The Final Goodbye

Sorry, thought this posted yesterday but it didn’t… Sometimes I hate technology.

What does the text suggest about an individual’s capacity of self-sacrifice in the face of a compelling situation?

Theme Statement: The text creator suggests the idea that when in a situation that affects the people we care about, we think about their well-being and happiness over our own.

….

Tears were running down her cheeks. She wiped them and while doing so wiped away the glow in her eyes. All I could do was sit there, and watch as her innocence being washed away by horrors of the world. Sitting there watching as she was being ripped away from her fantasies.

 

A child is born with a guardian angel, an angel that guides them through life with a positive viewpoint. This angel is innocence, however, this angel only sticks for a short period. Once hardships, enter the child’s life their innocence gets stripped layer by layer. However, when a child’s innocence is stolen from them before their given time, before they can even experience it. And it saddens me to see this happen to my own daughter.

….

My daughter is not my flesh and blood; however, she is just like my own. My friend who was Jewish had just had a baby. He and his wife were out on a walk when they were arrested by the Gestapo, the German secret police whose role was to ‘purify’ Germany. On the day they were arrested, they had made me babysit their daughter. When we found out what happened it was too late, they were already taken to a holding cell, but still alive.

 

It has been 4 years since that day, the day I had to take in Alma. My daughter has grown older, she doesn’t know she is not my real daughter, however, I treat her like I would treat my own. Time went by, she is now 4 years old, just starting Kindertagesstätte (preschool). I thought about what would happen after I picked Alma after school today. How everything would change, she might want to leave me after today.

 

Three months ago, I had got a letter, a letter from Alma’s real parents, my best friends. They had escaped from the camps and are now hiding in a small town, not so far from here. They asked to see Alma, see how she has grown up, meet her.

 

And today was the day, the day that Alma would know the truth. The day that Alma could be taken away from me. Or worse, her parents get caught as one of the people who escaped the camp, and both of them get killed and me and Alma.

 

I didn’t think I could do it. I didn’t want to her to leave me. She had lived with me for four years, and I didn’t want for her to go. But I went, Alma can’t be in the dark all her life, she had to know someday.

 

When entering the restaurant with Alma, I looked around for them, and just a few tables away, there they were. They looked up and I saw what the Gestapo had done to them. Their once radiant smile and healthy body have now turned into skin and bones and eyes held no light. They saw Alma, saw how beautiful and happy she looked; I turned to her, bent on one knee with tears in my eyes, told her we are going to meet someone important.

 

We went to the table and sat down. It took us two hours to explained to her who they were and what had happened to them. During this time, all she did was look at them. Looking at them in shock, she asked if they were her parents when they said yes she cried. I tried to reach to her, tried to comfort her but she moved away. Flinched by the hand that held her when she was just a baby. She wanted nothing to do with the person that cared for her, nothing to do with me.

 

Still crying, Alma looked at them and asked if she could live with them. I just stared at her, trying to think about what I did wrong, did I lack somewhere in my parenting. No, I did nothing wrong, it was them, they are the one’s taking away my daughter. Anger rushed through my veins, as I saw them laugh at something Alma said.

 

I turned to my daughter and asked one question, do you want to go with them, or stay with me. She turned to me and told me that she wanted to live with her real family. Without saying anything, I walked out the restaurant, walked away from my happiness.

 

Who knew it would take just two hours, to take away my happiness, who knew that in two hours I would sacrifice my happiness for the person I love most.

Who knew that in two hours I would lose my daughter.

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2 thoughts on “The Final Goodbye

  1. Enameka,

    Let me start off by saying how much I enjoyed the premise of your personal response here. When writing creatives, we must avoid using the cliche’s and dig deep into our imagination in order to show the examiners what we are fully made of… You have got that aspect down for sure!

    As I was reading, I loved to see how much knowledge you have obtained on the situation in your story. I can tell you took the time to research, and it really shows how much time you took to perfect and polish your piece.

    I would also like to point out how fond I am of your writing style. I’m seeing so much potential in your writing and I absolutely love it!

    There are some small gumps in this piece at certain points, but nothing that can’t easily be fixed! A good idea when going over your piece is to read it out loud and see what it sounds like to the ears. Your mind can often miss small things faster than the ears can!

    Thank you so much for posting this, I loved having read your work and I can’t wait to see where your hard work will progress to. I’ll be sure to read more of your posts!

    Elissa

  2. Dear Enameka,

    I have to say that I have a soft spot for anything World War 2 related ( honestly, anything history related ), and I was filled with a lot of joy that you decided to pursue something correlating towards what occurred in Nazi Germany. Despite many individuals using that time period as a setting for their stories, not many could do it justice, but I found that you have.

    As I read, I loved the depth of emotion that was there. While it was not overtly emotional, it still retained that gentleness that I find connects to you as an individual. I can verify with Elissa that you certainly took the time to research and the information that you have given is credible.

    Room for growth: Work on your formatting and make sure that the paragraphs are separated from each other equally. ( Sorry, I’m somewhat nitpicky about how posts look ) And there are a few GUMP errors that could be easily fixed.

    But all-in-all, I absolutely adored this piece ( the history buff in me is crying out with joy ), and the ending was so dissociated that it made me sad. I can definitely see the beginnings of a great writer in you. Practice a lot and please keep on writing, I would love to see where your writing takes you!

    With much love and thanking you profusely for your piece,
    Bryna Anne

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