On D-Day, 2015

Lest anyone imagine a solid wall between the worlds of history and fiction:

This Morning: In the novel I’m listening to in my car, I hear how Minka, the title character, is marched from Auschwitz, escapes, then is re-captured and sent to Bergen-Belsen.

This Afternoon: My friend Stewart posts a D-Day tribute on his Facebook page, a photo of soldiers landing in Normandy. The caption reads: “My Dad was among them– all the way to the liberation of Bergen-Belsen in April, 1945.”

Early This Evening: With errands to run I’m back in the car, continuing my book. Minka comes down with typhus. She falls on the ground and awaits being shot, but no bullet comes.

Finally, she looks up. White flags are flying from unoccupied guard towers. Raising her head further, she sees in the distance, winding down the road, a convoy of trucks, red crosses on their sides.

The British soldiers are arriving.

and I can see Stewart’s father among them.