( prompts ) fifty (one) sentences
→ 01. motion
Hand to gun, finger to trigger; the routine is second nature (and sometimes he wonders what that says about him).
→ 02. cool
It was cold the day he left Heidelberg, but all he remembers is the red of the party flag against the town hall.
→ 03. young
Part of him knows when he enlists, the moment he's done signing his name, he's going to die young.
→ 04. last
If one could have asked the major what the last thing he registered was, he wouldn't properly be able to say.
→ 05. wrong
He will never say the party was wrong (my honor is loyalty and that is that).
→ 06. gentle
Her dirty-blonde hair falls over her face in sleep, and it's only with the most careful touch that he brushes the strands away.
→ 07. one
Even before he's moved to their table, even before he's pulled the gun, he knows there's only one outcome to it all.
→ 08. thousand
Some days it is a struggle simply to maintain an atom of individuality.
→ 09. king
He has worked his way up the ladder; he has no plans on stopping now.
→ 10. learn
You learn to adapt, or you die (it's a lesson he's seen others learn the hard way).
→ 11. blur
The whole event passes too quickly for him to register, but when it's over, it's the man in prison stripes who is dying on the floor, red staining the black and grey, his grip on a broken piece of wood (sharpened to a point) slackening by the moment.
→ 12. wait
He waits, waits for the chance to prove himself to his country.
→ 13. change
He doesn't always remember the boy from Heidelberg, and he wonders that he isn't more scared of that fact.
→ 14. command
There is a distinctly different sound to the march of the defeated than to the march of the commanding soldier.
→ 15. hold
He holds the bottle of champagne by the neck and he can see her stiffen as he pours, out of place at a table of some of the most powerful people in the Reich.
→ 16. need
He lights the cigarette hanging from his lips, sighing out a curl of smoke into the air, relishing the brief moment of reprieve.
→ 17. vision
She's perfect up on the screen; porcelain skin, blue eyes, blonde waves of hair, cheekbones so defined they might have been carved out of marble, the picture of Aryan perfection.
→ 18. attention
He stands with his back straight as an arrow, the brief blink of an eye the only movement he makes as the Führer's car passes by.
→ 19. soul
Some would say he sold his soul; he would say he willingly gave it away.
→ 20. picture
There's a picture of a young man somewhere, smiling, head turned just so away from the camera, not yet a soldier, not yet anything but a young man.
→ 21. fool
He doesn't care all that much for Zoller's company (don't you see? he wants to say, there are bigger things at stake than your celebrity).
→ 22. mad
He learns that his sister has been killed on a Thursday night; he's numb for a week afterward.
→ 23. child
He no longer remembers what he used to want to be.
→ 24. now
Everything he does now, he tells himself, he does for the future.
→ 25. shadow
He finds no solace in the darkness -- he doesn't need to.
→ 26. goodbye
It's not as dignified an ending to his life as he would have liked.
→ 27. hide
When they raid the house (and discover the family hiding in the attic), he stays outside the whole time, cigarette burning between his lips even as they drag the screaming members out onto the street.
→ 28. fortune
Luck has nothing to do with anything.
→ 29. safe
He has never before found comfort in the company of another person.
→ 30. ghost
He learned long ago how to make an efficient kill; to most eyes, the scene looks as though nobody had ever been there at all.
→ 31. book
The pages of the Nibelungenlied feel brittle between his fingers in contrast to the Middle High German that sounds from his tongue.
→ 32. eye
Her eyes are green; he doesn't know what made him expect them to be brown.
→ 33. never
He will never say he was a good man, but he will never say he was a monster, either.
→ 34. sing
No matter what Goebbels may dictate, he still enjoys the sound of Lilian Harvey's voice.
→ 35. sudden
It only takes a second for his expression to change -- it only takes that one step between his own quarters and the street.
→ 36. stop
He sees her up on the ladder before the car even stops; still, he takes a look around the neighborhood before focusing on the task at hand.
→ 37. time
As much as he enjoys games, his patience only lasts so long, especially in the face of such a pathetic façade.
→ 38. wash
The lack of the severity of the Gestapo uniform do wonders in making him seem more a man than a machine.
→ 39. torn
He finds a Star of David on the street, the yellow fabric slightly torn from where it had been ripped from a coat; he doesn't pick it up, staring at it for a moment before kicking it to the curb.
→ 40. history
There is nothing to say he will be remembered for his service after the war.
→ 41. power
Sometimes, he feels, he is the only one for whom power is not a complete intoxicant.
→ 42. bother
It's not a task he feels fit for his station, and he's sure no one can fault him for his annoyance at having become the new golden boy's errand runner.
→ 43. god
He still attends services, but it has been a long while since he has believed in them.
→ 44. wall
There are blood stains on the wall, all at rough head level (not one what he put there, but ones he will not deny knowing the source of).
→ 45. naked
Even his men do not strip down the dead bodies of enemy soldiers (like Priam watching Hector's body dragged by Achilles' chariot, he feels a certain rage when he sees the desecrated bodies that the Basterds leave behind).
→ 46. drive
He spends the drive watching her out of the corner of his eye, catching every small movement and sign of discomfort; he doesn't know what it is that makes her quite so fascinating.
→ 47. harm
He isn't quite sure how to feel, even as he spits at her to shut up; she was the Dietrich who stayed, Germany's darling, practically a symbol of Germany, and yet all he wants to do at this precise moment is to watch her die.
→ 48. precious
Most of the men don't even know he had a sister, but it's a photo of her that he keeps in one of the many pockets of his uniform.
→ 49. hunger
He knows what it is to starve, but even so he feels no pity (or at the very least, so he tells himself).
