Chapter 6 Part VI War, the road between two worlds

The next day, David and Rose had one of their most violent arguments ever. This quarrel has been brewing for a long time, and it is already full of wind and rain.Rose was still nursing George, which meant she had to get up at night to nurse him.But even after eating, George would still toss and turn and cry. Even if Dad was around, he couldn't help him, and sometimes he would argue with Rose because of it.They tend to start with little things—dad forgets to put the dishes away, or dust from the soles of his shoes comes into the kitchen—and quickly develop into ranting contests, ending with Rose crying, George crying, and his mom Sing one and end with one harmony.

David felt that his father looked much older and more tired than before. He was worried about his father and wanted to have him by his side.That morning, the morning of the loudest row, David stood in the doorway of the bathroom, watching Dad shave. "You work really hard," he said. "I think so." "You're always tired." "I'm tired because you and Ross don't get along." "I'm sorry," David said. "Well..." Dad said. He shaved, washed off the suds with the water from the pool, and dried himself off with a pink towel.

"I don't see you as often as I used to," David said. "That's it. I miss having you around." Dad smiled at him and gently tugged his ears. "I know," he said, "but we all have to make sacrifices, and there are many more out there who are making greater sacrifices. They risk their lives every day, and I have a responsibility to help in any way I can. They. It's important that we find out what the Germans are planning and how they suspect our people. That's my job. Don't forget we're lucky here and London is tough too much." The day before, German troops had stormed downtown London.I heard from my father that at the same time, there were thousands of planes fighting in the skies over Sheppey Island.David wondered what London looked like now, were the streets full of burned houses and rubble?Are the pigeons still in Trafalgar Square?He guessed they were still there, the pigeons weren't smart enough to move elsewhere.Maybe Dad was right and they were lucky enough to stay away from it, but David still kind of found it exciting to be living in London now - scary at times, but exciting.

"When the time comes, the war will be over and we can all go back to our normal lives," Dad said. "When?" David asked. Dad looked a little embarrassed. "Don't know. Not for long." "How many months?" "More than that, I think." "Will we win, Dad?" "We're sticking with it, David. At this moment, it's the best we can do." David left Dad to get dressed.They had breakfast together before Dad went out, but Rose and Dad exchanged a few words.David knew they were arguing again, and when Dad left for work, he decided to play even more against Ross's rules than usual.He went to his room for a while, played with the toy soldiers, and then lay in the shade at the back of the house and read.

Ross found him there.Although the book was open on his chest, David's attention had already been focused on other places.He stared at the other side of the lawn, where Shen Yuan was, his eyes fixed on the hole in the brick wall, as if he wanted to see what was going on there. "There you are," Ross said. David looked up at her.The sun was shining in his eyes, so he squinted. "What are you doing?" he asked. He didn't mean to say that.It might sound rude, but he's not like that, or no worse than he used to be.He figured he should have asked "How can I help?" It's too late.

Rose's eyes started to turn red.Her skin was pale, which made her brow and face more wrinkled than ever.And she had put on a lot of weight, which David thought had something to do with having the baby.He had asked his father about it, and his father had told him, please, never, never, ever mention this to Rose, under any circumstances.He was serious, and in fact used the phrase "more worth our lives" to emphasize the importance of David taking his views to heart. Rose looked fatter, paler, and more tired now, standing next to David, and even with his eyes on the sun, he could see her rising anger.

