Iain Kelly

Kaufmann swept the final bundle of wood shavings into the wheelbarrow and stretched his aching back.

‘Hör nicht auf,’ the supervisor yelled at him. ‘Schnell, schnell.’

Exhausted, Kaufmann put the broom and spade into the barrow and took up the handles. He waddled as quickly as his skinny frame could manage, clearing the road just as faint car engines approached through the forest. He tipped the wood shavings into the ditch behind the trees.

‘Bewege es!’ The guards nudged them with their rifles. The workers were corralled into a group, hidden from the roadside.

Through the trees they could see the cleared road they had helped to construct over the last month. It led to the clearing in the forest where they had spent the last six months constructing the large military complex. The guards, today in their smart uniforms, lined the road.

As the caravan of vehicles passed, the guards saluted. Kaufmann peered through the trees. There, in the first car, he was sure he had glimpsed him, standing up, returning the salute, the familiar parted black hair and moustache.

The Wolf had entered his lair for the first time.

Written as part of Sunday Photo Fiction. Write a story of around 200 words based on the photo prompt given (above). Hosted by Al Forbes. For more details visit HERE.

To read more stories based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.

The Wolf’s Lair was a compound built in the Masurian Woods in 1940-1941 to serve as Hitler’s Eastern headquarters. It was constructed by Fritz Todt and his Todt Organization, which notoriously used forced labour.