Third of three possible excerpts from The Decision for my reading-and-signing event on Release Day

 Here's the final excerpt I'm considering for a reading next week, in the evening of Release Day for my historical novel The Decision. The scene takes place in Berlin in the early spring of 1924. Mutti means "Mom" or "Mommy." Lotte is Hansi's little sister. The formatting below is a Blogger artifact.

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A few things were changing in the world around him. After always seeing the same bus stops and trolley stops and subway entrances, Hansi now noticed workmen building something new, digging down under the street for what must be a new subway station. He would have liked to go explore the diggings, but not by himself — and Otto was pretending not to care about such things, probably to show off how much older he was.

The other change made him nervous. Mutti always seemed to feel cold these days. At least, when Vati helped her get dressed, he would choose her warmest winter things. She used to care what colors she wore and take trouble to fix her hair just right, but no longer.

Sometimes she would wear her winter coat inside. Or she wouldn’t get dressed at all, but would wear one nightgown over another, and her coat over that. She was thin enough now that she didn’t look fat no matter how many layers of clothes she wore.

Then came a day that finally felt like spring. When Hansi came home from school, the stuffy air in the flat, after the soft fresh breeze outside, almost choked him. He went right to the window and opened it. Mutti stirred on the coach. “Oh . . . what a lovely smell. What is it?”

Hansi went over and squatted next to the sofa. “It’s the air, Mutti,” he said, fighting tears. “It’s the fresh air outside. It’s spring starting.”

Mutti struggled to sit up. Hansi got up to help her, and then sat next to her. She said softly, “I did hope I would see spring again. Thank you, Liebling.” She hesitated. “Would you help me get up, so I can walk to the window?”

Hansi bit his lip and put his hands under her arms. Leaning back for leverage, he tried to lift her. He couldn’t quite, the first time, and she fell back onto the sofa with a little gasp. But the second time, he got her to her feet. He held her around the waist, pulled her against his side, and moved very slowly toward the window. She wobbled, and he had to grip her so tight he was afraid he was hurting her, would even leave bruises. But she looked eagerly toward the window, and he kept going.

Finally he reached it. Slowly, carefully, he stopped next to the window and leaned forward so she could put her hands on the window frame. He stepped behind her, keeping his hands ready in case she started to fall sideways or backwards. But she stayed where he’d put her, and took a long, deep breath. She even hummed a few notes of a tune, one she used to sing to him and Lotte about flowers waking up in springtime. He looked at her cheeks to see if any color would come into them. But none did.

She turned her head a little, looking up and down the street. “I don’t see any flowers yet. Are there any flowers?”

Hansi swallowed hard and said hoarsely, “A few, here and there.” It might be true, though he hadn’t seen any. “I’ll look for some tomorrow and bring them home.”

Mutti smiled. “Thank you, sweetheart. Now I think I’d better sit down again. Will you . . .” She let out a breathy little laugh. “Will you escort me, good knight?”

Hansi grinned. He hadn’t heard her joke in so long! “With a good will, my queen.” He took her back to the sofa and helped her sit down, and then lie down. Then he went to Mutti’s and Vati’s bedroom, gathered up the quilt on the bed, and brought it to the sofa, covering her up. Vati could bring it back to the bedroom when they went to bed.

Mutti gave him another little smile, and then she was asleep.

 

The next day was Sunday. The family hadn’t gone to church for at least a year, but Hansi might have gone, to see if praying for Mutti would do any good, if he didn’t have more urgent business. He walked all over the city, looking for a flower, any flower, to pick for Mutti. He stopped home in midday to rest a little, and Lotte came to ask him, “Where have you been? Are you going out again?” At his nod, she clutched his sleeve and said, “Please let me come too! I won’t be any trouble, I promise!” And then, with a dramatic sigh, “I want somewhere to go!”

He hadn’t spent much time with Lotte lately — or in a long time, really. She could use as much fresh air as he could give her. And she was still somewhat lower to the ground, so maybe she’d have more luck finding flowers. “All right. Get your jacket — it’s chilly outside.”

They ended up stopping often, of course. And Hansi let Lotte snuggle up to him when she got cold, which made things take even longer. But as the sun was setting, Lotte found a flower. He carried it home, but when they got there, he let Lotte be the one to give it to Mutti. At least Lotte was nice enough to say, “Look what Hansi and I found! Look, Mutti!”

Mutti reached out for the flower. Her hand shook, and Hansi hurriedly stepped in to guide Lotte’s and Mutti’s hands toward each other. Mutti took the flower and brought it up to her nose. Hansi hadn’t thought to sniff it, so he didn’t know whether Mutti was telling the truth when she murmured, “How nice it smells! Thank you, darlings.” Whether that was true or not, Hansi had done his best.

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Please comment and tell me which of these three passages you think would be of most interest to people attending an author event! The first two passages are here and here.