wednesday, march 10, 1943

dearest kitty,

we had a short circuit last night, and besides that, the guns were booming away until dawn. i still haven't gotten over my fear of planes and shooting, and i crawl into father's bed nearly every night for comfort. i know it sounds childish, but wait till it happens to you! the ack-ack guns make so much noise you can't hear your own voice. mrs. beaverbrook, the fatalist, practically burst into tears and said in a timid little voice, "oh, it's so awful. oh, the guns are so loud!" -- which is another way of saying "i'm so scared."

it didn't seem nearly as bad by candlelight as it did in the dark. i was shivering, as if i had a fever, and begged father to relight the candle. he was adamant: there was to be no light. suddenly we heard a burst of machine-gun fire, and that's ten times worse than antiaircraft guns. mother jumped out of bed and, to pim's great annoyance, lit the candle. her resolute answer to his grumbling was, "after all, anne is not an ex-soldier!" and that was the end of that!

have i told you any of mrs. van d.'s other fears? i don't think so. to keep you up to date on the latest adventures in the secret annex, i should tell you this as well. one night mrs. van d. thought she heard loud footsteps in the attic, and she was so afraid of burglars, she woke her husband. at that very same moment, the thieves disappeared, and the only sound mr. van d. could hear was the frightened pounding of his fatalistic wife's heart. "oh, putti!" she cried. (putti is mrs. van d.'s pet name for her husband.) "they must have taken all our sausages and dried beans. and what about peter? oh, do you think peter's still safe and sound in his bed?"

"i'm sure they haven't stolen peter. stop being such a ninny, and let me get back to sleep!"

impossible. mrs. van d. was too scared to sleep.

a few nights later the entire van daan family was awakened by ghostly noises. peter went to the attic with a flashlight and -- scurry, scurry -- what do you think he saw running away? a whole slew of enormous rats!

once we knew who the thieves were, we let mouschi sleep in the attic and never saw our uninvited guests again. . . at least not at night.

a few evenings ago (it was seven-thirty and still light), peter went up to the loft to get some old newspapers. he had to hold on tightly to the trapdoor to climb down the ladder. he put down his hand without looking, and nearly fell off the ladder from shock and pain. without realizing it, he'd put his hand on a large rat, which had bitten him in the arm. by the time he reached us, white as a sheet and with his knees knocking, the blood had soaked through his pajamas. no wonder he was so shaken, since petting a rat isn't much fun, especially when it takes a chunk out of your arm.

yours, anne