Watch The Skyline [Hiatus]

Memory One: Letter of Conscription [Frederick]

It was a typical Saturday morning.

Dad was down at the drug store keeping things in check, Mom was listening to her radio shows while doing chores around the house, and Nathan was just lounging around in the livingroom rereading yet another one of his many comic books.

As for me, I was getting ready to go meet up with some friends. George was stopping by from his university in Richmond. John, Robert, and I decided to pick up the kid and have ourselves a good time downtown. 

It's been three years since we graduated from Trinity High as class of 1939, and as far as I can tell, George was the only one going places. Not a surprise though, he was always the smartest one out of all of us. I couldn't wait to see him.

I was heading out the door, baseball cap and car keys in my hand, when my mom called me from the kitchen.

"Frederick! You're going out, aren't you?"

Stopping, I leaned on the entry way to the living room, which was next to the front door and connected to the kitchen on the other side. "Yeah, Mom! Why?"

"Go get the mail!"

"Okay!" I put on my cap and opened the door, making my way down the porch and sidewalk that cut through our lawn to get to the mailbox by the street. I looked around as I walked, seeing if any of my neighbours were out. None were, I guess they were all inside just taking a rest from the week.

When I reached the standing metal box I opened it and pulled out the mail. There were only a few letters, probably all bills. The newspaper was carelessly thrown a few feet away from where I was standing so I decided to go and retrieve that as well. I wish the paper boy would work on his aim.

Nathaniel was waiting for me by the door when I went back inside the house.

"What?" I asked, looking down at my thirteen year old brother.

"Are they here yet?" He asked in a bored tone, staring the mail in my hands.

"Your comic books? No."

He let out a frustrated groan and rolled his eyes. "I can only reread my old ones so many times."

I shrugged, about to walk around him to go to the other room in order to give Mom the mail, when I saw one of the corners of the envelopes sticking up from the rest of the stack.

All I had to see were the words Selective Service. That's all it took to make me stop dead in my tracks and stare at what I knew I had in my hands. It was obvious. What else would it be, and for who else but me?

I took it out from the stack and put the rest of the mail on the little table top that Mom had recently put by the door with a flower vase. I stared at the envelope. It had official marked all over it, with my name right in the middle of it all.

Nathaniel could probably sense that something was wrong; he leaned over to see what I was looking at. I had a sick feeling in my gut, but I tried my best to swallow it down. Maybe it wasn't what I thought it was, maybe it's something else entirely.

No.

It was exactly what I thought it was.

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                                        ORDER TO REPORT FOR INDUCTION

The President of the United States,

  To                  Frederick                           Matthew                         Pierce.