Good morning, kotler, the little guy, said. It’s disgusting to stretch out your hand and mess up Bruno’s hair. This movement makes Bruno want to push him da and jump around his head so early. What are you doing outside?
It’s getting late. Bruno said it was ten o’clock.
Lieutenant kotler shrugged his shoulders. When I was your age, my mother couldn’t get me out of bed before lunch. She always said that if I slept like this, I would never grow tall or strong.
Yeah, but she was wrong, wasn’t she? Gretel smiled and Bruno looked at her in disgust. She spoke in a silly tone as if she hadn’t thought about it. Bruno couldn’t wait to leave them alone and ignore what they said, but he didn’t choose something more important. He had to do something that he couldn’t believe. Lieutenant kotler helped him.
Can I ask you a favor? Bruno said.
Look at what it is. Lieutenant kotler said that although it was not funny, Gretel kept giggling.
I wonder if there are any tires nearby, Bruno. Go on, for example, if there are no trucks or jeeps.
The only spare tire I’ve ever seen around here is the German soldier Hofschener, who always wears it around his waist. Lieutenant kotler said with his lips smiling, which didn’t make any sense to Bruno, but it made Gretel laugh.
Well, that means he’s still here, Bruno asked
Lieutenant kotler, a German soldier in Hofschener, asked, I’m afraid he was very close to his tire.
Stop it, Kurt. Gretel is crying. He can’t understand you. He’s nine years old.
Oh, please be quiet, Bruno shouted. It’s bad enough to watch my sister come here angrily and ask Lieutenant kotler for help. His sister keeps playing tricks on him. You are only twelve years old. He added, Don’t pretend to be mature.
I’m almost thirteen, kotler, she said angrily. Now she doesn’t laugh, and her face is stiff. In a few weeks, I’ll be thirteen. A teenager is just like you.
Lieutenant kotler smiled and nodded, but said nothing. Bruno stared at other adults next to him. He must have looked at that person. It means that they both know how stupid girls are and how ridiculous sisters are, but there are no other adults here, Lieutenant kotler.
On Bruno’s refusal to see Gretel’s angry face. Can I find another tire besides that?
Of course, Lieutenant kotler said he stopped laughing. He seemed a little annoyed about this. What do you want tires for?
I want to make a swing. Bruno said that the rope should be tied to the branches.
It’s true that Lieutenant kotler said that nodding his head seemed to evoke his long memories, although as Gretel said, he was also a teenager. When I was a child, I made many swings, and my friends spent a lot of happy time on the swings.
Bruno was surprised that they had something in common, and even more surprised that Lieutenant kotler was a friend. Do you know tires? He asked around here.
Lieutenant kotler stared at Bruno and seemed to be thinking about this question, whether to give Bruno a face-to-face answer or to provoke him as usual. At this time, he saw Pavel, the old man who came to the kitchen to prepare food every afternoon. He also wore a white jacket at the dinner table. He came to the room and kotler seemed to have an idea.
Hey, you, he shouted and said a word Bruno didn’t understand. Come here, he said it again. It sounded harsh and made Bruno feel ashamed to be with him.
Pavel came over and kotler spoke to him rudely. Although Pavel is old enough to be his grandfather, take this little guy to the back of the main building, and there is a row of old tires against the wall. If he chooses one, you can move back as he tells you, okay?
Pavel put his hat on his chest and nodded, then lowered his head. Now it could not be lower. Yes, sir, he answered lightly as if he had never said it.
Then when you go back to the kitchen, make sure you wash your hands before touching the food, you dirty lieutenant kotler. He said that word twice, and Bruno looked at Gretel with spittle. Just now, she looked at Lieutenant kotler’s hair with admiration, and now the sunshine is just as uncomfortable as Bruno. They have never talked to Pavel, but he is a good attendant and his father said that they didn’t grow from trees.
You go, Lieutenant kotler said. So Pavel turned and walked towards the shed. Bruno followed him and looked back at the young soldier Gretel from time to time. He had an impulse to run back and pull Gretel. Although she was noisy and private and mean to him, it was all very rude. After all, she was a sister, but Bruno Fa put up with leaving her there alone with Lieutenant kotler. He was a complete jerk.
The accident happened when Bruno found a suitable tire and Pavel dragged it outside the oak tree. A few hours later, Bruno climbed the tree and tied the rope tire to the branch safely, so a great project was completed. He once made a swing, but Carl Daniel Martin helped him at that time, and this time it was obviously much more difficult for him to do it himself. However, he still took control of the situation. For a few hours, he happily sat in the tire and echoed that he didn’t care about everything else in the world, although he deliberately ignored a problem, which was the most uncomfortable swing he had ever sat on in his life.
He sat on the tire and pushed the swing back and forth. Every time the swing swung backwards, it rose to the middle, and it almost hit the trunk, but Bruno kept pedaling on the ground. The swing swung faster and higher. Bruno had a good time until once when he kicked the tree, his grip on the rope loosened. By the time he realized, his body had fallen out of the tire, his foot was still hanging on the edge of the tire and his face slammed to the ground.
Bruno was black at the moment, but the horse woke up again. He sat up, but he was still shaking the tire and hit his head again. Bruno shouted and climbed up from the swing track. He felt that his feet and arms were very painful because they landed first, but the pain was not enough to break. He checked that one hand was scratched and his elbow was cracked, but his leg felt worse. He looked at his knee, which was on the shorts side. This wound seemed to be waiting to be discovered. Because Bruno saw it, it was bleeding.
Oh, my God, Bruno wanted to cry and look at the wound. However, he had to be in a daze for too long because he could see his swing from the kitchen. At that time, Pavel helped him find the tire attendants and peeled potatoes at the window. He saw an accident. Bruno looked up and saw Pavel running towards him quickly and running to his side. He was relieved that he felt weak around him and occupied himself. He fell down but didn’t touch the ground. Pavel picked him up.
I don’t know what happened. He said I wasn’t in danger.
You’re swinging too high, Pavel said quietly. His tone gave Bruno a sense of security. I saw it all. In fact, you could be in danger at any time.
Is in danger, Bruno said