WAR STORIES (WW1 Story)

OLIVER H: PROLOGUE

WAR. THAT'S WHAT HAD BEEN HAPPENIN' UP IN FRANCE, AND THAT'S WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN UP HERE TOO. WAR....

I didn't know how to put it lightly to em' back then, to anyone really. But when I heard about all of them lads signing up, I felt like I had to do it too. So I did, and look where that got me. Marching around in the trenches every day, every hour and just waiting for the something from home to find its way to me. I didn't care what it was, even if it was a letter, which Mam' knew I couldn't read very well, I just need something. Anything I could hold onto, to cherish. Anything that could help me remember. I missed them. Mam', Adeline, and the shop too. Oh, how much I missed the shop. The little one on the corner that my Mam' and Aunte Cora. Her real name is Coraline. But, we called her Cora for short.  I remember when I was a little lad, and me and me' younger sister, Adeline had snuck into the back of the shop without Mam' or Aunte Cora lookin'. It was a Friday, so the shop was quite busy that day, since we shut the shop down on Sundays and rarely Saturdays; which gave an advantage for me and Adeline. I also remember when either Mam' or Aunte Cora had gone up to the backroom in the shop, me and Adeline would dare each other to see how many sweets we could fit in our mouths. We ended up eating every sweet off of the shelves. Humbugs, Acid Drops, Clove Rock, Poor Bens Liquorice, Aniseed Clums;you name it. We ate it. But whenever me and Adeline weren't lucky, and ended up getting caught by old Aunte Cora, she made us take every single sweet out of our mouths and held them out in front of her so she could count how many we had eaten. She counted quickly, due to the fact she ran a shop after all; and well, unforetunately for me and Adeline, the amount of sweets she counted, the amounts of times we would be gettin' her cane. That's why me and Adeline always hoped that it would be Mam' giving out the punishment. And well, to me and Adeline, they didn't really seem like pinishments; more enjoyable then the cane I can assure you that. Like once when Mam' had caught us, she had made us go out and walk our dog, Dash. As you can tell by the name, he liked to run alot. So me and Adeline decided to call him Dash. He was a Golden Retriever I think, or at least that's what Mam' told us. But I can remember, that if Mam' was feeling in a generous mood, that she would let me and Adeline even help around in the shop for a few hours. I can remember one time when Adeline was stocking up the shelves and I was giving somebody their change when they had bought some adhesive tape or something along those lines. Anyway, whilst Mam' had been scrubbing up the floor with the broom near the window to the street outside, Aunte Cora had come out from the backroom and was standing beside me, looking out over the shop as if she 'owned it' practically. Of course, Aunte Cora never really approved of Mam's punishments that she gave to us, always giving me and Adeline a glare or two if we pushed her too far. But whenever she went back into the backroom, me and Adeline would burst out laughing and I could tell that Mam' was trying not too. I could feel it, as she always used to turn away from us, snickering a bit. You see the thing is, me and Adeline would just used to sit back and laugh at those sorts of things. I think I could feel a snicker coming on already. But, up here in the trenches, you couldn't really laugh about those things anymore, because you always had something pulling you back down afterwards like me. But let me tell you, that mine was the worst of all......

WAR.....