Back to the War
By: Christiannana1

"Man," a voice purred. She had legs that wouldn't quit. And a pair of…"

"That all you ever think about?"

"Well, dang! There anything else?" someone drawled. "Cut to the chase, Henderson. Did ya or didn't ya?"

"I'm getting' there. She let me kiss her…fer about an hour. Finally, I was headin' for a home run and…"

Arms folded on his chest, Sgt. Saunders leaned back against the side of the jostling truck, hoping to catch a few winks before they got there. His helmet tipped forward, covering his closed eyes. In spite of the week spent on furlough, he was more tired than he could ever remember.

"Well," the boy paused a moment to heighten the suspense, "her mama and papa walked in. Daddy started yellin' in French something about marry-ahg, and I wasn't about to wait for a translation. I went right out the window, followed by a fryin' pan. Landed in the bushes on my keister. I got up and hightailed it right out of there. Didn't stop running for musta been forty-five minutes."

Saunders shook his head. Kids.

"You go back again?"

"Nah. Anyway, all good things come to an end."

Saunders sucked in his breath. All good things come to an end. The words rolled over and over in his mind, sticking there. The knot that had been lurking in his stomach tightened. It felt like his entire body was going to be sucked inside himself, turning him inside out. He clenched his fists as he struggled against it. It seemed that was all he had done for days…weeks…no years. Over and over he had pushed it back into the spot he kept it in, hidden but always waiting. So many buddies gone. As much as he hated it, dying was expected. And through everything, he'd been able to keep his emotions pretty much in check. But Ann? No. That was different. In his mind he could clearly see her broken body lying under the shattered beams. backtowar

That wasn't the way it was supposed to be. It should have been him. He had warned her that he could die, leaving her with only memories. It happened to soldiers. But good, gentle ladies aren't supposed to die in war. It wasn't fair! Her death threatened to unleash something he couldn't control any longer, and his eyes began to mist.

Somewhere on the outskirts of consciousness a rough voice broke through the anger that welled up. "Playtime's over. Start gathering your things. We'll be there in five. All good things come to an end."

Saunders swallowed hard and wiped his palms across his eyes. To the casual observer he might have just been wiping away the sleep. He pushed the anger, the pain, the fear, the memories back down where they belonged. Back where they couldn't hurt him. Breathing deeply, he straightened his body and slipped the Thompson onto his shoulder. Back to the war.