"How dare you talk to me like that!" she said. "You sit around all day, buried in your books, and you don't contribute anything to the life of this family. Your head is full of offensive words. Who do you think you are!" David wanted to apologize, but he didn't.She was not fair.He had offered to help, but Rose had almost always refused, mainly because it seemed that either George was making a fuss or she was busy with other things when he came to Rose.Mr. Briggs looked after the garden and David kept sweeping and raking for him, but that was outside and Rose couldn't see what he was doing.Mrs. Briggs took care of the housekeeping and part of the kitchen, but whenever David tried to help, Mrs. Briggs shooed him away, saying that with him there was another stumbling block. foot thing.Quite simply, the best option for him is to get as far away from everyone as possible.Besides, this is also the last few days of his summer vacation.The village elementary school had delayed the start of school for several days because of a lack of teachers, but Dad seemed certain that David would be sitting behind a new desk by next week at the latest.At that time, until the end of the term, he had to stay in school during the day and go home at night to do homework.His study time will be as long as his father's working time.How could he not relax when he could?Now his anger was no less than Rose's.He stood up and found himself the same height as Rose.Words came out of my mouth -- mixed with half-truths of complaints, insults, and all the anger he'd been simmering since George was born.

"No, who do you think you are?" he said, "You're not my mother, you can't talk to me like that. I didn't want to live here, I wanted to live with my father. We were fine by ourselves, but You're here, and now you've got George, and you think I'm in your way! Well, you're in my way, in papa's way. He still loves my mother, as I do. He still wants He'll never love you the way he loves my mother, never mind. It doesn't matter what you do or say. He still loves her. He, still, loves her!" Ross hit him.A slap across his face.It wasn't hard, and she pulled it back as soon as she realized what she was doing, but the slap was enough to knock David off his feet.His cheeks prickled and his eyes filled with tears.He stood there, mouth open in astonishment, and walked away, running to his room.He didn't look back, even when she called him from behind and said "I'm sorry", he didn't look back.He locked the door behind him, and didn't open it when she knocked.After a while, she left and never came back.

David stayed in the room until Dad came back.He heard Ross talking to Dad in the hall, and Dad's voice grew louder, and Ross tried to calm him down.There were footsteps on the stairs, and David knew what was going to happen. "David, open this door. Now, open!" David did as soon as he heard it. He turned the lock that he had just tightened, and then quickly stepped aside when Dad entered the door.Dad's face was purple with anger, he raised his hand as if to hit David, and then seemed to think things through again.He swallowed, took a deep breath, and shook his head.When he spoke again, his voice was surprisingly calm, which worried David more than the obvious anger just now.

"You don't have the right to speak to Rose like that," Dad said, "You have to respect her as you respect me. We all have had a tough time, but that doesn't excuse your behavior today. I haven't figured it out yet What to do with you, or how to punish you. If it's not too late, I'll throw you in boarding school, and then you'll see how lucky you are to be here." David tried to say, "But Ross hit--" Dad raised his hand. "I don't want to hear it. If you talk again, you will suffer. You stay in the room now. You are not allowed to go out tomorrow. You are not allowed to read or play with toys. The door must be open if I catch you reading or playing. , I swear, I'll tie you up with a rope. Sit on the bed and think about what you said, and think about how you're going to apologize to Ross when you can be a civilized man again. I'm disappointed in you, David. I raised you to be better. Me and your mother, we're all the same."

