How Many Miles to Babylon?

Dancing or Fleeing? - Why Are These Two Lines of Girls Going in Opposite Directions?

This is a very provocative image. The shades of grey lend a very somber tone which, together with the tall candles lining the passageway, could be the stuff of a child's nightmare. Look closely at the frightened expression on the face of the second girl from the right and the body positions of the bottom line of girls as though they are fleeing in the night through a narrow passageway. The third girl is looking down as if to watch her step, and the fourth is looking upward, seemingly in fear of those flying overhead. Are the children in the line above flying upward (as to heaven because they have died) or are they coming down to join those below? This is not a child's game being played out. The dress of the girls is reminiscent of the 1940s, perhaps giving us the context of time. With these clues, the children might be escaping to the countryside during the bombing of London during World War II.