The rainbow never sets

Bernd was in the class parallel to mine. What would he think?

"You can all go home now, except the four who remain. You have a whole week to get your things in order at home. On Monday, at 8 am, you report to Unit 213. You will have to find your own way. It is situated near the end of tram No.3, North-East."

We were dismissed. Above the noise that ensued I could hear the voice of Karl, a younger class mate of mine: "I wish I could come with you. It will be miserable here with just the few of us remaining."

"I don't know, Karl, but I would rather stay here." "We'll come and visit you in your battery."

"That would be nice. Good-bye then." I walked to the tram in a daze. Every now and again I looked back at our Schiller School, standing there like a monument. It had been the place of learning for me for nearly five years. I had come to like it in a way, thinking of all the fun we've had with our mates and some of the teachers. Would I ever be coming back again?

Bernd was already in our boarding house. He felt as dazed as I. "It's not fair," he said, "at our age!" After some thoughts he asked: "And where have they put you?"

"Battery 213, north-east, at the end of tram 3. And you?" "Our battery is 216. We are going north-west, near the Zeppelin Building."

"You poor thing, right at the opposite end from home." "You might as well forget about home." Bernd was still angry. "Nothing we can do about it. An order is an order."

We phoned home and told them about our bad news, and that we would be coming with the usual train that day, and asked to be picked up.

Then we went to Tante Else, our matron. "Now all the Tiemans will have gone from us!" she exclaimed, when we told her. "I'm so sorry to hear this. We will miss you. The boarding house won't be the same without you."

"Yeah, there won't be many left. Just the girls and the young ones. At least it will be quieter."

"Do you remember, Dieter, when the first boarders left for the war, you said that you were sorry to be too young for the war?" Tante Else looked at me.

"That was a stupid remark, and I wish I had never made it." "I think you are still too young to go to the war."

"But we will still be at school, only the teachers come out to teach us." "So, what are you then, soldiers or students?"

"I don't know." "You need to pack up all your things. What about your beds, and the desks?"

"Vater can see to that. We'll just take all our personal things."

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