The Swallow under the Pines

A clearing in a pine forest at the edge of an airfield in Bavaria on a damp autumn afternoon, soft grey light on wet sand, a single-seat twin-jet aircraft half hidden under heavy camouflage netting that drapes over its whole rear fuselage, tail and fin, a long slender fuselage, a smooth pointed bare nose free of any propeller, swept wings with two long tube-shaped jet pods slung beneath, each open at the front in a round dark intake, a framed glass canopy, a nose wheel, the visible aircraft in plain uniform grey-green paint, a wooden ladder against one pod, a mechanic in dark overalls seen from directly behind lifting a steel toolbox.