Part Three:
"Why can't I get to sleep?" I pleaded to the nurse.
She started her long explanation but I shook my head.
"As soon as I close my eyes, I hear it. Gunfire and explosions. I see the jungle. I see my brothers laying dead on the ground." I clenched my jaw as a tear left my eye. The nurse sat beside me and surprised me by pulling me into a hug. I hugged the middle aged woman and bit back my cries for all my fallen mates.
"I can still see him." Skip ran his hand down his face.
"With that bloody smirk and a smart ass comment." Danny added with a chuckle.
"Drinking a tinnie at the pub, getting blind off his head." Joe finished.
"I still only see Frankie, lying in a screaming heap on the battlefield, blood covering him, his leg blown halfway across the jungle. The fear in his eyes. The agonizing yells. My brother died in my arms. That's all I see." I said brokenly.
I felt an arm go around me and a clap on the shoulder, I shook my brother off and jumped to my feet, my head shaking back and forth.
"No, this is bullshit!" I yelled.
"I know, brother." Skip sighed.
"The ANZAC legends didn't mention the mud and blood and tears! They didn't mention this!" I cried out. "The stories my dad told me.. I never saw them as real. But this.." I trailed off, slumping my body.
God help me, I was only nineteen.
YOU ARE READING
Remember The ANZAC's
Short StoryThe story of a soldier in the Australian Army, based off of the song 'I was only 19.' This idea came about because of a bookclub contest, so while I haven't entered this in, I wanted to share it anyway.
