Elodie

Seven

February 18, 1940

I'm still brimming with excitement. I went to the market with Maman today, and I just couldn't stop singing.

One thing I hate about the occupation is that everything is so tight. All the food is rationed and the Nazis have been using lots of supplies for the war so the stores don't carry the things they used to.

We grow a lot of things in our garden, so we're doing pretty well.

Lisette asked me if Colin and I had made any wedding plans.

Wedding plans? I don't even know what I'm going to wear tomorrow!

February 23, 1942

Il fait trés froid.

Why is it so cold lately? I hate winter so, so much.

March 15, 1942

No sign of spring yet and we're halfway through the month.

I think Colin and I are going to get married sometime this summer. It's soon, yes, but it doesn't make sense to waste any time. Things slow down a bit during the summer, and Colin has plenty of money saved up already.

He does some hardware things alongside his father. The great thing about this is that his father has a friend in Paris who owns a hardware shop, and he would be happy to hire someone who has grown up in the business such as Colin.

Yes, I'm moving to Paris!

Now, I say I'm from Paris already, because I live just outside of it, and it's so close that it's strange for me to exclude myself.

But now, I'm really going to be in the center of it all. We're going to live in an apartment and everything.

I'm saving money, too. I got a job at the café my friends and I usually waste our time in. The owner, Monsieur Benét, is really friendly, and he was happy to see me.

The good thing is that I got hired on the spot, and I work there four days a week.

I've still got school to finish up, though, so I usually head over to the café afterwards. I feel so old going to school now that I'm engaged.

I'm meeting Colin for dinner in half an hour, so I'd better get ready.

April 19, 1942

Finally! Everything is warming up! Flowers are budding and leaves are hanging everywhere in the trees and the birds are singing like crazy.

The girls and I rode our bicycles around today, and...we rode past Drancy.

Well, we didn't ride past it at first. We came to a slow stop and watched.

The barbed wire fence around it was very high. You couldn't escape over it even if you wanted to.

There were different sorts of buildings within the gate, and a few guards were out patrolling.

It was about one o'clock, and the place seemed bare and quiet.

"La Cité de la Muette," Lisette said quietly, remembering its nickname once before.

The Silent City.

Then suddenly, there was a large siren and people became streaming out of the buildings.

We put our hands over our ears to cover the sound.

People began streaming out of the buildings- tired people with worn clothes.

They were dirty, you could tell. And the strange thing about it was that no one was talking, just the guards to yell out commands.

A few people looked over at us in desperation.