1944 (12miles south of Spa Belgium)

Cherry

By Penny4athought

Fri, 03 May 2019
  • 4608 reads
9 comments
 

1944

 The snow was thick but not as thick as what was piled in his boots. Foster broke from file and stepped against the slim trunk of a winter barren tree.

“We gotta’ keep goin.” The Brigadier General ordered but three more soldiers, exhausted and cold took Foster’s lead instead.“Okay, we can rest for ten minutes but that’s all,” he gave in.

His men wearily lowered their packs to the ground and closed their eyes, trying to find solace or dream themselves out of here.

Foster slid down onto the cold ground and crossed his arms over his knees.

How will this end? He asked silently but he already knew the answer as he looked up at the impenetrable grey clouds.

There’d been no ground cover for days and there would be none today. They were without protection in this forest of dense tree twigs carpeted in cold white death and the Panzer army wasn’t far behind them.

“Some way to spend Christmas Eve, huh Sergeant?” Matt asked as he sat down next to him and offered him a smoke.

“Yeah, hell of a way private,” Foster agreed and gratefully took the offered cigarette, lighting it with less than steady hands. He didn’t want the reminder of what day it was, thoughts of his family around a tree, worrying about him, were not conducive to keeping his mind sharp and his body safe, safe enough to return home without a box.

The rumble of the medic’s jeep had them all turning towards it. Everyone was accoutned for. Small relief they’d survived the last ambush. Smaller hope they’d survive the next.

“There’s a protected rest camp three miles down if we can make it there…” Matt’s voice trailed off, little hope in his words. They both knew the Brigadier General’s orders were clear, they were to join the ruptured front lines and beef up the defenses, there was no rest camp for them tonight.

The howling winds whipped the general’s words away but all the men knew what he’d ordered and they quickly rose to their feet forming a line and marching forward.

The chill winds of the Ardennes would never leave his soul, Foster thought as he stepped into the line, even if he got out of here alive, he’d never forget the cold breath of death or the blood stains on Christmas snow.

Certificate 15
Story
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by Di_Hard on

you communicate the cold so well with this, I was reaching for my cardigan at the end! And the hopelessness of it, too. This terrible journey was only leading to the front line, yet they did not lie down and die there, but carried on, such strength of spirit. I don't know Belgium at all, but the title of Spa makes me think of somewhere posh and warm, very different to how it must have been then

 

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Thank you Di for your comments and I am sorry it gave you chills but I am pleased it drew you in.

Penny4athought

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

You made me feel cold too, so your descriptive powers are working well Penny!

 

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Thank you. When I received 1944 as the random year, it was all I could think of, the batlle where a realtive of mine died on Christmas Eve. I thought it so sad that he had died on that day, not that death on any other day would have been less sad - but it did add another level of heartbreak. I've read about the bitter cold and the  poor ground cover and I know my relative died 10 miles south of Spa Belgium that day.  So, I purposely placed the story 12 miles south of Spa, which was 2 miles before that tragic end, and thought perhaps in this fiction, I could give him a chance to survive.

Penny4athought

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Penny,

I could visulize the scene like I was watching it happen, always a sign of an excellent writer. The bitter cold came across so well too.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Thank you Jenny, your comments gave me so much hope. I had wanted to find the essence of this story and bring the reader into the cold uncertainty that obviously matched the bitter cold around them and maybe I had.

As always, I am so thankful when you read my stories and leave your wonderful comments.smiley

Penny4athought

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Thank you for the cherries, a very nice surprise.smiley

Penny4athought

Submitted by airyfairy on

I really enjoyed this, and then reading about the background to it made it even more poignant.  What a wonderful memorial to your relative.

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Thank you airyfairy, it has always stayed with me even though I'd never meet this relative, the ending of his life seemed so harsh for one so young (he'd turned 29 the September before that Christmas Eve) and the year 1944 just evoked so many images for me, I felt as if I were there too as I wrote.

I'm so glad you left a comment to let me know you had enjoyed the read, I very much appreciate it.smiley

Penny4athought