A LIFE EXAMINED

I, only 10, was standing next to my hero, my friend, the police officer, the commander in the underground-the person wanted dead or alive.We were standing inside by the front room window, watching the Germans making their way across the fields, toward our little farm.I didn’t want him to be there. I wanted him to hide where he could never be found. But I was also sure the hiding place might not be good enough.I looked at my friend. And then I saw the gun halfway out of his pocket, his hand on it.And I wondered: to shoot himself, or the enemy? Meanwhile the Germans were closing in.