Pan's Labyrinth (translated)

The captain sat at the wooden desk fixated on the silver pocket watch. Looking through his eye loupe, he carefully and gently used a small brushing utensil to clean the inside mechanisms. He cradled the watch, not lovingly, but respectfully. A soft knock came at the door. “Come in,” he said sternly. It was the doctor. Unlike the captain, he was an older man, wore thin black glasses, and had a tidy beard. Unlike the captain, his face was full of worry and concern.
“How is she?” the Captain asked flatly.
“Very weak,” the doctor answered with traces of sadness tinting his inflection.
The Captain did not look up but continued working on the watch. “She’ll have as much rest as she needs. I’ll sleep down here.” He closed the watch and looked up, “And my son?”
“Pardon?” said the doctor, confused.
“Excuse us, Captain…” An officer said as he entered the room accompanied by a fellow soldier.
The captain glared and slightly raised his black leather gloved hand as a signal for interruption. “My son, how is he?” he continued.
“For the moment, there’s no reason to be alarmed.” The doctor replied.
The Captain nodded with approval, “Very good.” He rose from his chair and put a lit cigarette in between his lips.
“Captain, your wife should not have traveled at such a late stage of pregnancy,” the doctor said with uneasiness.
The captain paused for a moment and took the cigarette out, “Is that your opinion?”
“My professional opinion, yes, sir.”
“A son should be born wherever his father is. That’s all.” The captain said condescendingly. Taking a long drag, he began to walk from his dimly lit quarters towards the two awaiting men.
“One more thing, Captain.” The doctor added. “What makes you so sure the baby is a male?
Cigarette smoke sputtered through the Captain’s nostrils as he chuckled. Turning with a malevolent smile, he retorted, “Don’t fuck with me.”

Childhood memory

Death was around every corner. If we were spotted, we would be captured and killed. We had to rely on the stealth tactics we learned during our training. This was Nazi territory and if we wanted to complete our mission, then we needed to make it through undetected. Infiltrating Nazi headquarters disguised as an ordinary suburban house would not be easy. We passed through the living room unnoticed. The tan leather sofas and multicolored brick fireplace seemed cozy in a familiar way. I noticed the air smelled delicious. Like simmering onions and grilled meat. My stomach growled. “Quick, get down!” my sister Taylor yelled at a whisper. “Nazi. Dead ahead.” We ducked behind a cream tiled counter. This wasn’t our first encounter with a Nazi. I peeked over the counter. She was a fair skinned, fair haired lady. She stood at about 5’9”. Her back was turned to us and she was cooking something on a black stove. “Get down! Don’t let her see you!” Taylor murmured. “Dining room.” I muttered with a directional hand motion. We crawled the distance of the counter into the yellow wallpapered dining room. We stood up and hugged the wall. The Nazi woman was in the next room. We needed a plan and we needed one fast.
“We could shoot her.” Taylor suggested.
“No. The gunshots would alert the others. We have to be invisible remember?” I replied. “You’re right. Well…what are we gonna do?”
The back door of the house creaked open. Heavy boots echoed onto the hard wood floor of the living room. Taylor and I looked at each other and watched as fear entered into our eyes.
“Under there! Go, go, go!” I urgently whispered.
We dove under the oak dining room table and moved the matching chairs in front of us like a shield. The boot steps got closer. It was him. The Nazi leader. His stature was impressive, a towering 6’3”. He was athletically built, clean shaven, and bald on top. The remaining hair was light brown and semi circled around his head like the Caesar wreaths. He had steely blue eyes complete with crow’s feet in the corners. As he entered the room we held our breaths. My heart beat seemed like a drum in my head. I thought it was so loud that everyone could surely hear it. He walked up to the table and paused. Our eyes could only see up to his knees, so we had no idea where he was looking. Seconds seemed like minutes. Minutes like hours. He turned and went into the kitchen. We breathed a sigh of relief. I gave my sister the ‘that was close’ look and she nodded in agreement. We still needed a plan.
“What about our whips? We could tie them up and gag them; no noise, no mess.” Taylor said.
“Perfect. Let’s go.”
We crept out from under the table. Preparing ourselves for the struggle which was about to take place.”
“Girls! Dinner’s ready!” the Nazi leader bellowed.
“Aw, man!” I groaned.
“Till next time, Indiana?” Taylor asked.
“Yeah, till next time, Indiana.” I replied.