6 to 10

6 to 10

6. Obsession - Orangejello and Damian

OJ loved the beach.

"Man, Damian, look at dat ass!"

He loved the beach... a little too much.

"OJ, if you get an erection out here with me near you, I swear to Go-"

"Relax, relax...," the light-haired boy said with a laugh, stretching his legs out on his towel, rubbing his feet against the sand that blew over the ends.

"Well, the last time that happened, the damn chick thought you and I were gay."

"I'm the farthest from gay there's ever been, Damian. It's just a stupid girl going with- Look at those tits on the blonde in that black bikini, man; they're about to pop out! Things're the size of melons!"

7. Eternity - Dieter

Often I wondered how long I would be staying at Auschwitz. For months upon months I had stared at the same barracks, the uniform guard towers, the constant electric fences lining along the property, the consistent emaciated bodies shoveling back and forth from building to building, latrines to shower, ending their crusade in a dark room. The pillars of smoke rising from the crematorium always carried the unchanged shade of gray and black; the ashes it caused buried in the usual spots.

It was always the same. Death, death, death. A constant process... It only took some longer to get there than others. Frequently, I found myself pondering if it would ever end. The corruption of humanity chased that thought away. Continuous, continuous, continuous, continuous....

8. Gateway - Dieter and Kaiser

"Would you like a cigarette, Herrmann?"

"No thanks. I don't see why you want to smoke, anyway. The tax on cigarettes is way too high."

"You are very right, Herrmann. It's a bad habit. I started before the war. Can't quite wean myself off of these things." Kaiser paused for a moment, taking another drag, watching the smoke from his mouth mix with the fog in the air, floating passed the words written at the top of the black gate.

Dieter's eyes followed this path in the air, crossing his arms as he leaned against the closed entrance of the gate, looking up at those same words Kaiser's smoke had danced around.

"You seem too interested in a sign, Herrmann."

"I was thinking. Do these words," Dieter pointed up with a gloved hand. Arbeit Macht Frei. Work makes you free. "apply to the prisoners or to us?"

"You're an idiot sometimes, Herrmann."

9. Death - Noah

It was the hardest thing he'd done in a while, digging that grave. The work itself hadn't been too hard. Shovel dirt for hours, carving a hole big enough for the body. Three feet deep, then four, then five. Eventually the blisters on his hands hurt so bad that he decided that was deep enough. No, it hadn't been too hard.

"Bye, buddy."

Sunset came and went by the time the hole in the ground had been filled back up, nothing more than a patch of brown dirt in a field of grass, a place he'd spent many summers with his best friend since childhood. The work left him feeling exhausted both physically and mentally; his shoulders hunched and his feet like weights he couldn't take off.

He'd miss that dog.

10. Opportunities - Dieter and Kaiser

"I'm jealous of you, Herrmann." Rothstein muttered from the doorway as I folded clothes into my suitcase.

"Why is that?" Underwear, socks, undershirts...

"You will be able to see the Führer. That's the greatest opportunity someone can have these days. I'd kill for it."

I found myself laughing at that. "We just know the same dead man. It's a funeral, not a party. I doubt I will be able to even speak with him face-to-face. All I know is he's doing a speech."

He chuckled a little, probably shrugging his shoulders in response to my comment. "Either way, Herrmann, you should take some paper and write down his speech."

"Why?"

"For me. I'd like to at least read it like I was there."