutter said to him, after he had shown us over the plane: "You will stay here the night, of course?"

"If it is not too much trouble to you, yes thank you." He was given a guest room in the manor house, and he enjoyed our good food very much.

The fog stayed around all Saturday, but Sunday morning it began to lift. The pilot announced: "I have to make sure that the weather is clear higher up. Do you want to come with me for a joy ride, Günter and Dieter?"

"Of course," we said, without even considering any danger or anything unforeseen.

"Vater and Mutter, can we go up with the stuka? The pilot said we could come with him."

"Is that true? Did you say that?" "Yes, sure. They will have a nice view over Schönsee from up there." We climbed into the back seat, where the co-pilot normally sits.

"Sit a bit sideways, then you can both squeeze in," we heard the pilot call over the roar of the engine.

We managed somehow, but not very comfortably. "Look, the whole village is out there," shouted Günter. I looked up and could see Vater, Mutter and Gerda waving, all the Goebels were there, and countless people from the village. They all came to see our plane take off and land again. It became really exciting.

"Fly over our lake and over our house, we want to see how it looks from up here," we shouted over the roaring of the engine. The pilot just nodded. Unfortunately, we couldn't see much over the side of the plane, as the wings on both sides were in the way. Then we saw him chuckle. The earth seemed to turn steeply before us on one side. There we saw the lake and both our homes, the park, the yard, and all the villagers assembled on the paddock way down below. This was great fun and we gave the pilot a thumbs up sign.

He just grinned again. The engine was roaring and we felt the pressure on our head and chest. We couldn't see the ground. Then suddenly we saw the earth rushing towards us very fast.

"This is a real stuka dive," I shouted to Günter, who was already looking somewhat green.

I felt my stomach pressing up, and suddenly I was violently ill. Günter followed me in quick succession.

When the pilot turned around again to see how we were going, he was

114