A Timeless Battle

A Timeless Battle
Written by Michael Lynch
Word count 1895

It was a clear blue sky and all around was peaceful, it was a perfect Christmas Eve. A few hours before it was time to deliver his load of gifts the spirit of Christmas was having a peaceful drive round in his sleigh; he had a quick errand to make first. His reindeer were in good form. Soon he was flying over a desolate landscape. It puzzled him; he couldn’t see any families, let alone children. He went down lower to investigate this strange place. It was a barren land, desert stretched as far as the eye could see. His usual cheery face changed to one of concern.

“Why”. He thought to himself “Why are there no sounds of merriment? “. Settling his sleigh down on the desert sand it came to a standstill.
“I must look into this place “. He thought to himself looking in one of the houses he saw a young man in shirt and pants curled up in the foetal position on an olive green groundsheet. He looked at peace with the world.
“Hmm this is most strange I don ‘t see any signs of Christmas in this house, yet there is a feeling of peace

Looking round him he saw the place was bare of furniture except for a single bed and a locker. In the corner was another locker with a weapon standing up.
“11mm this young man has led a troubled life, he has seen much that would have troubled many “. Looking round the walls he saw photos of strange lands, photos of family. One of the frames contained the photo of a pretty young girl. Looking further he saw a box containing medals. He scratched his long flowing beard. “My, this young man has done many gallant acts, but why is he here all alone? “.

Just then the young man woke up. From where he was lying he saw a figure shimmering and red. “Geez what the hell is happening, who are you?”

‘l am the spirit of Christmas”

“Yeahh and I am the spirit of defence”. sneered the young soldier.

The spirit walked over to the young man and knelt by his side. “That may well be true young man, look around you, what do you see? “.

The soldier stared into the distance through an open window. “I see nothing old man, just desert and a clear blue sky”.
‘Precisely young man there is nothing to see from here, you have done your job and made this land secure. But what of the other lands where trouble reigns? “.

The soldier stood and stretched and then reached down for his Olive drab pants. He struggled into them muttering to himself “Why cant this old man leave me to my sleep, damn haven’t I had enough strife for one lifetime “.

He finished dressing and picked up his machine carbine.
Striding to the door he asked the old man. “So old man what is the purpose of your visit and why have you disturbed my sleep?”
“It is true young man Jam old, much older than you would ever think, and I now know my reason for being here “, “but come we have much to do and little time to do it “.
The spirit took the young man by his hand and led him out to his sleigh. The

young soldier could see nothing but a faint shimmering. “OK old guy now I want to know the truth, what and who are you?”

The spirit replied. “I already told you who lam, I’m the Spirit of Christmas and ~f I’m not mistaken you are the guardian spirit of all mankind”.

“Oh yeahhh, me a spirit that’s a laugh, I have been in this god forsaken desert for two months now and if I was a spirit I think I would spirit myself away to somewhere better”.

The spirit helped the soldier into the sleigh and calmly said. “Come with me young man and all will be explained, you will see for yourself why you are here “.

The soldier had a helpless expression. “But why now why couldn’t you have come to me before. You could have prevented a lot of the shit I have been through”.

Suddenly they were aloft flying through the air, up and up and up. Soon the earth was far below them. A lovely sphere spinning in space, almost wholly blue.
The soldier couldn’t believe his eyes. “Slit what is this I don’t believe it that is the earth down there”.
“Believe it young man, what you see is the earth and all its troubles, come we will take a closer look”.

The sleigh began to dive down into the earth’s atmosphere again. Soon they were skimming along at tree top height. Down below a battle was raging.

A gasp suddenly escaped the soldier. “Shit those guys down there they are dressed like Romans”.
They went lower and the soldier was concentrating on a young centurion who was battling for his life.

Old man I know that centurion it’s as if I have been here this is the battle of
Antioch”.
He rubbed his eyes as if he disbelieved what he saw but still the image of that young centurion
stayed with him.

“It is true my friend that is indeed the battle of Antioch and that young centurion is indeed yourself you see my friend you are like me ageless, whereas I have lived to help bring cheer to people, you my friend have had a duty to be a guardian through the centuries “.

