Thursday, April 25, 2013

Dear Katherine


Author's Note: "My goal was to write a creative piece using correctly formatted dialogue so that is why I wrote this piece."

Dear Katherine,

Today marks my 417th day away from you. With every passing day I find myself missing you more and more. I miss your smell, your touch, the way you always made me feel safe. I long for the days when we were together, as a family.  The army is a cruel place, filled with hatred and anger.  Every man for themselves. But I know that I will never be alone. I will forever have you and the kids, little Timmy and Jack,  to stand by me and support me throughout life’s hardships. But  I know that I will see you soon, in just a couple of months things will be all back to normal again and it will all be over. All this separation that we’ve had to go through and all the nights I couldn’t sleep because I was worried about you and the boys will be worth it because we will be reunited at last. There is nothing I want more than to see you and the boys, nothing.
 It’s getting late so I know I must go to sleep soon but I will write to you again soon, I promise. Remember I’m doing this for you, and the kids of course, but just remember that no matter how far away we are I’ll always be in your heart. I love you Katherine. See you soon.

Forever Yours,
John
~*~
As I finished writing I put the pencil and extra papers neatly inside my dark green duffel bag and zipped it up tight. Careful not to burn myself, I put out the candle and climbed into my sleeping bag and drifted away.
The fumes of burning bodies and death cause me to awaken from my deep slumber.
“John, wake up,”  yelled one of my platoon members into my ear. I burst to life and was up on my feet within a couple of seconds. I grabbed my sleeping bag and shoved it in my duffel bag as fast as I could. We ran outside of the tent trying not to be seen. Sparks light up the night sky and fire surrounded our campground. I rushed to help one of my fallen platoon members but it was too late, he was gone. I knelt down beside him and said a quick prayer in his honor and for his wife and kids back home.
“John come on,” my platoon leader shouted among all the flames and chaos. I rushed to his side and as we gathered all the other members of our platoon I realized that I had left my letter back in the tent.
“You guys keep going, I’ll meet you there.” I called out to them. I sprinted through the forest and dodged burning trees desperately to get back to the tent. Just as I was 10 yards away the tent exploded and I was flung back into the trees. I took a pretty nasty fall and hit my head severely on a tree trunk. I touched my now throbbing head and realized I was bleeding very badly; I tried calling out to my platoon members but they were much too far away to hear me. My vision began to blur and I felt all my limbs turn numb. A blacked out to the sight of flames burning away everything in it's cold dark path.
~*~
My eyes fluttered open to a very harsh light and as my eyes adjusted I realized I was surrounded by people, people I didn’t know. I tried to touch my head to see if my wound had swollen but my arms and legs were locked down to the table I was laying on. Where am I?, I thought to myself.
“He’s alive sir,” I heard one of the men whisper.
“What are we supposed to do with him?” asked another.
My memories started to come back and as I continued to gain my consciousness I realized that these men that were surrounding me were the enemy. Leaders of the countries that were trying to destroy my troops. 

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