"Are we ever going home, mother?" Gretel's voice was soft and tired. They had been walking for hours—only then resting—and the child's little legs weren't acquainted with such long treks.

Captain Von Trapp glanced at his wife.

"Well," Maria started. "I don't know if we ever will go back to Austria."

The six other children looked down at their feet solemnly, and Maria gave them a sad yet hopeful smile and continued.

"But it wasn't Austria that made our house a home. And it wasn't our house that made Austria our home either. Do you know what makes a place a home, Gretel?"

The little girl thought for a while.

"Music?" she asked timidly.

"Well yes, that" Her mother laughed, "but more importantly, family." Maria reached for Georg's hand

"As long as we're together, wherever we go is home."

Liesel clutched the bottom of her skirt, her brow knitted into an expression of longing.

Maria, noticing a tear roll down her cheek, gently placed her youngest daughter off of her lap, and walked over to her eldest. "Oh, Leisel" she hummed, and wrapped her arms around her.

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…" Maria's fingers combed through Liesel's dark hair as she slowly started singing.

Liesel laughed through her silent weeping, and with a broken voice, tried to sing along "Bright copper kettles— " she stopped as her voice caught in her throat.

After a short pause, Fredric slowly walked closer and took his sister's hand in his. "And warm woolen mittens,"

a sob escaped her lips and she gave her brother a smile. The two of them continued, singing in unison, then the other children, one by one joined in, then their father, until they were all singing.

"These are a few of my favorite things" As they finished the song, the family looked up at the sky. The first star had appeared. They all snuggled together in the grass, under the now starry sky and off they went into a deep slumber.

They had no roof over their head, no walls to keep them safe, and no beds to rest their heads, But they knew they were going to be okay.

They were home.