»
Main Forums
»
Passions in Prose
»
Songs of War (Part 1)
| Passions in Prose |
|
Songs of War (Part 1) |
|
|
paraboxer Member
since 2002-11-10
Posts 121Maryland, USA |
(AN: My poem LRRP in the Corner Pub inspired this one together with a few scenes from the Thin Red Line.) Songs of War (Part 1) Somewhere in the Solomon Islands, 2145: "What's this war in the heart of nature? Why must nature vie with itself? The land opposing the sea. Is there an avenging power in nature? Not one power but two?" the man lying face up on his olive drab fatigue blouse atop the root of a mangrove said to himself. His accent had a slight Southern twang to it. He was from the Atlantic coast of Florida, just south of Orlando. He was a lean, compact fellow in his mid-twenties. A pair of dog tags hung from his neck, and together with his olive drab fatigue trousers one could tell he was a soldier. His name was Sergeant Chaz Prewitt, 3rd Long Range Reconaissance Batallion. He sat out on a pebble beach, idly watching several half or totally naked Melanesian children playing. He had spent the better part of the previous day paddling around the reef in a dugout canoe, helping the natives with odd chores, and doing the odd bit of administrative paperwork. He was to be discharged soon. Charles Harold Prewitt would now be a civilian after nine years of service. A fellow soldier from the camp also scheduled to be discharged that week, sat at his side. "I remember my grandmother when she was dying. She was so shrunk up and gray. I asked if she was afraid, and she shook her head. I was afraid to touch the death I saw in her. I couldn't see nothing beautiful or uplifting about her going back to God." Prewitt began. "I heard people talk about immortality, but I ain't seen it." Chaz continued. His fellow soldier had long since trundled off to go swimming in the Pacific Ocean. "I wonder how it's gonna be when I die. To know that this breath I take now is the last one I'm ever gonna draw. I just hope I can meet it the same way she did, with that same calm. For that's where it's hidden, the immortality I never seen." Chaz finished. He enjoyed the peaceful serenity of the Solomons. The 3rd Long Range Recon Batallion was helping people around the Pacific Rim rebuild their lives after the shattering Biohazard had struck all around Earth from 2141-2145. He opened a letter in his pocket, a new job he was to start with a publishing company working in Woodside, California. He was also going to be a freelance writer as well. Maybe he'd start writing his memoirs of nine years of service that started on his seventeenth birthday with the 12th Territorial Light Infantry, a reserve unit based in Virginia, near Georgetown where he went to his first couple years of college. He watched, head solemnly bowed, as the native Melanesians celebrated their own equivalent of a Sunday Mass, singing a hauntingly evocative song in a chorus. These people were so simple, so back to nature, but so religious. It was no wonder the Solomons were called The Blessed Islands. ~ ~ ~ ~ In a few hours he would board a plane that would take him to his new life. Why had he left the Territorials to become an active duty soldier five years ago? The answer was the pain of a broken heart. He still remembered her, a young woman with a kind, caring personality. She was intelligent as well, beautiful physically, true, but more so because of her kind hearted ways. Diane Schonke would always have a special place in Charles Prewitt's heart. He had been in the Reserves for three years, paying his way through college when he met her in their freshman English class. Even now, as he sat alone on the beach in the setting sun, he could bring her face to his mind. Short, chestnut brown hair framing an oval, intelligent face with delicate features, brown eyes reminiscent of a doe, a loving smile. Four months after he met and befriended her, he realized he was in love with her. Sadly it was why he left halfway through his sophomore year at Georgetown. He was studying with her one night in the library when she asked him, "Chaz, have you ever met Chris Osborne, my boyfriend." He was devastated, and though he hid his pain under a mask of humor and a happy smile very well, it was still there. After three months of agony he left Georgetown, continuing his education in correspondence courses, and transferred into the active duty Army. He volunteered for the 3rd Long Range Reconaissance Batallion when he knew it was being stationed in South America. ~ ~ ~ ~ Now Chaz was rebuilding his life again. Sure he loved the Army, but after nine years of running, he realized it was time to call it quits and move on with his life. He couldn't help but wonder about Diane though. Was she married? If so, did she have children? How had the five years since they last saw each other treated her? He walked into the office, so lost in thought that he walked right into a woman carrying several files. "Oh." Chaz said, "I'm sorry, here, let me help you with those." Chaz helped her reorganize and carry the files and as their eyes met, he realized he had stared Diane Schonke right in the face. She smiled, unexpected, she remembered Chaz well, a good friend she had gone through a year and a half at Georgetown with until he left. "Chaz?" "Diane?" Chaz replied, startled. |
||
| © Copyright 2003 Carl - All Rights Reserved | |||
|
Gentle Spirit Member Patricius
since 2000-10-09
Posts 13989 |
I enjoy where the story line is going Carl and hope to see it continued. Well done. |
||
|
SharaRose Member Elite
since 2003-07-19
Posts 2501Somewhere out there~ |
Even after 5 years, but what happened? Did they get together, or was she married w/kids? Will the story continue?  Inquiring, Terri~  Well I will go down with this ship And I won't put my hands up and surrender...Dido [This message has been edited by SharaRose (12-04-2003 01:25 PM).] |
||
|
aussie teen Member
since 2003-09-27
Posts 396Australia |
come on get on with the story....... this is really really interesting..... i want to know what happens next....... keep it up.... Mel this is me.... like it or not.... |
||
|
|
⇧ top of page ⇧ |
|
| All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format. | ||
