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Voluntary Conscription

    Father and Mother were not happy, but then, they never were. I knew what I had to do, and so I did. After school with my mates, as soon as the bell rang we shot off like bullets to the Recruitment offices. Eager to do our bit for King and country, and to blazes with silly old age requirements. The officer at the booth even said I looked old enough to pass for 18, as long as I stood tall and straight. I wanted to help the war effort, push back the Fritz and have the adventure of a lifetime. Just like my mates. Just like all the lads in school, well except little Charlie, but he always was a wuss. I thought the uniform they handed us was marvelous, I looked manly and proud in the khaki green. Brass buttons sparkling in the sun. My friends and I thought we looked quite the soldiers. Even if the coattails were a little long, and the cuffs rode up past my wrists.


    Mother shrieked fit to burst when I walked in through the door, proud as anything. The day was getting on and dinner was ready and waiting. Father, well...he didn''t say anything, I think he was secretly proud, but he sure didn’t show it. All stern glares and tight lips. Bets and Daisy crowed like anything, quite taken in by the shine of my uniform. Little girls that they were. Mother cried something fierce, all red and teary. She even upset the stew in her shock. Pacing up and down all distraught, she wouldn’t even look at me. I tell you, it took all my strength to stand firm in front of her. To tell her I’d signed up for the war effort, me and my mates. That there was no way I could turn back now, but still she kept wailing and muttering. As if, if she just cried hard enough, it would change my mind. No, I knew what I had to do, and I would damn well fight for my country with my mates alongside. One big adventure come hell or high water. I ate dinner in silence after that, my stew was cold and I felt rather sick. Still, it was better than going to bed hungry. It was a cold night, and the freezing bite of the wind curled under the sills and into my blankets, where I lay shivering. No matter, I was a soldier. A man, and I would put up with such trifling matters. But still the wind came creeping back, and I slept fitfully. Tossing and turning under my ragged covers. Surely it would be better than this in...wherever soldiers were sent.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Come morning I felt stiff and sore all over, but rested none-the-less. Today was the day. I would see my battalion and ship off for bootcamp, somewhere in Europe, or maybe the Africas. See the world and all its wonders. I wondered briefly If I might get as far as Germany, send the stinkin’ huns right back to where they came from. A quick breakfast eaten in silence, Mother wouldn’t catch my eye and Father said nothing as always. My two little sisters of course were as loud as ever, and made up for the relative silence from my parents. Presently a lorry as green as my uniform came trundling by, filled fit to burst with men and boys. All signing up for the soldier''s life. Just like me. My new family, and my call to leave. I crammed the last of the marmalade toast in my mouth and headed out the front door into the garden. Mother and Father followed me out, with Bets and Daisy in tow, they weren’t so happy now. Anxious that I might never come back. I did my best to pry them off my legs before Mother eveloped me in a rib-cracking hug. Crying into my shoulder. She made me promise to stay safe. To come home. I promised her I would. Father gave me a stiff handshake and told me only to do as i''m told, to stay safe. I knew he was proud of me, I could see it in his unsmiling eyes. Tears brimmed up in my eyes without warning, and before I could let them loose I turned and climbed into the back of the truck. Other young men grabbed my shoulder straps and hoisted me in. The truck burped a puff of black smoke and grumbled, rolling slowly away. Away from my family, towards the Fritz. I turned back and waved silently. My smile brittle and my face like porcelain China. Threatening to crack.
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