Mrs Johnston smiled to herself as she watched the two land army girls returning to the farm. The nearest one Hannah had mastered the art of sharpening and using a scythe perfectly; if German para troops landed she would be great at cutting them down. Then there was Rose, such a stronger than any farm lad, if she got her arms around a German soldier she’d squeeze them to death. Still tonight Amy Johnson would sleep with the pitchfork under her bed, she would not feel safe until her husband returned.

In Germany Hildegard had enjoyed working on the land, helping Frau Schmidt look after the farm. Yes food was short and she often felt hungry, but Frau Schmidt tried to help slipping Hildegard one or sometimes two eggs or a few apples. That night when Hildegard returned home she could hear the sound of guns. The soldiers were getting very close. That night Hildegard slept with her father’s hunting knife in her bed. If the foreign troops did reach her town, they would not find her a willing partner.

Footnote: When I first saw the prompt I was stumped as to what to write. So I thought that I would ‘sleep on it’. No such luck, a story started building in my mind and at 2am, guess what, your truly was soon up writing.