The sleigh climbed again and skimmed across mountains and deserts then it was descending again. Again the terrain was familiar. Another battle another place. What the young soldier was witnessing now was the battle of Quatre Bras.

“Geez old man I have been here I know this place, the farmhouse, it is all coming back”. Just then a cannon shell landed on the Farm house, it disintegrated throwing bodies in all directions.
The old man took him by the arm and pointed to the wreckage. “You died there young man, but your spirit carried on through the centuries as you shall see”.

A short flight later they were hovering over another place this one was like no other they had visited. Mists hung over the land a yellowish colour. In the background there were yells and the sound of shells exploding. The land had suffered terrible upheavals, barbed wire was strung everywhere. The old man noticed the look of concern on the young mans face.
“Yes, it is the Somme, it is almost a vision of Dante ‘s Hell and you my friend were there look see

The vision that was unfolding in front of the young soldiers eyes was that of a young officer leading his men over the ramparts of a huge trench.
“Oh god I remember this so clearly a hundred men mown down and blown to bits, my whole detachment dead”.

“Look close my friend. See that young officer he is/ailing across the body of a young soldier”.
The young man watched as the officer threw himself across the body of another young soldier.

Tears appeared in the young mans eyes. “He was only sixteen he should never have been there, I managed to save him though”.

“You saved him at the cost of your own life again, I know now that you are sent into these battles to save lives, but at what cost”.

On their way back to the present they visited battlefields of the second big war and saw much of the same. Then the land changed it was mountains and jungle and rice paddies. This war was different; innocents were being sacrificed in the name of ideology. They saw in the sky squadrons of bombers loosing their payload of death on innocent people. They saw children running down the road holding swathes of skin, which had been melted from their skinny bodies by the death dealing napalm.

The spirit turned to the young man. “This is a Christmas you wont forget and neither will the people of Laos, as you see each successive war gels more and more terrible and as you know this war carried on long after you returned home
The scene changed to that of a party, everyone was enjoying themselves; everyone that is except a young man who sat alone, closer investigation showed the young man’s eyes they were filled with tears.

geez old man how could I ever enjoy Christmas again I tried, but every time I thought of the those kids all those years back and not just at that time but somewhere in the world someone is suffering through man’s inhumanity”.

“Come young man we still have more to see and little time to do it in”.
They carried on with their visits. Some of the places they visited were not even at war, yet warplanes flew overhead bombing and raining their missiles down on yet another innocent population. Snow was falling heavily over this once beautiful landscape and people were dying not from bombs and napalm but starvation, another weapon in mans arsenal.

The young soldier looked down on the scene. “Tell me old man am I responsible for all this, I am a soldier I fight other soldiers not innocent people”.
“Ills not your doing it is the fault of many, Politicians, Religious Leaders, but most of all the greed of power. When Man can do without power and greed is a thing of the past, then and only then will scenes such as this cease “.
“So whilst all this trouble is around us I and many more like us are needed, even now my unit is moving up to Baghdad to try and take the city

“Don ‘t you worry your not there, you were left in a rearguard position for a purpose and not by your leaders, but by a higher power”.

The young man looked puzzled and spoke softly. “Is there no way I can get out of all of this, I am beginning to tire of all of this death”.
“All will be sorted out my friend. But come, we have to return “.

They got in the sleigh and carried on their journey. Soon they were back at where they started. The young soldier got out of the sleigh and walked over to his barracks. He stopped and turned back and gave the old man a salute. He was looking weary and slumped. The Spirit waved to him and suddenly left.

In the distance the sky lit up with explosions and missiles. He looked towards it and thought. “I guess that must be the push on Baghdad beginning shit more death and destruction .1 want
He hadn't time to finish his last thought he didn’t even hear the scud come down and explode. It was quick all the little huts and vehicles were disintegrated. The soldier? What was left of him was spread over the area.

From a distance the Spirit watched and said. “ Well young man you got your wish No more will you have to witness such scenes as you have in the past. You were truly the universal soldier, now through the bravery of you and thousands like you the world can rest tonight in peace “.