Life Through the Looking Glass

Germany was losing the war, why should he go on a suicide mission for them? Ludwig was eighteen now but the whole affair had started when he was only sixteen. The second world war had been going on for a while, but never had they asked for soldiers so young. It began on a cold day in December. He woke up to his mother calling him down to meet the SS officer at the door. He was told to report to the anti-aircraft missile base by the next day. This was not the front, but there was always a chance that the allies would bomb the area. He stayed at the base for two years and then received the order to move out immediately and transfer to the pilot training camp. They constantly needed new pilots because the Allies were purposely targeting all their new planes. For the newly trained pilots taking off was basically suicide. The Germans didn’t have enough time to properly train any of them and constantly needed new fighters because the original pilots had perished. There were still some very ...

“What would you like to drink?” asks the flight attendant for the 5 th time. I try to change the beverage every time but now I just want water, we are going to land soon. I look out the window and see all the tiny sky scrapers, the cars, and the people invisible unless in crowds. Looking down from the plane, the houses are transformed into doll houses and the cars into tiny matchbox cars. Is this what the world is? Just a tiny sphere where no one can really make a difference? Whenever I’m in planes I’m filled with excitement and dread every time I look out the window because it reminds me of how little I am in this sizeable world. We are surrounded by people we know and in a town like Urbana-Champaign, it appears that you know everyone and everyone knows you. It is impossible to disappear into a crowd, but this allows for a tighter knit society. In a city like Chicago for example, it is more likely that you will meet no one that you know, than meeting one person that you have met bef...