Those Were the Days... (Let Me Series Short Stories)

Louis

*Louis's Story*

America

1775 AD

I woke with a bang as cannon fire blasted over my tent, leaving my comrades and I scrambling. I panted for breath as I hurriedly pulled on my uniform and grabbed my weapon. The rest of the men evacuated the tent, leaving me in the dust as usual. I just wasn't big enough to keep up.

All my life, I'd been branded as "Little Louis". When I was younger, it had only been a small nuisance. As a member of the nobility I'd always had a countless number of servants to cater to all my needs. But that was before the war with America, and before I'd been forced into the military.

Life was very different here than in my family's grand manor.

I finished with my clothes and stumbled out into the war-torn forest. Bullets ricocheted off the trees and blood stained the ground. I stared around with wide eyes as I crouched beneath the tent entrance using the little cover it gave me. All of my training disappeared in the face of an actual battle. Prior to this, I had spent much of my time marching around. Before that, my regiment and I had been shipped over on a cramped ship. The past months were not something that I wished to dwell on...

But none of that could have prepared me for the terror that I now beheld. Without warning, a man leaped at me out of the trees with his arms outstretched. But before I could even react, a bullet slammed through his chest, dropping him to the ground. His eyes locked onto mine as the life drained out of them, seeming to melt me from the inside out. I collapsed into a shaking, moaning mess as if I'd been shot. Everything around me seemed to shudder and twist; time moved slowly then quickly as I inched away from the dead man.

Somehow I got to my feet, and then I was running. And if anything can be said about my physical skills, it would be that I was fast.

For minutes, which actually felt like hours, I was sprinting through the forest on pure adrenaline. I focused my gaze on the far distance, keeping my thoughts far from the blood and the bodies. When I finally found that I could run no farther I realized that I had left the gore of the battle behind.

I leaned over and pressed my hands to my knees as I gasped for breath. When I was able to raise my head, I squinted around slowly at the seemingly idyllic landscape.

I circled slowly, taking in the view of the quiet, flowing stream, the gently swaying trees, and- a dark shape suddenly appears in my periphery; causing me to whirl around. Before my eyes can focus, a large object collides with the back of my head. My vision blurs and fades to nothingness as my body hits the ground...

***

"Louis is that you?" A familiar voice floats to me through the haze. I focus on it and pull myself out of the unwilling sleep. "Harold?" I mumble, not really believing that my one friend in the military had also been captured. My eyes flutter open and I squint at him.

The curly haired boy smiled at me. "How did they get you?" I ask.

"A couple of us went out to scout," he smiled sheepishly. "I must ask you the same thing?"

"Um.." I mumble, not wanting to let Harry know that I'd run from a battle.

"Louis..?" he questioned.

"It's nothing they just captured me!" Harry gave me a look and just shrugged it off.

Suddenly, an Indian came into the tent and dragged a man away screaming. Harry tensed, obviously wanting to help, although I knew that was impossible. "Are you okay?" I ask.

Harry have me another look. "We're kind of in a bad situation..."

"Well I can see that, but you were calmer before," I say.