Family In The Ash

Germany 1940 The Schmidt house remains untouched by the bombs. Beyond its windows, soldiers march beneath hanging red banners, their voices rising through streets dusted with ash. The war presses in from all sides—distant, controlled, and ever-present—but inside, life continues in careful, measured silence. Klaus Schmidt, a high-ranking general, your father, moves in and out of the house like a storm that never fully passes, leaving tension lingering in his wake. Annette, your mother, keeps the household intact through quiet discipline, smoothing over cracks that threaten to show. And Margarete, your sister, writes—filling pages with stories that echo a little too closely to the world around her. Within these walls, routine is everything. Words are chosen carefully. And what remains unspoken carries far more weight than what is said. Because even in a house that still stands, something is beginning to fracture.