It was summer. The band played and crowds cheered as they marched off. Girls showered the boys with flowers and kisses. It was all a grand adventure. Marnie was the only young woman to enlist. I wanted to give her a flower. I wanted to kiss her, bend her back like a movie heroine. But I was ashamed.
Now it’s winter. They’ll never come back, those boys and Marnie. All gone. We’re ashamed we encouraged them so. Nobody ever visits this bandstand now.
Except me. I’m glad I didn’t enlist. I’m still alive.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
Neil MacDonald Author 
I wonder how many people at the time of the world wars had doubts when waving their boys off to battle? Few would admit it of course, unlike today where there is much more vocal opposition.
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I think I probably would have signed up for the Second World War. I like to think I wouldn’t for the First
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I really like this Neil. Had no idea where it was going. So much in such a short piece. Poignant. Well done.
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I really like this Neil. Had no idea where it was going. So much in such a short piece. Poignant. Well done.
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Thanks so much
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Poignant. I think the first war had way more idealistic fever because nobody had any idea about modern war. WW2 was more about revenge. But in either case, volunteering was beside the point. Well told!
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Thanks so much, Joshua
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I really enjoyed reading this, beautifully written.
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Thanks so much, Tasha
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Dear Neil,
His survivor’s guilt is tangible. Poignant and well written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks so much, Rochelle
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Some guilt, some regret, and much relief.
A potent cocktail of emotions adroitly expressed.
PS Did you sleep in this week?
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Thanks so much. No, I didn’t sleep in. I was away visiting friends overnight.
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Just so long as you’ve brought a note!
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Thank you for this, Neil. So many see the glory in sending people off to war, and forget the ugliness that war truly is, the losses, the seen and unseen wounding. No one who goes to war comes back the same. And all too many do not return.
I abhor war.
May this season of light bring comfort and joy to you and yours,
Na’ama
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Thanks so much, Na’ama. War is waged by old men using the bodies of the young
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Exactly stated. Oy.
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Life that could have been. Sad. I hope he lived a life for the fallen. My grandfather always regretted not going to war even though a) he was too young and b) he worked the land and the government wouldn’t have let him. Going to war the honourable thing in his thinking.
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I suspect he’ll live a live wracked by guilt and relief
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Wow. This is so thought provoking Neil.
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That’s good, I hope, Louise. Not everyone likes to think
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I don’t think you can help it if you’re a writer!
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Guilt is a terrible thing, but he made the right choice. Pity he didn’t kiss her, though!
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He was ashamed that he wasn’t going off to war too
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A panoply of emotions within this one. Really well written…
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Thanks so much, Dale
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I’ve always wondered why we send them off to war as if it were just a big party.
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Perhaps because, if we told them what they were really heading for, they wouldn’t go
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Many complex layers to your story. Well-done as usual, Neil.
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Thanks so much, Jade
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You are very welcome, Neil.
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Well told, Neil. I’m sure you’re right about the shame your main character would have felt, and the sense of it comes through clearly.
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Thanks so much, Penny
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ouch, I felt that.The combination of guilt at being alive, sadness because Marnie is dead and the relief at not enlisting must be difficult to live with. I hope my children never have to make that decision.
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Thanks so much, Siobhan
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Guilt, shame, fear, relief – a very real set of emotions for this situation.
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Thanks so mjuch
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Those glorious adventures never turn out like the enlistees imagine. War is a horrilbe thing. Thankfully, I was a year or two too young for Vietnam. Well told tale, Neil. The emotions really came through.
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Thanks so much, Russell
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Oh this has so many layers. Deep unsettled emotions. What is right and wrong. Opinion and pressure… and loss. Is it wrong to want to stay alive ? So well told.
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Thanks so much, Laurie
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Well told, Neil. I wonder how many people felt this way after the WWI particularly? All those crowds sending off the brave boys, all those Pals Brigades who perished together. Well done
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Thanks so much, Lynn. Strangely, I had Vietnam in mind
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My pleasure, Neil. A great read
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The guilt is overwhelming, and there is also relief of making a sensible choice. Yet the shame drips off him still.
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And will until his unhappy end
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You focus on a specific scene so skilfully to tell a much bigger story. I felt moved by the innocence of the recruits and the guilt of the survivor who didn’t sign up. Great story Neil.
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Thanks so much
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The protagonist went from feeling shame for not enlisting to feeling relief for not having gone to war. What a sad, thought-provoking tale.
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Thanks so much, Magarisa
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A bitter sweet story, war takes so much, get time and time again war returned to haunt humanity.
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One day we’ll figure out what causes it
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