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Gallant Lies
Short
 Created on 5-3-07
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 Story Rating G
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Gallant Lies by James M SmithA story based on the poem of “The Hero” by Siegfried Sassoon Light fell gently on Dolores Rushdale’s face as her hands dropped the letter from the colonel. She sat there without a sound staring peacefully out of her misty window. Her eyes dared to well up as she reminisced about her only son. She looked back down at the letter hoping for some kind of comfort amongst her feelings.“The Colonel writes so nicely…” her voice was barely a choke. The officer, standing tentatively in the doorway, rocked on his feet. There was scarcely a sound in the aged room which was almost unendurable for him.“He fell defending us from many enemies.” He said, but his voice had a definite waver.“Then he fell as he’d have wished.” She then sniffed and breathed deeply. The woman’s husband stepped in with a steaming pot of tea. He rested it on a tiny coffee table. It only just seemed capable of standing on its own four legs, let alone hold the pot. Realising that he was only dawdling, the officer cleared his throat and motioned towards the front door.“If you don’t need anything, I’ll be going now.” The old man gave the officer a hard stare which made him feel a little ill at ease. “What? Oh…” The deep, accusing eyes of the man pulled away. “Yes, fine…that’s fine” he mumbled, not looking at him. Quietly, he went out. He drove home and opened a bottle of whiskey. The poor, young officer known as Riley sat at his desk, carefully sipping his drink. He closed his eyes and swallowed, feeling a slight burning sensation in his throat. He slumped on the desk, hardly feeling worthy to do anything constructive. His mind gradually drifted into a half-sleep until there was nothing but him and his thoughts. A sharp and loud knock on the door disturbed his relative peace. With a groan, Riley lifted himself out of his chair. He opened the door and looked into some familiar eyes. There stood the old woman’s husband. He had a grim look which instilled a small amount of fear inside Riley.“Please, I ask of you now. To tell me what really happened.”“What on Earth do you mean?” he tried to stay composed as he let the man in. A definite discomfort in his actions was obvious.“Please don’t play games with me sir. You know as well as I that the man in that letter is not my son. That is not the Jack I knew.”“Sir… you must understand… I was on strict orders n-““This is just between you and I. Now please… please tell me how he fell. Then I will trouble you no more” Riley sighed, looked away and rubbed his head. “Come in and sit down…” His heart racing and body aching, Riley darted across the trench, pulling men up from the floor and collecting equipment. An explosion near by threw him to the floor. He was showered with dirt and soot. The grains fell through his clothes, rubbed against his skin and made his wounds sting. Desperately trying to ignore the pain he grabbed Jack Rushdale by the collar and hurled him against the wall of the trench.“Get up man, they’re here!” he yelled as Jack reluctantly held his rifle out towards the enemy. Suddenly, the sandbags on the line were peppered with machine gun fire. A stray bullet caught one man in the neck. Lightly coated with blood, the privates ducked and blocked their ears from the shrieking shells. Once the barrage had ceased, Riley shouted at his men to return the fire. He lined up his rifle through a gap in the cover, closed one eye and took down a small figure. The silhouette of the little man fell to its knees. Riley took a moment to admire his valour. The man knelt there as smoke shrouded him. Riley glanced across the trench to his men. He watched them fire their weapons with tentativeness, some of them closing their eyes as they pulled the trigger. It took him at least a minute to realise that Jack had gone. Riley sprinted across the full length of the trench looking for him. He knew jack was a tricky character and would not have been surprised if he had cowered back to base. About to go in that direction, Riley stopped as he heard yelling behind him. He turned around to see the young private limping towards him, gripping his thigh tightly. Earth cascaded down on top of him. With a mouth full of dirt he fell in to the arms of Riley.“Sir, it’s broken!” Jack took a fleeting look into Riley’s eyes as he said this. Immediately, he knew his plan had failed. Riley’s expression was that of severe disappointment. A nearby blast forced them both to the floor. Dazed and stinging, Riley wiped grime from his face.“Don’t be so pathetic! Get out there!”Jack then yelled something but his voice was not heard. Whistling and shrieking filled the air. There was an explosion, and then thick, black smoke passed over the two soldiers. Blinded, Riley felt himself fall over. There was darkness, screaming, pain. Then he remembered no more. It was told to Riley that Jack ran to the edge of the battlefield. Wicked Corner they called it. And it was there, that he was blown to small bits. Stricken with grief and bitterly disheartened, Riley took the news to the Rushdales. Gallant lies they were. But not a soul seemed to care, except that old man with white hair.
Comments
Please Login to post comments| On December 12th 2008 max5892 Said : | |
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wow. i really like it. great job! if only the format could've been right then it'd be even more amazing |
| On May 14th 2008 kissofasia Said : | |
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awesome |
| On July 3rd 2007 JWalker2406 Said : | |
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Very nice, love the descriptions :) |
| On May 3rd 2007 ohiostate1154 Said : | |
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very long but good i liked |
