Saul held his passport between his legs as he practiced reading the name Felix Heinrich Stoecker. Just twenty four hours earlier his name had been Saul Neuman. He felt pretty confident in his masquerade, for this was by no means the first time in his life he was called upon to lie about who he was. Although he felt familiar with the routine of pretending, he was not accustomed to the tremendous pressure of the life and death situation that this particular masquerade involved. He was traveling from Magdeburg to Aachen where he would be met by someone from the underground. He did not yet know his final destination, so he was left to improvise. He was unsure and fearful of the fate of the rest of his family, so he consumed himself in the selfish occupation of his own survival.

Felix occupied the window seat which faced the direction the train was traveling. He was superstitious about traveling with his back to his destination, a neurosis his grandmother had passed on to him as a child. Four of the other seats were occupied by typical German travelers who had no interest in conversation or even looking at each other. The sixth seat had been reserved from Dortmund to Aachen. The train was just pulling into the Dortmund station when Felix imagined that his fifth travel companion would be just as boring as the four who now possessed the seats around him. Everyone looked up at the same moment to the sound of the compartment door sliding open. "Heil Hitler!" echoed the voice of the passionate young soldier who was struggling to squeeze his luggage into the already overcrowded racks above their heads. Felix attempted to hide his repulsion to this sound by mimicking the soldier’s words in his mind. Just then he realized the soldier’s bag was falling into the empty seat below. Felix jumped from his seat to catch the bag just as the words "Heil Hitler" were suddenly forced from his lips by the contraction of his diaphragm. This action and the subsequent force to his words gave the impression of an enthusiastic supporter of the Third Reich. Felix felt he would now have to suffer the consequences of conversation for the remainder of the journey.

Of course fate would have it that the soldier’s name was Heinrich. When Felix explained through his best fantasy, that his middle name was chosen to honor his grandfather Heinrich Friedrich Stoecher, the soldier said he was also named after his grandfather. Everything Felix tried in order to cover his true identity seemed to endear him even more to the young soldier. Through his fantasy Felix was able to lose himself in the memory of his own childhood, before the great walls of prejudice had been erected by Hitler’s rise to power. He found himself laughing and cautiously telling real stories from his own life. It was near Dusseldorf that he caught a glimpse of the horror being played out on the other side of his window. He sat back in his seat in silent horror. Sensing the pain in Saul’s heart, the soldier glanced out at the passing freight cars then fixed his gaze on his shoes. In that moment Felix felt his own heart open up to the young soldier. The soldier raised his head slightly and looked directly into Saul’s tear filled eyes. He pursed his lips together, reached over to touch Saul’s knee, then slumped back into his seat, closing his eyes. The two did not speak again until the train reached Aachen.

Saul deliberately allowed the other passengers to leave the train before him. The young soldier shook his hand, wishing him luck before disappearing into the crowded corridor of the train. As Saul removed his bag from the overhead rack he saw Heinrich walking away from the train on the platform below. Inside his head he found himself whispering, "Goodbye sweet soldier!" At that very moment the soldier Heinrich turned and nodded once more as if to acknowledge Felix’s salutation. As the soldier disappeared into the crowd Felix imagined he could still feel his hand upon his knee.

"Felix Heinrich Stoecker," Saul repeated as he stepped onto the platform. He made his way to the station and positioned himself under the huge clock as he had been instructed. There he was to meet his contact from the underground. "Felix!’ he suddenly heard shouted from behind him. He turned to find the soldier Heinrich running toward him. "Felix, come with me, I’ve been waiting for you!" Heinrich called out to a somewhat puzzled Saul. Suddenly Saul found himself being escorted through the front door and into the street. "We will go to my place and I will make dinner," Heinrich explained in his best attempt to distract Saul from the huge commotion taking place in front of the station. As Felix turned to look behind him he caught a glimpse of someone being pushed into a car by Nazi soldiers. In his silence Saul felt tinges of guilt and cowardice, but he was intelligent enough to know that anything else would be nothing more than suicide. Heinrich pulled on his arm with even more force now as he explained how hungry he was.

Saul was speechless as he entered the tiny apartment with his new found friend. In the silence they had shared since leaving the station he had begun to piece the puzzle together. He had been living for quite some time now in a strange dangerous world where trust and love were doing battle with the harsh realities of life. In the present moment he had no choice but to participate in the game that Heinrich had chosen to play. His more rational side would continue to counsel him of the grave danger in trusting "the enemy". His heart however, could still feel the hand upon his knee and was telling him to surrender to the trust. For the remainder of the evening the two men ate, drank and laughed together like reunited old friends. Neither questioned nor talked about the strange circumstances which had brought them together.

It was very late when Heinrich finally mentioned sleeping. "It’s not such a big bed," he laughed as he removed his clothes. He stood naked in front of the sink in the corner of the room while washing his face. Saul was still seated at the table attempting to resolve the new battle being waged in his head. He was still not convinced he should totally give in to trusting his new friend. He listened as Heinrich talked while brushing his teeth. His eyes were fixed on the foreskin that closed around the head of Heinrich’s penis. He flashed back to the first time he had seen his friend Stefan and realized he was different. Heinrich took a few steps toward him, his toothbrush still in his mouth. Saul stood up and began to remove his clothes, but wondered if he was caught in some kind of cruel trap. As Heinrich came closer Saul could see the head of Heinrich’s penis now half exposed as it began to swell beyond the thin wrapping of skin. Saul was also aroused now, and was even more nervous about removing his underwear. He stood motionless as he watched Heinrich remove the toothbrush from his mouth. He approached Saul with a gentle disarming smile upon his face. The naked soldier lovingly kissed the forehead of the frightened Jewish boy and led him over to the small bed. Felix laid upon his back trembling the way he had trembled the very first time he had made love to another boy. As Heinrich slipped his hands beneath the waist of the underwear, Saul closed his eyes the way a man does when facing a firing squad in his fear of death.

Heinrich slowly pulled the underwear down to Saul’s ankles, then over his feet and tossed them onto the floor. Saul automatically curled into a fetal position placing both of his hands over his genitals. He was once again filled with shame at this act of self-annihilation. Heinrich gently rolled him onto his back and removed his hands. He climbed on top of Saul and placed his hands on Saul’s hands so their palms were together. He then bent down to kiss the head of Saul’s penis. "Don’t worry my beautiful friend, I will help you escape," he whispered into Saul’s ear. Both men began to weep and fell into a deep peaceful sleep in each other’s arms.