Saturday, March 28, 2009
This is a weird story because I'm not sure what happened to my brain when I was writing it. It seems like my brain instructed me to leave out all the "I"s or "You"s and just...go with it. So don't blame me if you think this sucks. Blame the brain.
***
Going, going…
Clear day. Blue skies. Great time for a drop. Smile. Grin. Talk to friends.
Jump master stands. Goes through the routine. Stand. Stop smiling. Stand. Don’t push.
Hook up. Hook to the static line. Stand. Hook up. Equipment check. Check equipment. Check –
Sound off for equipment check. 19 OK! 18 OK! 17 OK! 16 OK!
Stare at the red light. Red. Not green. Red. Don’t go. Wait for green. Wait for green. Wait for –
Green. It’s green. Go, go, go! Push. Shove. Out of the door.
Freedom. Flying like a bird. One, two, three. Jerk. Parachute opens. White blossoming flower. Wheee. Take a look around. Thousands of white blossoms in the air. Swing back and forth. Laugh. Free. Free as an Eagle.
Land. Hard. Good landing. Take the chute off. Roll it up. Take off Mae Wests. Don’t know why life vests are needed. Drop zone’s safely inland. Ah well. Time to assemble.
Find the Sergeant. Sergeant’s not there. Lieutenant, then. Lieutenant’s not there either.
Weird. Walk to a copse of trees. Lots of birds there, flying around. Stop abruptly.
A glider is in there. Dark. Broken. Reeking of death. Walk into the glider. Dead men inside. No Sergeant. No Lieutenant. Walk out.
Don’t notice the briefcase left behind.
Walk to the DZ. Company’s already set off. That explains it. Chuckle. Hurry up, slowpoke. Rush off to catch up. Blow, bugle, blow. Frost blows the bugle. On to Arnhem, boys! War’ll be over soon!
Shake head. War’s not to be over. War’s never over before Christmas.
***
Cheering civilians. Orange flags. Wine. Bread. Song and laughter. Good food. Chocolate. Cigarettes. Fantastically beautiful. Dutch are grateful. Dutch are the best. But then.
Boos. Jeers. Women. Hair cuts. Shaved heads. Mud swastikas. Crying. Pleading.
Seek out a civilian. Women are collaborators, he says. This is the punishment, he says.
Vindictive. Angry. Cold. Satisfied.
Move on. Germans all over. Duck. Run. Scramble to the side. Raise the rifle. Fire.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
Krauts dying. Brits dying. Friends dying. Everyone dying. Get up. Run like hell. Boots pounding. Pain.
Huddling in the house. Clear out, Dutch. It’s the Brit’s stronghold now! Dutch don’t want to go. Fine. Shrug. Too bad if they die.
Set up positions. Pick up rifle. Check. Clean. Load. Look at bridge. Jerry’s coming! Jerry is coming. Aim rifle. Wait for orders. Don’t fire until told. Hold fire. Hold. Don’t press. Don’t fire.
Krauts are coming closer. Nearer. Anxiety. Fear. Nervousness. Tension. Hold fire. Don’t press. Hold.
Open fire! Sweat. Raise rifle. Squeeze off the rounds. One. Two. Three. Man down. Adrenaline. Exhilaration. Man down! Shots ping off. Coming closer. Jump. Turn. Blood.
Medic! Medic! Screams. Cries. Blood. Gore. Don’t stop. Reload. Continue. Fire.
Sudden silence. Everyone stops. Look around. On the bridge. Burning wrecks. Smouldering. Krauts are dead. Friends are dead. Tension gone. Adrenaline gone. Drop rifle. Exhausted. Listen to the screams. Listen to the dying. Can’t listen to the dead.
***
Night time. Right time. Time to go out. Carry flamethrower. Whisper to friend. Going out. Pitter patter. Boots on rubble. Loud. Look around. No Jerry yet.
Onto the bridge. Trembling. Bet on the bunker. Friend finds it first. Two quid gone.
Flamethrower. Raw power. Hungry flames. Deadly flames. Flamethrower. Hold steady. Don’t move. Ready. Set.
Blaze. Missed. Curse. But.
Explosions! Ammo dump right behind. Friend celebrates. Whoop. Cheer. Jerry bunker enveloped by the exploding dump.
Run back. Boots make a lot of noise. Crunching rubble. Crushing debris. Don’t care. Don’t give a damn. Explosion loud. Can’t hear anyway.
Back to the house. Chaps are happy. Yay. Drink into the night.
Prepare for the next attack, next morning. Stop partying. Silent. Resigned. Sad. Quiet.
Ready.
***
Back. With a vengeance. Tanks. One drives past. RPG. PIAT. Whatever. Bring it out. Don’t complain, damnit. Just bring it.
Load a round. Panzers. Damn top brass. Never had accurate information anyway.
Fire once. Miss. Heart rate going up. Tank turns. Doesn’t fire. Keeps on going. Bloody hell.
Fire again. Tank halts. Just in time. Round misses. Tank continues. Sweating. Cursing.
Surrounded. Just like that.
Time to charge again. Under the bridge. From house to house. Dodge. Weave. Small arms fire. Not dangerous. Not immediately fatal. Not like 88s.
Friend goes first. Friend runs. Friend almost makes it. Almost.
Shell lands. Friend dies. No time for grief. Turn’s arrived.
Run.
Pressure rising. Breathing hard. Grip rifle hard. Knuckles turn white. Standing out.
Whistle. Shell. No. run faster. No hope. Shell lands. Almost made it. Almost.
Going…
Going…
Gone.
Finis