After speaking, he left.David stepped back to the edge of the bed and sat down heavily.He didn't want to cry, but he couldn't help it.It was wrong for him to talk to Rose like that, but it was wrong for her to hit him.As the tears flowed, he began to feel the muffled sound of books on the shelves again.He has long been used to it, so he can almost stop paying attention to them, just like not paying attention to the wind and birds in the woods, but now, the noise is getting louder.There was a burnt smell, like when a match is struck or the wires of a trolley spark.He clenched his teeth, and the first spasms came, but no one saw them.A large crack appeared in the room, splitting from the world in front of him, and David saw a different space beyond the world.It was a castle, with banners flying on the walls, and soldiers marching through the gates.Then that castle disappeared, to be replaced by another, darker and more indistinct in shape than the first, surrounded by fallen trees.Overlooking the city is a lone tower, pointing skyward like a finger.There was a light on in the top-floor window, and David felt something inside, a flash of strangeness and familiarity.It calls to him with its mother's voice.it says: David, I'm not dead.Come on, come save me. David didn't know how long he had been in a coma, or when he fell asleep again. When he opened his eyes, the room was already dark.There was a metallic taste in his mouth, and he realized he had bitten his tongue.He wanted to go to his father and tell him about the fainting attack, but he felt certain that he would not get much sympathy from him.Besides, there was no sound in the house at all, and he guessed that everyone was already asleep.The moon was still there, casting moonlight on the rows of books, but they were no longer quiet, and there were more dull sounds than the occasional snoring from the duller books.There is a book about the history of coal trucks, which is not favored by anyone and is always put on the shelf. It is especially boring. It also has a bad habit of snoring loudly and then coughing desperately. The sound is like thunder, and at the same time it will fly away A burst of black ash appeared from the pages of the book.David heard it cough here, but he sensed a certain insomnia creeping among some old books, his favorite books with their queer, secret fairy tales.He had the feeling they were waiting for something to happen, though he couldn't tell what was going to happen. David was sure he was dreaming again, but he couldn't quite remember what it was about.One thing is certain: the dream was not pleasant, leaving only a vague restless feeling and a tingling in the palm of the right hand, as if it had been stung by poison ivy, and the same feeling in the cheek.He couldn't shake the thought that something nasty had touched him while he was unconscious. He was still in his day clothes, so he crawled out of bed, undressed in the dark, and changed into pajamas.Back on the bed, he hugged the pillow and twisted around trying to find a comfortable position to fall asleep quickly, but he didn't feel sleepy.Lying there with eyes closed, he noticed the window was still open.He didn't like the windows open, even with the windows closed it was hard to keep the bugs out, the only thing he wanted was for the magpies to fly back when he fell asleep. David got up from the bed and approached the window cautiously.Startled by something tangling on his bare foot, he lifted it up.It was an ivy vine, rooted on the wall of the house, and its green fingers climbed up the wardrobe, over the carpet, up the chest of drawers.He had told Mr. Briggs that the gardener had promised to move a ladder to clear the ivy over the wall, but had not done so.David didn't like touching the ivy.The way it invaded the room made it look like a living thing. David found the slippers, put them on, and stepped over the ivy to the glass window.At this time, he heard a woman's voice calling his name. "David." "Mom?" He was dubious. "Yes, David, it's me. Listen to me and don't be afraid." But David was terrified. "Please," said the voice, "I need your help. I'm stuck here. I'm stuck in this strange place and I don't know what to do. Come here, David, if you love me, come over." "Mom," he said, "I'm afraid." The voice spoke again, but weaker this time. "David," it said, "they're going to take me. Don't let them take me from you. Please! Follow me and take me home. Follow me through the garden." After hearing this, David was no longer afraid.He grabbed his nightgown and ran, as fast as he could, making as little noise as possible.Down the stairs, to the grass outside.He stopped in the dark.There was some commotion in the night sky, and a low, irregular sound came from high in the sky.He looked up and saw something flickering in the darkness like a falling meteor.is an airplane.He kept staring at the light until he came to the steps leading to Shen Yuan, and walked through the steps as quickly as possible.He doesn't want to have a moment's pause, because if he does, he'll think about what he's doing, and if he thinks, he'll stop because of fear.As he ran towards the hole in the wall, even though the light in the sky was getting brighter, he still felt the grass under his feet being trampled down.Now the plane began to glow red, and the noise of jet engines cut across the night sky, and David stopped, watching it drop.It fell rapidly, scattering flaming fragments with it.It's so big, it's not supposed to be a fighter jet, but a bomber.David thought he could make out the shape of the wings as it hit the ground and hear the desperate reverberation of the remaining engines.It grew bigger and bigger until at last it seemed to fill the sky, dwarfing their houses.Orange flames lit up the night sky.It went straight to Shen Yuan, the flames licking the swastika on the fuselage, as if something in heaven was resolutely preventing David from wandering between the two realms. Someone had already chosen for him.He couldn't hesitate any longer.He forced himself through the gap in the wall, into the darkness, as if the world behind him had become hell.