A bedtime-story of war, love and other incidents.

“You know I'm not superstitious, but I've never been able to find an
explanation to something strange that happened to me back in 1943, when I
was a young man,” said grandpa. He loved to tell histories – and I loved to
listen.
“ '43. That's a long time ago, I was around twenty, no more. And as the
most of the youth I'd loved the life. But the war came. Oh, it's a long story,
let's begin with the beginning.
You know I'm born in Somerset, in Bath, in the the house we use to visit
in the summers. My mother, Anne, used to make biscuits to us. Oh, you've
never tasted such biscuits, but to the point.
When the war began, we were one of a few countries that had none
compulsory military service. My father had told me about the fears from WWI,
so I'd no plans of going to the front. But all expected that I fought for the
country, so I went to London, to serve as volunteer in a hospital.
When I arrived to London, Hitler began the Blitz. It couldn't be described
by words. As you know, he bombed London for over 70 nights and over a
million houses were destroyed.
Some of us became agelasts, but not all. I remember a shop, it'd lost
one wall. On the window they'd written “More open than usual” on the door,”
both of laughed.
“Oh, the story, let's see. After a terrible night I was driving the
ambulance. All over the street there was clothes, glass and wood. All the
people were gone, I thought. Then I saw her. She was like a flower in the gray
world where she strode around in the ruins. For a second my burning hate
went away and I felt nothing but hope,” grandpa's eyes were filled with tears
before they again went back to two melanic wells.”
“You can't imagine for a hate we all felt. But no one even thought of
surrender! Well, when I looked at your grandmother, and she looked at me, it
felt as the time had stopped. Of course it hadn't and after a few minutes a
nurse called no me, and I had to go.
The very next day it was holiday, and again I was in the ruins. When I
waited, I looked around in the chaos. Again I felt the overwhelming hate to the
Germans. A doll had been decollated, and a cuckoo called somewhere. How
long did I wait? An hour? Two? Three? I don't know, but I was sure she would
come back. And at last she did.
We walked around in the ruins the whole day. The last thing we did was
drinking tea at her home. We did it again, spent more and more time together.
You don't know how war is. You can't even imagine how terrible it is not know
if you're alive tomorrow. That was what we felt, and therefore we decided to
marry each other, just after a month or so.
Without fuss we talked to the priest, unfortunately many pairs had done
the same thing as us, so the only vacant church was St. Paul. Why not? I sent
a letter home for my best clothes, and she began to sew a dress. At last the
day arrived. I can remember it as it was yesterday. We had lent a wagonette,
but when we came down Cannon Street, the air ride siren began to scream.
And in the front of our eyes, a bombed was dropped from an airplane.
We knew what had to come and jumped down from the carriage, then it
exploded and the horses ran away. We cried, both of us, when we tried to find
a bucket of sand. One screamed “Now we can only pray”, but the archdeacon
answered “pray when you run”. And so we did.
You should have seen it! So terrifying and still so beautiful. The smoke
that enveloped the dome, and the golden cross shone in puccon. Am I boring
you?” he suddenly asked. “Of course not,” I answered, “but you told about
something superstitious, can you jump a bit foreward?” “Okay, iff [sic] you go
to bed right after I'm finished.
Since we didn't get married in London, we went to my family in
Somerset. There we married in St. Michael's Church. Have you seen it? A
great, fuscoferuginous church with a high tower? No?
However, after a couples of years we moved back to London. Now was it
'43. The Blitz was over, and the German had lost the Battle of Britain. You
should have seen London at that time. Almost every garden had a bomb
shelter, and the women gave their saucepans to the army, who melted them
into flights.
I got a job in the government, and our life was happy, despite the war.
Anne got pregnant and I got a promotion. Oh, so happy we were. But what's
easy got, come, easy go. The war wasn't over.
One day, when I was going home I heard an explosion. They were
common now, the V-1 had been used for a little while. It was when the
ambulance drove past me, I began to worry. I started to run, and couldn't find
my house! I saw the ambulance drive away from the place my apartment had
stood on. In panic I dropped my documents and ran after. Hopeless. It's now
the miracle begins.
In that very moment a car came. I knocked on the window, and a young,
dirty women asked me for what I wanted. I begged for help, she looked at me,
before she answered “jump in”. For a driver! She was without doubt a
mechanic. After a few seconds we saw the ambulance. For a speed! Suddenly,
out of the blue, a constable shouted to us, and we had to stop.
“Oh, no,” I said. “It's my wife and child in that ambulance. I have no
house nor family in London. Can't you drive and forget the constable? All's fair
in love and war,” I begged. “Calm down,” the women answered, “I'll show him
my ID, and Bob's your uncle!” And so it was! When she showed him her card,
he went into the position of at attention.
Still I was afraid that we'd lost the ambulance, but the driver had a
better sight than me, and some moments later, she stopped outside a hospital,
with an ambulance outside. I ran in, and she followed, a bit shy.
I cried when I asked the nurse in the reception, and she told me that
both me child, your dad, and my wife was still alive. She showed us the room,
and I presented the women for my family as the most gently women I've ever
met in London, except my Anne, of course.
But the miracle wasn't over. You remember I told the women that my
house was destroyed? Well, she said she'd plenty of space, and that my family
was welcome to live in one of her flats.” “Who was she, grandpa?” I asked.
Grandpa answered with a star in his eye: “Can't you guess? She's one of the
finest women on Earth, and was maybe one of the most powerful people in the
world at that time. Today she's known as, wait a minute, I've to look it up.
Let's see. Ah, here it is: Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of
God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas
Queen, Defender of the Faith, Duchess of Edinburgh, Countess of Merioneth,
Baroness Greenwich, Duke of Lancaster, Lord of Mann, Duke of Normandy,
Sovereign of the Most Honourable Order of the Garter, Sovereign of the Most
Honourable Order of the Bath, Sovereign of the Most Ancient and Most Noble
Order of the Thistle, Sovereign of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick,
Sovereign of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George,
Sovereign of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Sovereign of the
Distinguished Service Order, Sovereign of the Imperial Service Order,
Sovereign of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, Sovereign of the Most
Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, Sovereign of the Order of British India,
Sovereign of the Indian Order of Merit, Sovereign of the Order of Burma,
Sovereign of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert, Sovereign of the Royal
Family Order of King Edward VII, Sovereign of the Order of Merit, Sovereign of
the Order of the Companions of Honour, Sovereign of the Royal Victorian Order,
Sovereign of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem.
She was working as a mechanic at that time. How and why she was
driving there and then I don't know. Maybe a higher power assisted me that
day?”