[00:00.00]Lily lay back in the soft,
[00:03.82]green grass of the pasture.
[00:06.01]White daisies, golden brown-eyed Susans,
[00:10.06]prickly blue viper's bugloss, and frilly
[00:13.45]Queen Anne's lace surrounded her.
[00:17.39]She beckoned to him from
[00:19.68]what seemed like miles away.
[00:21.98]He hiked through the grass
[00:24.50]calling her name. She began to
[00:26.69]stroll away from him
[00:28.44]into the distance. He had
[00:30.63]to reach her! He loved her so!
[00:33.47]If they couldn't marry, he would
[00:35.99]make her his mistress! Nothing could
[00:38.72]extinguish the flame of his love!
[00:41.35]He would cling to that
[00:42.99]until his dying day.
[00:45.61]Lying stationary was taking
[00:48.89]its toll on Jack's circulation.
[00:51.63]His feet and hands were numb.
[00:54.04]Something was tickling his nose.
[00:56.55]He managed to tilt away
[00:59.62]from the irritant, whatever it was.
[01:02.13]He was so thirsty! He tried
[01:06.18]to lubricate his lips with saliva
[01:08.37]but had none. His bladder felt
[01:11.98]like a separate entity that
[01:14.39]would overflow. He could stall
[01:17.56]the urge to void no longer
[01:19.31]and allowed the urine to
[01:20.74]flow out of him.What did
[01:23.25]it matter now? He was
[01:25.11]as good as dead anyway.
[01:27.08]The fort stood in the center
[01:30.03]of the pasture. A moat filled
[01:32.88]with sharks protected its walls
[01:35.07]from any possible intruders.
[01:37.36]Jack pedaled his bicycle as fast
[01:39.88]as he could. The sharks
[01:42.83]whipped back and forth so quickly
[01:44.91]they created foam on the surface
[01:47.31]of the water. He had to
[01:50.27]cross the drawbridge before
[01:52.13]it was raised, segregating him
[01:54.54]from his regiment and his
[01:56.39]pregnant wife, Lily. She saw him
[02:00.23]approaching and skipped onto
[02:02.30]the bridge to greet him.
[02:04.39]The bridge was rising.
[02:06.36]The sharks were in frenzy!
[02:08.54]He rode as if the hounds
[02:10.62]of hell were after him.
[02:12.59]He had to reach her!
[02:14.56]His right arm was wedged
[02:17.84]against a rock. No matter how
[02:19.92]hard he tried, he couldn't
[02:22.00]wrench it free. This was
[02:24.95]getting tiresome. He felt
[02:27.25]a stitch in his right side.
[02:29.66]That's all he needed now
[02:31.30]to die from a ruptured appendix!
[02:33.92]He had wriggled enough to
[02:36.44]increase the size of the slot
[02:38.41]in which he was trapped.
[02:40.92]Were those voices he was hearing?
[02:43.00]He wasn't deaf!
[02:44.64]When he fought his way
[02:47.49]to the surface of consciousness
[02:49.68]once again, he was being carried
[02:51.65]on a litter over the inverted
[02:53.95]battlefield. Bodies were strewn everywhere.
[02:57.23]The stretcher?bearers stumbled over
[03:01.05]the rough ground but maintained control
[03:03.79]of their human cargo as they
[03:06.09]made their way to the field hospital.
[03:09.15]The fuse leading to the dynamite
[03:12.43]in the stern of the oil tanker
[03:14.63]burned so rapidly that Jack knew
[03:17.14]the ship would explode before
[03:19.00]he could reach the hatch
[03:20.53]to extinguish the flame.
[03:22.72]The olive green ship was almost
[03:25.67]within his reach when it blew up.
[03:27.86] He felt as if he were
[03:30.60]on a grill. His face was
[03:32.56]aflame. His body felt as if
[03:35.63]the skin had been ripped
[03:37.16]from it. He wanted to die
[03:39.78]before the pain grew worse.
[03:41.86]His forehead felt cool.
[03:45.26]He opened his eyes slowly, painfully.
[03:48.54]A white-clad nurse sponged
[03:51.60]his face gently. As she became
[03:54.67]aware of his gaze, she stopped
[03:57.07]her ministrations and offered
[03:59.15]him a sip of water.
[04:01.01]“Take it easy,” she whispered.
[04:03.20]“You mustn't drink too quickly.
[04:06.04]Too much, too fast
[04:08.34]will give you nasty cramps.”
[04:10.75]Jack was aware of bandages
[04:14.07]on his muscular arms and casts
[04:16.81]on both legs. Intravenous tubing carried
[04:21.51]a clear fluid into his veins.
[04:25.01]Consciousness was still transient.
[04:28.63]Dreams of a strange pasture mingled
[04:31.68]with reality and continued to
[04:33.76]haunt his sleep. He understood
[04:37.48]he was on a hospital ward,
[04:39.67]but where? And how did he get here?
[04:42.41]The pretty young nurse was back.
[04:46.79]“We cabled your wife.
[04:49.52]She knows you were injured
[04:51.27]but are on the mend.”
[04:52.91]“How did they find me?”
[04:54.77]Jack asked.“A patrol looking
[04:57.72]for survivors found you buried
[04:59.58]in the the foxhole. You were
[05:02.54]calling ‘Lily!’They started digging
[05:05.71]and there you were. You were
[05:08.77]stabilized at the field hospital
[05:10.63]before they could bring you here.
[05:12.93]We scrubbed you up and started
[05:15.34]to you with I.V. therapy.
[05:18.62]You were very dehydrated and
[05:21.36]suffering from urinary retention
[05:24.09]and renal failure. Your kidneys
[05:26.72]may never function normally again.
[05:29.12]The good news is that
[05:31.09]you survived,” she explained.
[05:33.28]A stray strand of hair fell
[05:37.22] across Jack's cheek hiding the tears
[05:39.52]that crept from his eyes.
[05:41.37]He was grateful to have
[05:43.68]his life back. He silently saluted
[05:46.85]his friend. Mike hadn't been so lucky.
[05:50.78]The cable from Lily arrived
[05:53.30]the next day. “We have a son
[05:56.03]stop Born 05 Dec. stop Healthy
[06:00.85]stop Named him Michael stop
[06:03.37]I love you. Lily stop P.S. Dad
[06:08.29]bought the pasture and
[06:11.14]deeded it to Michael.”
|