DER SOD
Prologue
It was cold and desolate, as David Goschen stood alone on the parade ground. The acrid smell of death and disease filled his lungs and burnt his throat as the human race entered its final dark age.
David had the sense he could leave the camp without anyone being the wiser, yet, when he tried to move, his legs wouldn’t budge. Something was wrong. David stood in the middle of the empty yard staring up at the gray sky as flakes of human ash, which resembled snow, fell upon his face. Three to five times a day, the yard would be full of prisoners, which resembled skeletons with a thin coat of flesh covering their ivory bones, standing at attention for the order of the day. Once a week, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the number of new shipments, a select number of captives would take the short walk to the gas chambers to make room for the new arrivals. However, today the yard was void.
David could feel the chill of the early evening and his body shivered as the cold seeped through his clothes. Aaron loves nights like this, he thought to himself. David smiled as he thought of his only child, a Holocaust survivor, a rabbi and a father of three. David and his wife, Ariel, could not have asked for a better son, or family. David spent a lifetime trying to make right the injustices to humanity. He understood, through experience, he could not change the world, but with conviction, he was determined to make the world a better place. Yet, with all his work, dedication and relentless drive, there was one wrong, one mistake that he had not made right; that he did not address. Albeit he had plans to change this, he realized that circumstance and time had moved beyond him and this mistake, perhaps his most damaging, would slip through his fingers like the ash of the dead, only to burden his son after he was gone.
David noticed a light emanating from the guard tower directly in front of him. This is odd, David thought to himself; there was a light, but no guard in the tower. The light David saw was extremely bright, yet not blinding. “I guess it is time to go,” David spoke as the warmth of his breath contrasting with the chill of the night brought his words to life—his voice echoed in the emptiness. David started to walk in the direction of the spotlight, but as he moved, David realized that he was not really walking, but almost floating towards the light that beckoned him. David thought things were a little queer, but these were different times, and to survive such times, reality was tricked easily.
Ariel sat in a chair next to David’s bed holding one hand and stroking his head with the other. She spoke to him softly; reassuring him that everything would be all right, although she understood their time together on this world was almost over. Smiling at her husband, Ariel leaned over the bed railing and said, “You’ve lived your life better then most men; touched so many lives in so many ways,” she wiped the tears from her checks then kissed David on the forehead. “David, I know you are hanging on for me, but it is time for you to let go,” Ariel paused as she tried to gain her composure. In her heart, she knew David could hear what she was saying and the last thing she wanted him to hear was the fear of uncertainty in her voice. “I will be okay, honey,” Ariel continued. “I have the kids, my work, but most I have you in my heart and soul,” and for the first time in several days, she thought she felt her husband as the hand she was holding seemed to grip back. “I love you so much, David,” and this time her words were barely understandable as her emotions got the best of her. There it was again; could it be, she thought to herself, was he coming around? Ariel had hope, but the chirping of the EKG told a different story; as soon as the doctor and nurses rushed into the room Ariel knew the time had finally come and she kissed her husband on the forehead and walked to the window—it was raining outside. “God must be crying because one of his angels is coming home,” she said under her breath as she, too, began to weep.
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