This is War [ONC 2021] // Honourable Mention

Chapter Four - Kurt

"Don't you look handsome!" Mrs Schäfer said, her hands gripping his upper arms.

"Mother, please!"

Kurt struggled out of his mother's grip and straightened his uniform since it had become rumpled by Mrs Schäfer's ambush when he had walked through the door. He pulled his cap a little lower on his forehead. The uniform made him feel important and he found himself standing up a little straighter. When he had left the village hall in his uniform, Kurt found people paid attention to him in the uniform, they looked at him differently than if he had just been wearing a normal shirt.

"You'll have all the girls falling at their feet over you in that," Mr Schäfer said.

From across the room, Mr Schäfer looked at his son with a gleam of pride in his eyes at his son dressed in the arm uniform. Hans, on the other hand, stood in the corner with his arms folded, glaring at his brother. Out of everyone in the family, he appeared to be the least interested or impressed by his brother's new uniform, but Kurt didn't mind. Everyone else respected and appreciated him for signing up to defend their country.

After he had signed up, Kurt had to go through a physical examination where they forced him, and everyone else, to remove their clothes. Those deemed fit enough also had to pass an eye exam before they were given their uniform and a time of when the bus would be taking them to the training area. He was due to leave in two days time, just enough time to say goodbye to his family. It would be three months of training and then off to war - a war everyone believed would be over by Christmas.

When his mother had stopped fawning over him and his uniform, Kurt bid his family farewell and headed back towards the village. He had promised to meet Wilhelm in the village once he had shown his parents his uniform with Wilhelm having signed up earlier that morning. They were due to leave together but they wanted to show their uniforms off around the village, Wilhelm, in particular, wanted to see how much the uniform appealed to the local girls.

Kurt moved into the village and met Wilhelm outside the baker, the two of them standing shoulder to shoulder with a straight back so more people would take notice. The moment the two of them started to walk through the village, heads turned in their direction.

"I wish we weren't leaving for the training camp in two days, I'd like to milk this uniform a little while longer," Wilhelm said.

"Anna still won't talk to you, even in the uniform. I think it's your face, it's distracting."

"Even with the face, who could resist this uniform? It's a mark of respect."

"I still think the face lets you down too much."

"Come on."

Wilhelm shook his head and the two of them walked further into the village. Many of their school friends stood around in their uniforms, talking to their parents or each other about what they expected from war once they finally got there. It didn't take long for Wilhelm to notice that many of their friends had girls on their arms that hadn't been there the day before.

Since they were younger, Wilhelm had been trying his hardest to catch Anna Bauer's eye but had yet to be successful. She had always turned him down or been too busy helping out in their farmer's shop to go out or spend time with him. That didn't stop Wilhelm from trying and he hoped the uniform would do the job for him, Kurt had other ideas.

The two of them paused at the side of the road to let a carriage go past before the two of them crossed the road to join their friends. Walter and Friedrich smiled at them and showed off their uniforms, all of them having made the decision to sign up the moment war had been declared. From what Kurt could see, there wouldn't be that many young men left in the village with so many of them having already signed up to fight. Some of the farmhands who helped on their farm had agreed to stay behind, but most had already put their names down.

"Our country is in safe hands with you boys. You mark my words, this entire thing will be over and done with before the year is out," Mr Schmidt said, looking at the group in their uniforms.

"Home by Christmas!" Wilhelm cried with all the others quickly joining in with the cry. It would become the most said phrase for the next few months. "Oo, there's Anna! Time to put this uniform to some use."

Kurt watched his friend readjust the front of his uniform, move his hat a little, and then jog over to Anna who had just rounded a corner carrying a wooden box full of carrots. "I reckon he'll get slapped."

"Probably," Walter said, laughing. "Kurt, have you met Fräulein Marie Becker?" He gestured to a blonde-haired young woman, roughly the same age as him, who stood just off to the side of the gathering.

"Once or twice." He nodded towards Marie.

"Well, maybe you should talk. You might have something in common."

With that, Walter slapped Kurt lightly on the back and walked off to follow Wilhelm and Anna. Kurt and Marie looked at one another, no one knowing what to say or just how to act. They had seen each other on plenty of occasions, with Marie oftentimes working at the bakery with her father but neither of them had ever said more than a few words to each other.

Unlike Wilhelm, Kurt had never been all that confident around girls and always struggled to talk to them. Still, he felt he needed to apologise for his friend's rather forceful behaviour.

"Sorry about him," Kurt said.

"No, it's fine." Marie smiled. "When do you go off to training?"

"Two days."

"That's plenty of time for us to find something in common."

Kurt laughed and moved a little closer to Marie so they could talk a little more, although he didn't know what they would have in common. Still, Wilhelm may have been right about the uniform and the effect it had on the girls that never would have spoken to them without it. The two of them spoke long into the evening, long after all the others had headed home for supper. They discovered that they had a lot more in common than they first thought.

He had joined the army to defend his country, his family, but Kurt thought he may have found someone else worth fighting for.

~~~

First Published - February 11th, 2021