The Western Front

Chapter One...

"Michael! Michael get up! You have to come listen to the radio," My sister was violently shaking me.

"Darcy it is not even light out. You've got to be crazy if you think I'm leaving my bed this early on a Sunday," I groaned. Against my better judgment, I looked into her eyes and saw pure fear. I immediately knew that I was getting out of my bed that early on a Sunday. I shot out of bed. My mother was sitting in the kitchen the breakfast was well burnt but she didn't care. She was still in her robe over her pajamas, her hair in her pin curls, and makeup already on her face but by the look in her eye, all of her work was going to be going to waste soon. She looked at me and started to sob. She fell into my arms, I caught her, "Mom what's going on."

"We've been attacked. Those damn Japs attacked us," She almost screamed.

"What do you mean?" I stiffened immediately.

"Pearl Harbor was hit," She whispered. Pearl Harbor. My father was stationed there. My stomach dropped to my feet. My sister looked at me and I opened my embrace to her as well. We all stood there hugging each other in shock.

The phone started to ring and I went to the phone, "Hello?" I asked gruffly.

"Michael," She said into the phone. I relaxed almost instantly.

"Bonnie. Did you hear?" I closed my eyes and clutched my chest right over my heart.

"Yes Michael, I did. I'm so scared," She started to cry.

"Come over. My mom and sister are here and you know you are always welcome," I told her.

"I'm on my way. I love you, Michael," She whispered again.

"As I love you," I replied. I hung up the phone and went back to what was left of my family. I knew my father was gone. It was a gut feeling. The sight of seeing my sister and mother clutching each other just broke me. I couldn't see anything anymore. I ran.

I burst into my room, closed the door, and collapsed into a ball on the floor. The sobs shook my body and I couldn't control them. Tears poured from my eyes and I couldn't help but scream into the soft carpet underneath my cheek. My life with him flashed before my eyes and I couldn't stop crying. My whole body becomes exhausted from all the crying, but I refuse to succumb to rest. A hand rests on my neck and I look up to its owner, "Michael," She murmured. She leaned down and kissed both of my eyelids. I reached up and brought her down to me and hugged her close. She embraced my head to her chest and just held me. I finally calmed down.

"My father is gone. He's dead," I whispered to her as more tears streamed down my face.

"You don't know that. He could have gotten out. I've heard stories where men were in the right place at the right time," She tries desperately to calm me down but it's not working. She's wrong I know it.

"Bonnie, he's gone. I can feel it in my gut. He's gone and there's nothing I can do about it. I let him down. I was supposed to be there when he left me. I was supposed to join him in a few years when I got out of college. I told Mom that. I told her I was going to the Armed Forces once I finished college. That was the only way she would let me. And now he's gone. There's nothing left for me anymore," I broke off in sobs.

"That is NOT true Michael Keith Harvey. You have me. You have your sister. You have your mother. Did I mention you have me? Do NOT think that there is nothing left for you because that just isn't true," She said. She kissed me, her soft lips trying to calm my rough ones, "Come on. Get up," She pulled my arms.

"I am not going down there. I can't let them see me like this," I choked out.

"No we're just going to sit on your bed," She stroked the side of my face and helped me up. Her blonde hair was in loose pin curls that went half way down her back. Her day dress was a little wrinkled at the bottom, probably from sitting with me on the floor, and she didn't have her makeup on. Something I always loved about her. Bonnie was the type of girl who wouldn't wear makeup unless it was absolutely necessary. I always told her that her face untainted by makeup was my favorite look for her. She would always blush, something I also adored, and tell me lying will get me into big trouble.

She took my clammy hand and led me to the bed. She sat her back to the headboard and patted the spot next to her. I climbed onto the bed and she put her arm around my shoulders. We sat in silence for a while, our legs and fingers entwined. Bonnie would occasionally try to make a light conversation but both of us knew that there wasn't a topic that could distract us from the fact that while we were sitting in my bedroom, there were men in Pearl Harbor dying.

Dying. It's not a common topic for the normal school lecture. You are never really prepared for it either, in my opinion. But death is the only inevitable thing. Everything else is left to chance. If you think about it, dying can be easier than living. Life is hell. You have to put on masks to hide your true feelings just in case the wrong person sees the wrong emotion, or else you are completely irradicated from the social hierarchy. Women in this country are never allowed to do anything without the presence of a husband, something that has always aggravated me to the point where I've told a certain male that my girlfriend can do anything she wants regardless if he thinks it's her place. Life means pain. Life means crying. Life means suffering with no way out. Death is the break. Death is your respite. Death means rest. Death means calm.

"What are you thinking about?" Bonnie asks me breaking the calm silence between us.

"Life and death," I answered.

"You're not going to do anything stupid, right?" She uttered quietly.

"Define stupid," I countered.

"You aren't going to off yourself-"

"No. I am not going to kill myself, Bonnie. I may be an idiot, but I'm not stupid," I snapped.

"Please don't be angry at me for asking. I love you, Michael. More than I probably should. I don't know what I would do if I lost you," She went on, "If you died, I-I can't even imagine it,".

"Well let me tell you this, it won't be my gun that ends my life," I acquiesced.

"What do you mean?" She asked quietly looking into my eyes. Her blue orbs showed a twinge of fear.

"You know what this means, right? You know I have to join now," I told her straight between the eyes. I was going to go into the military one way or another. Now that my father is gone, I want revenge. I want those fascists to pay for taking him from me while he was probably doing his morning chores.

"B-but I thought y-you were going to wait til after college?" She squeaked.

"Bonnie, you can't be serious. They took him away from me. This is personal now," I spoke slowly so she understood every single word and syllable.

"Michael you can't leave me here. You can't. I love you too much," Tears started to come from her eyes now. I sat up and swiped my thumb under her eye. I leaned into her and kissed her softly. A promise.

"I will always come back to you. You know that," I told her.

"No, Michael I won't let you. You are not leaving me," She started to get worked up.

"I'm not leaving right now, Bonnie. I have to tell my mother and sister. I have to tell everyone at school. But I will be going to fight them in any way I can. Think about it. Having a military man as a boyfriend. It's all you've ever wanted, right?" I leaned my forehead on hers and looked into her eyes. They glistened with unshed tears. She doesn't know, but I'm absolutely terrified to go onto their land and shoot a gun for my country. I am terrified that I might die, but I know that this needs to be done. I need to go. I need to be on that front line as a representative of the United States of America, telling the Nazis that America will not stand for their ways. They need to go.

"I just thought I had more time with you. I-I," She broke off into sobs this time. I pulled her into me and just hugged her. I rested my cheek on the top of her head and breathed in the scent of her hair. Baby powder and lilacs. Just like always. I put the knuckle of my index finger under her chin and made her glance up at me.

"Bonnie Jean Phillips, I will never let you live this world alone. You've got me under your spell and I don't ever want to come out of it. I will always come back for you. You can't get rid of me that easy," I kissed her once more on the mouth and looked into her ice blue orbs. She leaned her head back to my chest and we slowly drifted off to sleep entwined in each other's embrace.

Japan, you messed with the wrong family.