This is my offering for What Pegman Saw
For guidelines and rules for the What Pegman Saw weekly writing prompt, visit the home page. It’s simple: a story of 150 words or less inspired by your street view tour of the location.
This week’s location was suggested by gifted writer and photographer Graham over at grahamisjustmyname.com. Thanks Graham!
Join in and add your link!
This is the view I chose from the Google site.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 147
TO SLEEP PERCHANCE TO DREAM
Eva couldn’t wait for bedtime. Her faithful dream came every night. All day she longed for the sheer pleasure of flying amongst the cotton-soft clouds. The sky would always be a mixture of azure and cerulean. Lively music filled her ears as she flipped in midair.
This particular night she hovered above a waterfall. The thundering waters cavorted and flowed over shimmering quartz stones. A mermaid with a gleaming green tail sat on one of them in the midst of the waves. Her eyes glowed like candles. Sea spray veiled her shining violet hair that cascaded over her shoulders like a silken cape.
Holding out her arms, her melodious voice beckoned. “Eva, sweet Eva, come swim with me.”
***
“Eva, get up!”
Shira shook her sister’s narrow shoulders. Grey light through the barrack’s filthy window illuminated Eva’s skeletal face and serene smile.
Weeping, Shira whispered, “Arbeit macht frei.”
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple 
My German is not so good. I understood it to mean “work makes free” and at first didn’t make sense to me. It’s clear though they are in a concentration camp, or maybe it’s because I gobble up most WW2 stuff. Such contrast of dreams versus reality.
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Dear Fatima,
This is most definitely set in a concentration camp. And you got the German right. I’m not fluent but that was the slogan on the gates of the camps. “Work Makes Free.”
Thank you for your affirming comment.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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It is indeed ironic and cruel to put those words on the gates of a place in which freedom was so out of reach.
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(Sorry Rochelle if I’m jumping in to answer before you) The German phrase was used at the entrance to the concentration camps and was being used ironically by Eva’s sister, or maybe at as a curse at evil that placed them there.
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Hi Trent,
Apparently we answered simultaneously. You said it well and you are spot on the way I intended in the last line. That makes me happy. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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The twist at the end… oh man. You can’t get further from a lovely dream than Birkenau. Beautifully written.
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Dear J Hardy,
This is one of those stories that snuck up behind me and took on a life of its own in very little time. Your words confirm it and make me smile. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Very sad tale, all the sadder because of the truth behind it.
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Once more, thank you, Trent for your astute comments before.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Very touching and vivid write – I saw her dream and then the nightmare from which at least she escaped.
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Dear Dahlia,
You went where I led you. Thank you for such an affirming comment.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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So lovely and then so tragic. You can’t go to further extremes than that. Beautifully done!
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Dear Karen,
Thank you for such a wonderful comment. An author can’t ask for better. Thanks for the extra words. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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You blindsided me at the end. Although I should know by now that you have a twist, you always do, I was wrapped up in the happy dream, and didn’t see it coming. Good job.
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Wow! That ending really changed the story. Very interesting!
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Thank you for the read and comment, Debra. Much appreciated.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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What a crazy – and well written – counter balance of dream and reality. At least Eva had a place to go.
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Dear Alicia,
This was one of those stories that took the author herself by surprise. I do love it when that happens. One minute I’m thinking I won’t take part in this challenge this week and the next minute, BAM, there it is. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’m glad you did. A marvelous take. I, too, love it when the muse takes over and BAM! Always such a fun surprise.
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Oh Rochelle… You are the queen of the short story. This was so beautiful and then so tragic. Very well done, indeed. “Work Makes Free”. Right. Twisted were those Nazis…
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Dear Dale,
Arbeit Macht Frei…what a horrible, sick and twisted thing to put on the gate of a camp where the only escape was death. Thank you for your wondermous comment/compliment.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Sick, horrid, twisted are not strong enough words…but they’ll do for now.
Well-deserved…
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I can think of many more words, but I try to run a family friendly blog. 😉
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As others have said, the unexpected ending really plunges a reader into the moment of the story, Rochelle. Wow. Another brilliant and unfortunately real-world story.
Also, for some reason (probably because I like and know of it), the scene(s) in “Brazil” (the movie) where Sam imagines he’s flying came to mind through Eva’s imaginings.
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Dear Leigh,
I’ve never seen “Brazil” so I looked it up on IMDB. I see what you mean. Thank you for your affirming words.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Yeah, it’s a Terry Gilliam (of Monty Python fame) movie. Sam is caught in a brutal, at-turns bloody dystopian reality/society, and he is daydreaming about love and other pleasantries, even whilst being tortured (Michael Palin’s character is a kind of torturing dentist, IIRC). So I really saw that urgency and ethereal escapism in Eva’s day/night dreams. It was a very poignant story. Very good stuff, Rochelle, though I’m sorry anyone has to write of such depravities as were wrought by the ‘people’ running concentration camps.
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Lest we forget.
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What a tragic tale at the end. Some truths are indeed very harsh. As usual very masterfully constructed.
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Dear Neel,
Some things must never be forgotten. Thank you for taking the time to read and for your lovely comment.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Superbly told tale, beautifully set up, and crushingly finished.
Keep telling these stories, m’lady.
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Dear CE,
Your words mean a lot to me. As long as I live, I won’t shy away from these stories. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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