I wrote this some time ago, and just added it to my site two nights ago. It's kinda long, but was hoping to get a few comments and opinions on it:
CLOSED TO TRAFFIC
(A Short Story about War)
The storm was blinding as he drove down the road to a bridge where a sign read:
CLOSED TO TRAFFIC
"Shoot." he said as he tried to turn around, as he rounded the corner from where he came, he noticed a man standing at the side of the road. He wanted to pass him, but knowing that his mother, god rest her soul, would have given a ride to most any stranger, he backed up and opened his window
"Thanks man." the young man said as he put his rucksack in the back seat, the man noticed he was wearing a uniform and asked, "Going home?"
"Trying to, been hell getting a ride around here, not like it used to be."
The man laughed and said, "You look a bit young to notice any changes here."
The uniformed gentleman looked out the window as he said, "It feels like forever, I miss my mother and father, mom died a few months before I got out, dad never came to get me, and I don't think he gave a damn."
The man driving looked in his rear-view mirror and said, "That is a load there, what all you got, any dead bodies?"
They both chuckled as the young man opened his sack and said, "Nah, just the usual, clothes, letters, pictures, postcards, lots of memories from where I came from"
They stopped at a diner and both ordered from the same menu. The young man ate like he never did before, and the other man began to wonder if maybe he was a homeless boy wishing he had been where ever it was his family wasn't, after all, the stuff in the bag looked more like run away junk rather military issue
He looked at the boy and said "Hey, you can stay with me for a while; maybe we can find your family's home and drop you off in the morning after the rain quits."
The young man agreed and said, "I owe you one."
That night as he slept, the man dreamed about his family, and his brother, who went to Vietnam and never came home. He was just a toddler when his brother left, so all the memories he had were the stories his mother told him and the stories his father told as well.
His father was against the war and cried every night his oldest son was gone, and his mother died soon after the war was over as they waited for their son to come home. He never did come home, but there was no word or clue as to where he was.
As he awoke the next morning, he noticed that the door was open and went outside. The young man had vanished; there was not one single trace of him. When the man ran upstairs to make sure that it wasn't a robber playing games, he noticed a photo on the floor, it was of him. He was holding a stuffed rabbit his brother had given him and on the back it said, "Thanks Bro, I am glad to be home."
The man wept that night as he clung to his rabbit, now worn and torn from years of childhood, and when he opened his eyes, the phone rang.
"Hello?" the man said as he answered.
"This is the sheriff's office; you need to come see this."
The man put on his badge and strapped his gun around him and told the other man on the line that he'd be right there and that he needed directions.
As soon as he reached his destination, he saw a body bag, some cars, and news crews.
Everyone watched as the man opened the bag and noticed a ring, it was a high school ring his brother had worn when he left, that his fiancé had given to him. She had long since married another man and when he told her that Bobby's body was found, they both cried together.
He never believed his brother had been lost in Vietnam, and now he had the proof, now he had closure, and from that moment on, he vowed to do his best to protect the community in his brother's memory.
Soon after the discovery, a man walked into the sheriff's office claiming to be the hit and run driver. He was booked, and as he awaited trial, the man came to him in the cell and asked why, why he hadn't reported the incident all those years ago.
The older man explained his story, saying he had been drinking, and thought he hit a rucksack, as it had been lying in the middle of the road, the very same rucksack the young man was carrying.
This baffled police, as there was no rucksack found at the scene.
The man went home that night, and as he walked in the door, the rucksack was sitting in the walk way to the kitchen, he never noticed it until then, and opened it.
There were all kinds of stuff in there from Vietnam, and some things that his parents had given his brother before he left home.
Inside a black box, he found a not that read: "I'm sorry Mom and Dad; I didn't do what I should have. Tell Tommy I love him, and please don't hate me, for God will set things straight."
It explained that he had accidentally shot an innocent mother and her children as they tried to gain access the camp's medical facility and, on orders from his captain, he'd fired.
Af
Sorry, it is longer than I though, here's the rest:
After the incident, he came home, no one seemed to recognize him, and he went to the bridge and jumped in.
After turning in his report, and going home that night, he slept soundly until the phone rang.
He let the machine answer, the message said, "Tom, your report was good, but you need to get some help, you really do, for your job's sake."
As the hang up sounded, Tom walked to his window and looked out into the dark night and thought "it may be off the wall, but I don't need any help at all, I got what I wanted, and that is all I needed."
