Treasure

“Are you sure this is the house?”

Madeleine walked down the hallway as the dusty floor squeaked under her feet. She glimpsed over at a painting of a man with a mustache standing next to a parrot.

“According to Florian this is the house,” I responded.

Florian is a parrot I found in one of the houses that the Jews used to hide in from the Nazis. As a German archaeologist, I investigated many houses that sheltered Jews from the Nazis during WWII, but never before in my life have I found a parrot in any of them. When I laid my eyes on Florian, his astounding wings were spread wide, and with an eerie screech to me he replied. I brought Florian back home with me and showed him to Madeleine. Florian is a talking parrot; Madeleine and I found it quite amusing, but after a while Florian started saying words like “Nazi,” “Hitler,” and “Reichtum,” which means 'treasure' in German. I studied Archaeology in the University of Munich and always thought the the lost Nazi treasure was a myth, but this changed the day I found this parrot. After Florian noticed how interested I was in what he was saying, he stopped talking completely, letting out a threatening screech from time to time.

“Christoph, take a look at this chandelier! Is this the treasure Florian was talking about?” Madeleine called from the living room of the old and abandoned house we were in.

I walked into the living room and I saw a beautiful large crystal-clear chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

“Bertelestraße! Bertelestraße!” I heard Florian exclaim.

“What is it now?,” Madeleine asked as she approached me and the parrot.

“Bertelestraße is the street that this house is on but…”

I was unable to finish my sentence because Florian and his astounding wings spread wide, with an eerie screech to me he replied, “Hinunter! hinunter!” I heard him scream as he launched towards the Chandelier. Florian crashed into the chandelier knocking it out from the ceiling and dropping it onto the wooden floor. I grabbed hold of Madeleine as the wooden deck below us shattered to pieces, and we found ourselves falling down towards the darkness.

“Madeleine?”

“Yes?”

“Are you ok?” I asked.

“Im fine,” Madeleine responded.

I was lying on a mass of rubble and Madeleine was lying right on top of me. We got up from the rubble and I could hear the sound of gravel below my feet.

“What just happened?” Madeleine asked in confusion.

“I think the floor collapsed and we are in some sort of tunnel now,” I responded.

“I don't see Florian anywhere,” Madeleine said, “I'll go look for him.”

She brushed off the dirt from her clothes and gave me a quick smile. She started walking down the tunnel away from me when suddenly from the corner of my eye, I spotted Florian with his astounding wings spread wide and with an eerie screech to me he replied.

He flew out of the abyss and grabbed Madeleine by her arms while screeching and screaming as if he's gone mad. He flew her into a patch of dirt that collapsed instantly revealing an underground lake. I instantly sprung up on my legs and with a quick draw of my revolver, I shot that bird right in the chest. Florian with his astounding wings spread wide, with an eerie screech to me he replied.

He plummeted down to the ground dropping Madeleine into the lake. I didn't hesitate for a moment and jumped into the murky waters. As I swam deeper after Madeleine, I noticed a sunken train besides me. The cars on the train were labeled with a large swastika, and read: “Caution, items of value inside”. As I reached the bottom of the lake, Madeleine was lying lifeless on a pile of gold and jewelry.

I was falling. The lake floor crumbled below me, creating vast abyss that slowly swallowed the treasure train. It was quiet now. Even the water didn't make any noise. I suddenly remembered Madeleine back in the old abandoned house on Bertelestraße. I remembered her looking at the painting of a man with a mustache standing next to a parrot. It looked familiar. I was hit with epiphany. The parrot in the painting was Florian and the man with the mustache was none other than Adolf Hitler.

The water pushed me back to the surface and I was thrown out of the lake. I tried to stand up but I tripped and fell and this is when I laid my eyes on Florian once again. He wasn't dead despite having a large wound across his chest. “Who are you monster?!” I shouted at him.

Florian gazed at me expressionless as he slammed down to the ground, digging his claws into a large rock beside me. And there he stood, with his astounding wings spread wide, with an eerie screech to me Florian replied.

Parrot by Spooky Dream. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2016. <http://orig14.deviantart.net/632c/f/2011/284/8/6/png_parrot_by_spooky_dream-d4cjz9g.png>.