An Elephant in the Garden

Content Warning: The Chapter 3 Summary and Part 2 Analysis contain descriptions of wartime bombing.

Lizzie’s nurse wants her to rest and continue her story the next day, but Lizzie insists that “now is the right moment […] Tomorrow it will not be the thirteenth of February anymore. That is why I must tell you what happened now. It is the anniversary, you see” (47-48).

Lizzie forgets about Mutti’s “mysterious idea” after her talk with Mutti. On Lizzie’s 16th birthday—February 9, 1945—Mutti and Karli give her a birthday card they made, and Lizzie and Karli go to school. That evening when they come home, Mutti is not there. She returns later than usual, carrying a sack of potatoes to make Lizzie soup for her birthday, and she tells Lizzie that she has a surprise for her: “And I promise you it’ll be the biggest surprise you ever had too! It is outside in the garden” (53). Throwing open the back door, Karli calls out that there is an elephant in the garden: The zoo director gave Mutti permission to bring Marlene home each night to keep her safe. That was Mutti’s secret idea, and she promises, “We shall not let her out of our sight.