→ 50. believe
He believes in Germany -- now, then, always.
Hand to gun, finger to trigger; the routine is second nature (and sometimes he wonders what that says about him).
→ 02. cool
It was cold the day he left Heidelberg, but all he remembers is the red of the party flag against the town hall.
→ 03. young
Part of him knows when he enlists, the moment he's done signing his name, he's going to die young.
→ 04. last
If one could have asked the major what the last thing he registered was, he wouldn't properly be able to say.
→ 05. wrong
He will never say the party was wrong (my honor is loyalty and that is that).
→ 06. gentle
Her dirty-blonde hair falls over her face in sleep, and it's only with the most careful touch that he brushes the strands away.
→ 07. one
Even before he's moved to their table, even before he's pulled the gun, he knows there's only one outcome to it all.
→ 08. thousand
Some days it is a struggle simply to maintain an atom of individuality.
→ 09. king
He has worked his way up the ladder; he has no plans on stopping now.
→ 10. learn
You learn to adapt, or you die (it's a lesson he's seen others learn the hard way).
→ 11. blur
The whole event passes too quickly for him to register, but when it's over, it's the man in prison stripes who is dying on the floor, red staining the black and grey, his grip on a broken piece of wood (sharpened to a point) slackening by the moment.
→ 12. wait
He waits, waits for the chance to prove himself to his country.
→ 13. change
He doesn't always remember the boy from Heidelberg, and he wonders that he isn't more scared of that fact.
→ 14. command
There is a distinctly different sound to the march of the defeated than to the march of the commanding soldier.
→ 15. hold
He holds the bottle of champagne by the neck and he can see her stiffen as he pours, out of place at a table of some of the most powerful people in the Reich.
→ 16. need
He lights the cigarette hanging from his lips, sighing out a curl of smoke into the air, relishing the brief moment of reprieve.
→ 17. vision
She's perfect up on the screen; porcelain skin, blue eyes, blonde waves of hair, cheekbones so defined they might have been carved out of marble, the picture of Aryan perfection.
→ 18. attention
He stands with his back straight as an arrow, the brief blink of an eye the only movement he makes as the Führer's car passes by.
→ 19. soul
Some would say he sold his soul; he would say he willingly gave it away.
→ 20. picture
There's a picture of a young man somewhere, smiling, head turned just so away from the camera, not yet a soldier, not yet anything but a young man.
→ 21. fool
He doesn't care all that much for Zoller's company (don't you see? he wants to say, there are bigger things at stake than your celebrity).
→ 22. mad
He learns that his sister has been killed on a Thursday night; he's numb for a week afterward.
→ 23. child
He no longer remembers what he used to want to be.
→ 24. now
Everything he does now, he tells himself, he does for the future.
→ 25. shadow
He finds no solace in the darkness -- he doesn't need to.
→ 26. goodbye
It's not as dignified an ending to his life as he would have liked.
→ 27. hide
When they raid the house (and discover the family hiding in the attic), he stays outside the whole time, cigarette burning between his lips even as they drag the screaming members out onto the street.
→ 28. fortune
Luck has nothing to do with anything.
→ 29. safe
He has never before found comfort in the company of another person.
→ 30. ghost
He learned long ago how to make an efficient kill; to most eyes, the scene looks as though nobody had ever been there at all.
→ 31. book
The pages of the Nibelungenlied feel brittle between his fingers in contrast to the Middle High German that sounds from his tongue.
→ 32. eye
Her eyes are green; he doesn't know what made him expect them to be brown.
→ 33. never
He will never say he was a good man, but he will never say he was a monster, either.
→ 34. sing
No matter what Goebbels may dictate, he still enjoys the sound of Lilian Harvey's voice.
→ 35. sudden
It only takes a second for his expression to change -- it only takes that one step between his own quarters and the street.
→ 36. stop
He sees her up on the ladder before the car even stops; still, he takes a look around the neighborhood before focusing on the task at hand.
→ 37. time
As much as he enjoys games, his patience only lasts so long, especially in the face of such a pathetic façade.
→ 38. wash
The lack of the severity of the Gestapo uniform do wonders in making him seem more a man than a machine.
→ 39. torn
He finds a Star of David on the street, the yellow fabric slightly torn from where it had been ripped from a coat; he doesn't pick it up, staring at it for a moment before kicking it to the curb.
→ 40. history
There is nothing to say he will be remembered for his service after the war.
→ 41. power
Sometimes, he feels, he is the only one for whom power is not a complete intoxicant.
→ 42. bother
It's not a task he feels fit for his station, and he's sure no one can fault him for his annoyance at having become the new golden boy's errand runner.
→ 43. god
He still attends services, but it has been a long while since he has believed in them.
→ 44. wall
There are blood stains on the wall, all at rough head level (not one what he put there, but ones he will not deny knowing the source of).
→ 45. naked
Even his men do not strip down the dead bodies of enemy soldiers (like Priam watching Hector's body dragged by Achilles' chariot, he feels a certain rage when he sees the desecrated bodies that the Basterds leave behind).
→ 46. drive
He spends the drive watching her out of the corner of his eye, catching every small movement and sign of discomfort; he doesn't know what it is that makes her quite so fascinating.
→ 47. harm
He isn't quite sure how to feel, even as he spits at her to shut up; she was the Dietrich who stayed, Germany's darling, practically a symbol of Germany, and yet all he wants to do at this precise moment is to watch her die.
→ 48. precious
Most of the men don't even know he had a sister, but it's a photo of her that he keeps in one of the many pockets of his uniform.
→ 49. hunger
He knows what it is to starve, but even so he feels no pity (or at the very least, so he tells himself).
→ 50. believe
He believes in Germany -- now, then, always.