Lists

"What do you want for Christmas, Killy?" Nikolai asked his friend out of the blue. The two were seated on their secret bench, talking about Wojciechowski and all of the equiptememt he'd written down for Werner and Dr. Ziegler to find and ship to Auschwitz. 

"I don't know, I didn't really think about it. I'm happy to be able to see Marie. I don't need anything."

"Oh come on. My wife always sends me a package of things like tea and coffee and cigarettes. Sometimes she even sends cookies. I could ask her to send something extra for you." Nikolai offered. 

"I really don't need anything." 

"Well, I'll share everything I get with you anyway. But I'll ask her to send more Vodka this year. Last year she only sent me one bottle...it was gone in a night." 

"I'll definitely drink some of that." Werner said which made Nikolai laugh. "Speaking of presents...what would you get a woman?"

"Right...you're going to Marie's for Christmas dinner..." Nikolai said slowly. He paused thoughtfully. "Her grandfather is there too, right? Alright, then you'll need to get something like a wine or a whiskey that they can enjoy together. And in addition to that, you have to get Marie something special."

"But there's nothing to buy here." Werner said, a bit down-felt. "I might have gotten her a nice necklace, or some earings but there's no where to buy that. And I wouldn't have the money anyway."

"You could make her a ring."

"What?"

"You could make her a ring." Nikolai repeated. "There's enough metal you could melt and bend."

"But I wouldn't have a diamond."

"You don't need a diamond for a ring." Nikolai answered with a wink. "I proposed to my wife with a ring I'd made myself, but I do admit, it was real silver."

"You did?" Werner asked in surprise, Nikolai nodded. 

"We'd known each other for two years, I was twenty-two and she was twenty-seven. She'd been talking about how her parents liked me but wanted her to get marry soon, because it's harder to marry the older you get. But she always tried to keep me from hearing that. She loved me but thought I would be scared by the idea of marraige at such a young age. But I wasn't." He smiled at the memory. "I proposed to her on the coldest day in February, we were walking home from the library and she looked so beautiful with the books in her arms that I fell to my knees and begged her to marry me. I fished the ring that I'd been carrying around for several weeks as I waited for the perfect moment. She said yes immediatally, and proudly dragged me to her parents, showing them that I was ready for marraige. Years after we'd tied the bond she told me that she was so happy that I'd proposed with jewellery that I'd made myself. 'No other woman will ever wear this ring' she'd said. So, anyway, sometimes it's even more romantic to make the ring yourself."

"Will you help me with it?" Werner asked. Nikolai smiled and nodded. 

"I think I know where we could do it...but as I said, you're ring will be metal and not silver."

"How did you get silver?" Werner asked. Nikolai just winked. "Did you steal it?" Werner asked in shock. Nikolai just shrugged and pressed his finger to his lips. Werner burst out laughing. His friend had stolen silver from somewhere to make a ring, a thought he found hilarious. 

"But a nice metal one will work, you'll just have to bend it into a design, then it will look beautiful as well." Nikolai promised. 

"Does it take long to make one?" Werner asked. Nikolai shook his head. 

"It's the fifteenth of of December today, you'll need it done by the twenty-third, so we should start tomorrow or the day after, just in case something goes wrong and we need to craft a second one." 

"Thanks for the idea Kolya, and thank you for helping me."

"I love to." He said and gently cuffed his friend on the back of the head. "You're falling head over heels for her even though you've only seen her once."

"I'm not." Werner argued. But his cheeks were rosy. 

"Don't worry, I fell for Darya the same way."

"You must really miss her." Werner said quietly. 

"I do. I miss her terribly. And I know she misses me too. I don't think you've ever seen me write letters, but I do, once in a while. Telephone calls are great but letters are more romantic."

"Have you written one recently?"

"No, because we've been arguing so much." Nikolai answered sadly. "But maybe I should. She might forgive me for shouting and decide to heed my demand and move to Essen." He laughed and took Werner's hand in his. "But I shouldn't make it too romantic otherwise she'll want to move to Auschwitz!"