Excerpt 3
 
 
 
We’ll manage it, we’ll play a trick on your Franz now, give him something to last him all week.” “I want to go.” “We want to go, do we. There’s many who’s wanted to go.”
He kneels above her, over her back, his hands are round her throat, his thumbs in her neck, her body shrinks together, it shrinks, her body shrinks. Its season! A time to be born and a time to die; a time to be born and a time to die, every thing!
Murderer you call me, and you entice me here and think you can lead me by the nose, tripe, that’s how well you know Reinhold.
Violence, power, there is a reaper, from almighty God his power came. Let me go. She’s
still thrashing about, she twitches, she kicks out behind her. Now we can rock the child to sleep, and the dogs can come and they can eat what’s left of you.
Her body, her body shrinks, it shrinks, Mieze’s body. Murderer she says, she’ll find out what that is, most likely he put you up to it, that dear sweet Franz of yours.
Then the animal receives a blow in the neck with a wooden club and the arteries in both sides of the neck are slit open. The blood is caught in metal basins.
It’s eight o’clock. The wood is fairly dark. The trees are swaying, rocking. It was hard work. Is she still saying something? She’s not gasping any more, the bitch. That’s what you get when you take a trip out with a slut like her.
Throw some branches over her, tie a handkerchief  to the next tree so you can find it again, I’m done with her, where’s Karl, I’ve got to fetch him. A good hour later, back with Karl, what a wimp he is, the bloke’s shaking, he’s weak at the knees, and you’re supposed to work with a novices like ’im.  It’s completely dark, they search about with torches, there’s the handkerchief. They’ve got spades out of the car. The body’s buried, sand over it, branches on top, God, just don’t leave any footprints, wipe them out, come on, stand up straight, Karl, anybody would think you’re next in line.
Take my passport, it’s a valid passport, Karl, and here’s some money, so go into hiding while the fuss dies down. You’ll get some money, don’t worry. Pums’s address as usual. I’m off straight back again. Nobody’s seen me and nobody can touch you, you’ve got your alibi. That’s it, off we go.”
The trees are swaying, rocking Every thing, every thing.
 
It is pitch dark. Her face has been smashed, her teeth are smashed, her eyes smashed, her mouth, her lips, her tongue, her throat, her body, her legs, her womb, I am yours, you must comfort me, police station Stettiner Bahn, Aschinger, I feel sick, come on, we’ll soon be home, I am yours.14
The trees are tossing, the wind begins to blow. Woooh, wooah, woooh – oooh – oooh. The night goes on. Her body smashed, her eyes, her tongue, her mouth, come on, we’ll soon be home, I am yours. A tree creaks, it’s at the edge of the wood. Woooh, wooah, woooh, ooo, oooh, here’s the storm, it comes with drums and pipes beating, now it is up above the forest, now it’s moving downwards, when it roars it will be right at the bottom. A whimpering comes from the undergrowth. It is as if something is being scratched, it howls like a caged dog and it squeals and whines, just listen how it whines, somebody must have kicked it, with his heel too, now it’s stopped again.
Woooh, wooah, woooh-oooh-oooh, the storm is coming back again, it’s night, the forest is silent, tree next to tree. They have grown tall in peace and calm, they stand close together like a herd of cattle, when they stand so close together the storm can’t get to them so easily, only those on the outside must think it can, and the weak ones. But let’s stick together, standing still now, it is night, the sun has gone, woooh, wooah, oooh, oooh, it’s starting again, it’s here, now it is above and below and all around. Reddish yellow light in the sky and it’s night once again, reddish yellow light, the whining and the whistling grow louder. The trees at the edge know what is in store for them, they whine, and the grasses too, but they can bend, they can flutter about, but what can the huge trees do. And suddenly the wind is not blowing any more, it has given it up, it won’t do it any longer, they are still creaking because of it, what will the wind do next.