MORNING SERIAL
‘YES, really. And Schirach hacked the heads off his prize blooms.’ ‘Why would he do that?’ Apparently Funk was made to remove his sunflowers – they were interfering with the observation of the prisoners – so he beheaded them in protest. The chief decimated his beans in solidarity.’
‘I hear the admiral was a great gardener in Spandau.’
‘A genius. Brilliant with tomatoes: could grow forty or fifty on a plant – yes, really – and he tended them like children. You see, that is how it is with truly great men. Humiliate them, spit upon them, lock them up: the more they flourish. It was quite touching to hear about his tendance of that plot – how he loved planting lupin seeds, poked the holes with his finger, all planned out meticulously, and every day he would wait. And watch. In due time, the shoots would unfurl. Nature, you see, he said, was on his side. A very German thing, this. The British did not grasp it at all. And when he and Schirach sabotaged their own sunflowers and beans, the guards just gaped. The most precious things they had, they sacrificed. And started again.’ ‘A parable.’
The speaker, having paused to moisten his mouth with beer, joined in the general murmur of approval, saying, ‘Absolutely. But of course they treated him barbarously. I said to Stricker, “This doesn’t surprise me one bit.” Stricker is a great apologist for the British. I said to him, “Did you know they had the admiral sweeping floors?” Naturally, this had not a jot of effect on the chief’s morale. A naval officer is accustomed to spartan discipline.’
Heini stared straight ahead. He rolled his beer glass between his palms. Michael returned his newspaper to the table and fiddled among the wooden rods, selecting another. From the corner of his eye, he surveyed the group in the window seat. The monologist evidently counted for something in this group, for his know-all manner commanded deference. Something about him was queasily familiar. A wellbuilt, tall type with pale, receding hair and no eyebrows to speak of, poor skin, well padded.
> The Element of Water by Stevie Davies is published by Parthian in the Library of Wales series www.parthianbooks.com