Little Pieces of Mine

"A Mystery Of Heroism" alternate ending

So this next piece was an assignment from my english class we did a few weeks ago.

The assignment was to draft an alternative ending to the story and write it. So I did just that and let me tell you, I try so hard on this, I better be getting an A. Also to get a better understanding of what this is coming from I recommend you read "A Mystery of Heroism" by Stephen Crane before you read this. Also the reason for the one huge paragraph thing is due to the style of how it was originally written, I wanted to keep it the way it was originally formatted.

You'll be able to tell when I come in. So here is my assignment.

When Collins faced the meadow and walked away from the regiment, he was vaguely conscious that a chasm, the seep valley of all prides, was suddenly between him and his comrades. Glancing ahead as he took long strides over the ground, Collins could only see what appeared to be another man already at the well. With the canteens in hand he quickened his pace just to hear a bullet whizz behind him. At this point he didn't care who else was at the well as long as he could get a few of the canteens filled in a minute he would be alright. The well was about a few yards in front of him when he suddenly felt himself trip over something sticking out of the ground. He looked down and saw a foot sticking out of the ground. "Poor guy," he thought to himself, "Must have gotten trampled by something." Now scrambling to get back up, the mud had taken his boot as a prisoner as he tried to climb back up. He had already wasted enough of his time and needed to get to well. His sock was wet and starting to fall off too but he continued toward the well. The figure he saw just a couple minutes earlier was still standing there. As he finally reached the well relieved and out of breath, he cautiously rounded the corner as to not startle who ever was there with him, enemy or friend. Leaning limp and pale against the stone post of the well was a man from the other side. Stepping back quickly as to not disturb the man whether he was just shutting his eyes for a quick nap or had been shot and needed help. The man stirred when the canteens Collins has been holding banged against the well. The man coughed a little then started to straighten realizing there was someone else with him. "Who are you? Friend or enemy?" the man yelled. "I'm a soldier. I am here to retrieve water for my regiment." Replied Collins. "You didn't answer my question. Are you a friend or an enemy?" The man replied with a little more harshness in his voice. Collins sighed and carefully came around the corner to face the man. "I want to be your friend, I don't mean to harm you or anyone for that matter." he confessed. Collins held up the canteens so the man could see he really was just here to fetch water, he didn't bring a weapon since he didn't really expect to make it this far for this long. Both of the men silently looked at each other and their ragged appearances as bombs and cannons were heard off in the background along with the occasional streak of red in the distance. Collins couldn't tell if the man he just met had any weapons on him by his body language he trusted the man wouldn't harm him and let him get water for his friends. Quickly he lowered the bucket into the water and pulled it back up, hitting the sides of the well making some of the water spill out. This was undeniable the longest Collins had been out on the battlefield without any of his teammates to back him up if anything happened. Collins had forgotten how thirsty he was after his little chat with his new friend and was now paying for it. His whole mouth was dry and now his saliva wasn't even helping him anymore. He dunked his head into the well letting it satisfy what he had needed for a while. He came back up when he felt the ground beneath him shake. Looking around to see what had exploded he found his new friend had collapsed and hit his head on the well then fell next to Collins. In shock Collins bent down to see if the man was still conscious. Looking around he realized his team was peeking over the bunker trying to see if he was still alive with all the activity going on around him. Collins had a challenge on his hands now, was he going to let this man bleed out and probably die here on the field or make a run for it with him on his back to try and get him medical help. Knowing he didn't have much time to think about his decision, Collins picked up the man and made a run for the bunker. He knew what he had just done would create mass confusion on both sides. The other side would see this man being carried across to Collins side and think he was trying to capture him. While the other side just saw their teammate returning with a new person on their back. For those few moments there was silence all over the field. Neither side shot at the man running across the plain. The fear of shooting their own man didn't want to be on their hands. He was now about 10 yards from his comrades. They either had a look of confusion or a smile on their face. Jumping into the safety of his base Collins started looking for a medic to help the poor man whose heartbeat was slowly fading. People around him were patting him on the back and saying thanks for there had been a shortage of water for a while but no one was brave enough to go out and retrieve it. Finally he found someone and brought them to the man who was just lying on the ground. The doctor assessed the man's wound and told Collins to bring him back to the bunks. His heartbeat was slow but it was steady and the doctor said he should be back up in a few days after he got the proper recovery he needed. Not only was Collins the one who went out to get the water after losing a boot to the mud, he returned with all the canteens filled along with a wounded man who eventually was well enough to return to battle on his own side.