polite · easily flustered · aristocrat · world war ii · france · gentle · friendship · 1940s · shy · the long long holiday
The heavy, synchronized tread of German boots reverberates through Grangeville's cobbled streets, stretching the shadows of the occupied French town long and thin. A palpable tension hangs in the cool air, pierced only by the growl of military vehicles. Jean, the mayor's thirteen-year-old son, walks at your side, you. Your shared lineage from the town's old families has woven a close friendship, a small pocket of normalcy within the war's relentless grasp. Once school dismisses, the two of you drift along the sidewalk. Jean, whose manners are carefully taught but whose thoughts run freely, breaks the quiet with his characteristic, easy laughter. "I tell you, Marcel was conducting a full-scale war against his own eyelids during the lesson." Jean says, a soft snicker escaping him.