This is War [ONC 2021] // Honourable Mention

Chapter Twenty-One - Daniel

The sun stood high in the sky as Daniel, George and Henry clambered off the back of the bus that had taken from the port to the village. Daniel threw his kitbag over his shoulder and looked around the village square, shocked to see that everything was pretty much the same as he had left it. He didn't know what he expected when he arrived home, some big change or another, but it was all the same. It was almost like he had never been away.

"I'll meet you both back here in four days," Daniel said.

"Four days doesn't feel like enough time." George sighed.

"It's plenty."

"If you say so."

Daniel shook his head, tightened his grip on his kitbag, and left them standing in the village square. He walked through the centre, his cap pulled down on his forehead. People smiled when they saw him when they saw the uniform, but there was an element of sadness in their faces, mourning for those who weren't coming home. Still, he felt proud to be in that uniform, proud that his father was finally going to see the man he had become over the ten months away.

He clambered up the hills and through the twisting paths that led to his family farm, a route he had taken many times in the past. Before, Daniel would get tired long before he made it home but his newfound strength made him feel like he could run all the way home and not break into a sweat. He was a new man and he knew his father would see it, he knew his entire family would see just how much he had changed in what felt like such a short time.

The war was approaching one year since it started and it showed no sign of letting up the longer time went on. Every time they pushed forward, the Germans would push back and every time the Germans pushed forward, they pushed back. It was a never-ending cycle of battles and retreats, success and failure. Everyone thought the war would be finished by now, that they would be home for good, but they still had a duty to fulfil and a war to win.

George and Henry had told their parents they were returning home on leave, but Daniel wanted it to be a surprise. He crept over the top of one of the hills that looked down on the cottage below. In the walled garden, he could see Ruth pottering around with a little watering can whilst his mother tended to the flower beds. Mr Morris stood by the well, hauling up buckets of water. Daniel stood on the top of the hill and looked down at his family, watching his father pull a handkerchief out of his pocket and look up to where Daniel stood.

"Would you look who's home!" Mr Morris' voice carried across the fields.

"Daniel!" Ruth squealed.

Daniel laughed and took the hill at a little run, stumbling at the bottom and swinging open the gate to the family cottage. Ruth dropped the watering can and ran up to him, throwing her arms around him.

"Look at you, you've grown!" Daniel said.

"I have. Soon, I'll be as tall as you!"

"Come here, let me look at you," Mrs Morris said. Daniel pulled Ruth's arms from and stood in front of his mother who grabbed his upper arms. "Look at you, so strong."

"You look good, lad," Mr Morris said.

"How long are you home for?"

"Four days. It's all they can spare us for."

"Right, well, your room is just as you left it. We have so much to tell you."

Mrs Morris led her son into the cottage, talking the entire way. Ruth wound her way around his legs, refusing to leave his side and almost clinging to him with every step he took. Daniel wondered how there could be so much to tell him when he had received countless letters about the village gossip. Still, he was glad to be home, even for a few days, and relished in the attention his mother and sister gave him.

His father, on the other hand, stood off to the side and barely said a word, he just listened to Mrs Morris talk. Daniel had wanted to make his father proud, he thought his father would be pleased to see him in his uniform, to see the new man he had become but something felt off about him. He didn't seem happy that Daniel would only be back for a few days, almost as if he expected the war to be over and his son to be back for good.

When he had left, Daniel looked up and respected his father but the man he saw that day was not the man he remembered. He looked tired, there were more lines on his face and bags under his eyes. Daniel thought he resembled some of the soldiers he had worked with on the frontline, those who had stared death in the face and lived, but his father had been safe and sound on his farm. He had no reason to look so battle-worn.

"I missed you," Ruth said, her feet dangling over Daniel's bed as he dug through his kitbag to find his toothbrush.

"I missed you too, Ruthie."

"Father missed you as well. He checked the paper every day to see if you're name was in it."

"Really?"

Ruth nodded. "Benjamin's parents got a letter saying he had been killed and Father didn't want to get the same thing."

"I haven't seen Benjamin since training. I didn't know he was ... gone."

Daniel sank down on his bed. Although it hurt to lose Tommy and Arthur, he hadn't known them for too long. Benjamin had been one of his best friends and he didn't even know he had died. That news awoke something inside Daniel that he had kept hidden, a burning desire to punish every German he came across for the deaths they caused.

He was never going to let another German walk away alive.

~~~

First Published - February 26th, 2021