The Western Front

Chapter Nine...

After about two hours of walking, I finally saw the bus station in the distance and I knew everything was going to be okay. Thoughts of my family I'd left behind kept creeping into my mind, but I quickly and violently shook them from my mind. I didn't know exactly what to think of because the only things that came to mind besides my family, was the impending war zone I was willingly putting myself into. I thought about the last few days and how Bonnie had been there and Darcy giving me a pep talk. I thought about how much I would miss them and do everything I could to get home safely to them. I thought about the possibility of dying on the battlefield and the image gave me a sinister peace. It gave me peace to know that even if I didn't get home to my family, I knew exactly who would be waiting for me up there. I thought about a lot of things on my walk to the bus station, but I was shaken from my pondering when I smacked straight into the wall of plexiglass that housed the benches one would sit at when waiting for their bus.

I laughed shamelessly at myself at my stupidity and massaged my stinging forehead. There will definitely be a bruise there in the morning. I sat down on the bench with my hands folded in my lap.

I looked up to the sky pointing out the constellations to myself remembering my first date with Bonnie. We went to dinner and then I took her star gazing. I figured that since every other boy that had taken her out had probably taken her to the movies, I would take her to look at the stars. Turns out my tactics worked and we've been together ever since. I selfishly wished I could bring her with me, but I know that if she volunteered as a nurse on that battlefield I wouldn't be serving my country anymore. I would be protecting her.

"There's the Big Dipper," I whispered to the air around me. I remember her pointing the Big Dipper out to me, being the only constellation she knew. She giggled uncontrollably and leaned her head onto my shoulder. When I asked her why she was laughing she told me that she was trying to find a constellation that I hadn't found yet before I did, and she succeeded. I laughed with her and put my arm around her shoulder. Bonnie and I never really had the awkward beginning phase of a relationship, we just fell into a simple and easy rhythm.

Finally, the bus pulled up to the station and opened its metal door to me. I stepped inside and handed the driver the money and took a seat towards the back. As I looked around the bus I saw the story that it had to tell. The rust around some of the windows and the cracks in the leather seats with wear and tear. The worn floor where hundreds of people have walked. I imagined the different passengers this bus driver has seen and known. Anything to get my mind off of what I had just done.

The weight of my guilt had settled in now and it took everything in me not to get off at the next bus stop and use a pay a taxi to take me home where I belong. I leaned my head onto the old window of the bus and tried to close my eyes and sleep. The events that had just transpired drew all the energy I thought I had out of me and left me an exhausted mess. Once I was on the brink of sleep, the bus jerked to a stop to let another person on. The stop made my head bang onto the window and I sat up with a start. I gasped and turned to the front to see who was getting on, and I saw a bent old man.

His short crew cut hair was limp, and his gnarled hand gripped a walking stick. He plodded his way up the steep steps and smiled a warm grin to the bus driver as he placed the correct amount of money for his fare. I noticed his sun-worn face that showed years of age and wisdom. He started to limp his way to find his seat. He passed all of the empty seats towards the front and made his way to the seat directly next to mine and sat down hard. He winced a little bit before he turned to me. When he looked at me, I noticed a long faint scar that traveled from the corner of his mouth to the lobe of his ear. I tried my best to not gaze at it too long, but before I could turn my gaze to his eyes, he had already caught me and commented.

"I got that in the first War," he muttered and rubbed it gently.

"You were in the first War?" I asked him with immense respect and reverence.

"Yes, I was, son. I'll never forget that time I spent on the battlefield," he said to me looking me in the eye seeing directly into my mind and soul. It was almost as if he knew what I was about to do.

"How did it feel to know you were doing the right thing?" I asked him like a little boy seeing his idol for the first time.

"It was the worst thing I've ever had to do, but it was worth it," he said. His voice I noticed was very quiet and gentle, "I was a squadron leader and I'll never forget the mistake I made. I made the mistake of leading my men to their unnecessary death at the price of my pride. I was so confident that we were indestructible, but the Russians were better. They got us in ten minutes flat. That was the first and only time I cried," he told me. His story struck me to the core. He started to tear up a little bit but immediately pulled himself together to ask me the million dollar question.

"Why are you on the midnight bus, son?" He asked me.

"I'm on my way to enlist," I told him honestly.

"You ran away, didn't you?" He asked again.

"I did what I had to do," I replied with agitation finding its way into my tone.

"That's all well and good, but, son, you need your Momma by your side if you want to go into that war. Trust me I did the very same thing as you," he told me.

"Forgive me, sir, but you seem fine," I told him honestly.

"Son, my mother didn't write me one single letter when I was on that battlefield and as each day passed without a letter I grew more resentment for her. It wasn't until I returned home two years later that I had found out my mother had actually died and I wasn't even there for her funeral," He says to me quietly. He casts his gaze down and takes a deep breath in, "Now I ride the bus at night, because I can't sleep because of the nightmares I have every night. I see them everywhere I look. A soldier's life isn't all it's made up to be," He said at almost a whisper.