I'll Wait

The breeze was starting to become cooler as the fall season began. You felt it blow through the trees and hit your face, cool and refreshing. You stopped at the edge of the forest looking down towards the estate. As much as you loved living there, you couldn't help but wish you had a different life. There were a ton of memories, both good and bad, that lived in that estate. You couldn’t stop yourself from dwelling on them. No matter how hard you try.

The breeze picked up again and suddenly you pulled out of your trance. You hadn’t even realized you had your eyes shut when you opened them. You looked at the estate once more and began the familiar walk back. You walked through the lawn towards the front door and quickly went inside. You took off the jacket you were wearing and hung it up on the coat hanger with the rest of them and walked towards the kitchen. You looked through the cabinets for some tea. Once you found one that sounded good you began to heat the water on the stove. You turned on the radio to listen to the news and headed back towards your room just off the kitchen.

You had the entire estate to yourself, but refused to switch to one of the bigger bedrooms. You slept in the same room since you were a child and have no desire to change now. Your bedroom was small, barely big enough to fit the double bed and a wardrobe, but it felt like home. You changed out of your clothes and into your pajamas and headed back to the kitchen to drink your tea. You sat at the table and sipped on your tea while listening to the news. Nothing new and exciting. It has been the same news for about a week now. They usually only talk about a rebel group called the Flag Smashers. You just turn off the radio and finish your tea in the quiet.

You make your way back to your bedroom and get the current book you are reading and get into bed. You read into the late hours of the night, until you eventually fall asleep with the book on your chest.

********************************************************************

You sat in the gardens crying, hoping no one would find you here. You were being forced into a new home and didn’t know anyone. Your mother had assured you everything would be ok, that this job wouldn’t kick you out, and you’d be able to live a normal life. But you didn’t feel like anything was ok. Your mother has been let go from 4 other jobs now. Why would this one be any different?

Suddenly you hear someone coming. You look up from your hands and look around to see who it is. It’s a boy, about your age.

“I’m going out to the forest, I’ll be back before dinner” he yelled back to someone in the house.

In a panic, you got up from the bench and tried to escape before the boy saw you there, but you were too slow and clumsy, and the boy saw you trying to run.

“Wait! Don’t go! You must be the daughter of our new live-in maid!” the boy said.

“How..how’d you know?” you asked him, trying to hold back your sniffles.

“My mother told me that she had a daughter my age, and that you would be moving in today.”

You just smile slightly at him.

“I am Helmut” he said and held out his hand for you to shake.

You take his hand and introduce yourself.

“I like spending my time in the forest just outside the estate grounds. I usually go by myself but you are welcome to join me today. The garden isn’t really that great, I’ll show you around the forest” he said.

You looked at him, unsure of what to do. You finally accept his offer and he leads you out of the back of the gardens towards the line of trees just beyond the gate. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, like he’s done it a million times before. He showed you many different spots where he would come and read. You’d remember everyone, so you could come back and read there yourself. He even showed you a log that he liked to sit on when he got tired of walking.

He led you past the log and towards a creek, which he began to jump onto rocks to get to the otherside. You watched him gracefully jump from one rock to the other. He finally got to the otherside of the water and turned around to look at you.

“What are you waiting for? It’s simple, just follow the steps I took” Helmut told you.

You looked at him with terror in your eyes.

“I can’t do this. I am going to slip and fall on the rocks” you said.

“Don’t worry, they aren’t slippery.”

You place on foot on the first rock and look up to Helmut.

“It’s ok, take your time. I’ll wait” he reassured you.

*********************************************************************

You woke up the next morning shivering. You had kicked the blankets off of you in the middle of the night. It wasn’t uncommon of you to dream about Helmut. It happened almost every night since the incident. Yet you hadn’t dreamt about that first day in a while. You were only 8 years old when your mother got the job as a maid for the Zemo family. Your mother ended up being right, this job wasn’t like the others. She worked for the Zemo family until she died. After she died, you received a job working for the family. Now that Helmut is the only member of the family left, you live in the estate taking care of it. You make sure the house and its grounds are kept in shape.

You looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 9 o’ clock. You picked the book off your chest and put it back on the bedside table. You got out of the bed and did your morning ritual. After that you got dressed. You headed to the kitchen to have breakfast and turned on the radio as you always do. You were surprised to hear that there was news other than the Flag Smashers this morning. Apparently there was a prison break from a high security prison in Berlin.

You almost dropped the cup of tea you were holding in your hand when they said the name of the prison. It was the same prison that Helmut was locked up in. Surely he couldn’t be the one that escaped? After all, they didn’t mention the name of the prisoner that escaped. It could have been any of them.

You jumped as someone knocked on the door and slipped a letter through the mail slot in the door. There was never any mail delivered here. You had no family left to write to you and Zemo was in jail.

You carefully walk over to the door and pick up the letter. It had your name written across the front. You open the letter as your heart rate begins to quicken. You pull out the piece of paper and read the letter.

“I’m sure you have heard the news, since you listen to it every morning and evening. My help is needed by an old acquaintance, but I will need your help if this plan is going to work. Meet us at the garage, and bring a change of clothes. Oeznik will be flying us out. Zemo” you read out loud.

You could barely hide the shock on your face while you read the letter. It was really him. He was the one that escaped.

You wasted no time gathering a change of clothes and other small items you might need on this trip and putting them into a bag. You grabbed the keys to the car that was left on the estate and started driving to the place where Zemo kept the rest of them. As you drove closer to the garage, your heart rate got faster and faster. You were finally about to see him after almost 8 years. You thought you might pass out as you got out of the car and headed into the building. You were finally going to see him again.