Ageless War

One || The Draft

(Hey guys, little before the chapter info, when there is ~~~ it's a point of view change and when there is ••• it's a time lapse. Also the shit before each chapter tell who's POV it starts on and where/when it is. Ight, have fun!

Copyright stuff:

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Contact the author for permissions.

Also, please keep in mind that this is, for the most part, a first draft. If there are grammar/spelling errors, or some things don't seem to fit perfectly with the history, please go easy on me. I plan on fixing these things in editing!

Enjoy!)

Ira Costello

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Friday, January 24th, 1944

6:32 am

The crackling and mindless chatter from the living room sent chills down my spine; the fact that I was only hearing bits and pieces did nothing to soothe my nerves. In all my years of walking on this planet, the last few decades had been some of the worst by far.

"Ira, come listen to this!" Adaline called from the couch.

I continued to pace as I grimaced. "I am."

Regardless of how much I wished they would just turn the damn thing off, I made my way to where they were eagerly listening to our radio. They sat deathly still, creating indents on our pale blue couch from sitting in the same place for too long.

"I can't believe you got Ollie interested in this. It's horrific." I spoke into the relatively silent dorm room, my voice temporarily drowning out the static filled words of the man on the radio.

"I can't believe you wear suits everyday. It's horrific," Ollie mocked me while barely nodding in my direction, his thick Irish accent along with a healthy dose of sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Hey, some people like to look nice," I responded defensively, happy to talk about something unrelated to the new war, despite the fact that they seemed like they barely noticed me.

"Tone down the testosterone, guys. I'm trying to listen."

That lasted a whole two seconds.

"I don't want to hear about war anymore, okay? The first one was bad enough." Flashbacks of the first world war came and went, but since the year before, I could hardly silence the sound of devastating bombs, whizzing bullets, and screams. God, the screaming was enough to drive me over the edge; I woke up almost every night drenched in sweat, my throat raw from yelling.

Adaline's face softened at my solemn words. "I know, Ira, we miss him, too."

I felt like I was going to throw up.

Standing up abruptly, I tried to walk to the front door without falling over, but my head suddenly weighed a thousand pounds. I heaved open the white door, slamming it behind me once I was in the hallway. I dropped to the ground, resting my back against the wall. Without warning, every sound was magnified. I saw his face, bloodied and bruised, appearing in between wisps of smoke and fog.