Danielle N Calhoun
©Copyright April 13, 2007
CLOSED TO TRAFFIC
(A Short Story about War)
The storm was blinding as he drove down the road to a bridge where a sign read:
CLOSED TO TRAFFIC
"Shoot." he said as he tried to turn around, as he rounded the corner from where he came, he noticed a man standing at the side of the road. He wanted to pass him, but knowing that his mother, god rest her soul, would have given a ride to most any stranger, he backed up and opened his window
"Thanks man." the young man said as he put his rucksack in the back seat, the man noticed he was wearing a uniform and asked, "Going home?"
"Trying to, been hell getting a ride around here, not like it used to be."
The man laughed and said, "You look a bit young to notice any changes here."
The uniformed gentleman looked out the window as he said, "It feels like forever, I miss my mother and father, mom died a few months before I got out, dad never came to get me, and I don't think he gave a damn."
The man driving looked in his rear-view mirror and said, "That is a load there, what all you got, any dead bodies?"
They both chuckled as the young man opened his sack and said, "Nah, just the usual, clothes, letters, pictures, postcards, lots of memories from where I came from"
They stopped at a diner and both ordered from the same menu. The young man ate like he never did before, and the other man began to wonder if maybe he was a homeless boy wishing he had been where ever it was his family wasn't, after all, the stuff in the bag looked more like run away junk rather military issue
He looked at the boy and said "Hey, you can stay with me for a while; maybe we can find your family's home and drop you off in the morning after the rain quits."
The young man agreed and said, "I owe you one."
That night as he slept, the man dreamed about his family, and his brother, who went to Vietnam and never came home. He was just a toddler when his brother left, so all the memories he had were the stories his mother told him and the stories his father told as well.
His father was against the war and cried every night his oldest son was gone, and his mother died soon after the war was over as they waited for their son to come home. He never did come home, but there was no word or clue as to where he was.
As he awoke the next morning, he noticed that the door was open and went outside. The young man had vanished; there was not one single trace of him. When the man ran upstairs to make sure that it wasn't a robber playing games, he noticed a photo on the floor, it was of him. He was holding a stuffed rabbit his brother had given him and on the back it said, "Thanks Bro, I am glad to be home."
The man wept that night as he clung to his rabbit, now worn and torn from years of childhood, and when he opened his eyes, the phone rang.
"Hello?" the man said as he answered.
"This is the sheriff's office; you need to come see this."
The man put on his badge and strapped his gun around him and told the other man on the line that he'd be right there and that he needed directions.
As soon as he reached his destination, he saw a body bag, some cars, and news crews.
Everyone watched as the man opened the bag and noticed a ring, it was a high school ring his brother had worn when he left, that his fiancé had given to him. She had long since married another man and when he told her that Bobby's body was found, they both cried together.
He never believed his brother had been lost in Vietnam, and now he had the proof, now he had closure, and from that moment on, he vowed to do his best to protect the community in his brother's memory.
Soon after the discovery, a man walked into the sheriff's office claiming to be the hit and run driver. He was booked, and as he awaited trial, the man came to him in the cell and asked why, why he hadn't reported the incident all those years ago.
The older man explained his story, saying he had been drinking, and thought he hit a rucksack, as it had been lying in the middle of the road, the very same rucksack the young man was carrying.
This baffled police, as there was no rucksack found at the scene.
The man went home that night, and as he walked in the door, the rucksack was sitting in the walk way to the kitchen, he never noticed it until then, and opened it.
There were all kinds of stuff in there from Vietnam, and some things that his parents had given his brother before he left home.
Inside a black box, he found a not that read: "I'm sorry Mom and Dad; I didn't do what I should have. Tell Tommy I love him, and please don't hate me, for God will set things straight."
It explained that he had accidentally shot an innocent mother and her children as they tried to gain access the camp's medical facility and, on orders from his captain, he'd fired.
Af
Sorry, it is longer than I though, here's the rest:
After the incident, he came home, no one seemed to recognize him, and he went to the bridge and jumped in.
After turning in his report, and going home that night, he slept soundly until the phone rang.
He let the machine answer, the message said, "Tom, your report was good, but you need to get some help, you really do, for your job's sake."
As the hang up sounded, Tom walked to his window and looked out into the dark night and thought "it may be off the wall, but I don't need any help at all, I got what I wanted, and that is all I needed."
Danielle N Calhoun
©Copyright April 13, 2007