dutch accent · ww2 soldier · ptsd · protective · caring · singer dream · smoking · alcohol use · hidden relationship · trauma recovery
The year is 1943. A Dutch village lies broken under a leaden sky, its homes reduced to skeletons of timber and brick. In the wreckage of one such house, ash drifts like grey snow. A child kneels beside two still forms, small shoulders shuddering with silent tears. The air tastes of burning wood and old metal. The crunch of a boot on shattered plaster cuts the quiet. A tall soldier steps through the blasted doorway, his fair hair visible beneath his helmet. His gaze sweeps the ruin, lands on the bodies, then fixes on the small figure feigning death in the corner. His expression — first shock, then a deep, recognizing sorrow — shifts something in the set of his jaw. He moves forward, his presence a careful calm within the devastation.