Protected in the deep, dark hole I had dug with my bare hands, I finally was able to breathe, but only for a minute. Shrapnel rained down into my thick, curly hair and became entangled. I heard the thumping of boots as soldiers ran by on all sides, rocking the walls of my trench. I knew I was in danger, but there was something calming about that burrow. It reminded me of being under the chassis of a Chevy back in Sacramento.
Jimmy wasn’t hiding in a ditch. He was running towards the action. Jimmy had a unique run, a gallop. He sounded like a horse. Th-dump. Th-dump. As the Jap machine gunners fired down the hill, I heard them screaming, “Rirōdo! Rirōdo!”
One of my generals ran over my tunnel, his foot collapsing through.
“C’mon!” He pulled me out with a Hulk-like strength. It felt like he was about to rip my arm off.
“We have a war going on right now! Buck up!” the general yelled with an ear-piercing scream.
I dropped down to the ashy beach and crawled on all fours over the rag doll bodies that littered the beach. So many bodies, it reminded me of the plastic toy soldiers a boy would have scattered around his bedroom floor. One of the casualties looked familiar. As I used the body as a shield, I realized that this was Arthur. Arthur Fenway. I quickly removed the blood splashed dog tags from his muscular neck. I shoved the dog tags into my pockets. No time to mourn. Had to get back to the war.
“Stay with us, Floyd!” Jimmy shouted from across the battlefield.
I could see him, 30 yards ahead, as he mercilessly shot a Jap in the back. Suddenly, I felt lightheaded. War is just as gruesome as I had imagined.
Sprinting ahead, I caught up with Jimmy. A Japanese soldier charged at me in a full-on sprint, just like a cheetah going after its prey. I swiftly took my M1 Garand and bashed the stock against his skull. The sound was sharp, like twigs being broken in half. I swung again, and with all my strength I went for his chins. His tibia shattered, poking through, his fragile skin destroyed. Blood started to seep through his canvas uniform.
I was not the same man that I used to be. Confidence surged through my veins. My first kill. Jimmy turned, nodded and flashed me a smile. We were on the same page, ready to kill anyone who stood in our way.
As I squinted and shielded my eyes from the sun beaming behind Jimmy, I heard a loud bang. Blood spattered and blocked the rays of the sun, like a painter dowsing its canvas. Jimmy collapsed to the ground. I rushed to Jimmy’s side.
“You’re going to be fine, Jimmy. No, don't leave me Jimmy. Jimmy! Jimmy!” I said with shock and disbelief.
Looking at his wounds, my jaw dropped to the ground. I noticed a gaping hole the size of a tennis ball. The bullet went clear through.
“Floyd. It’s inevitable. Water…can I have some water?” he said with his trademark Alabama twang.
I took my canteen and carefully poured the last drops into Jimmy’s bloody mouth.
“Tell Susan I love her, but my love of my country is stronger,” Jimmy sputtered as he took his final breaths.
In life, we face loss. What’s important is making that loss count.
-Miles M.
Miles M,
ReplyDeleteA quote that was touching from your story was, “In life, we face loss. What’s important is making that loss count.” That quote is important because everyone always sees the losing as a summary of what happened. Using this quote I can now take the positives out of a situation even if I lose.
ReplyDeleteMiles M: Figurative language can be seen in the passage when the author used the phrases "protecting in the deep, dark hole I had dug with my bare hands" and "burrow" to depict the deep trench. Sensory language is seen with the use of adjectives such as "thick, curly hair," "ashy beach," and "ear-piercing scream." Also, strong verbs are seen in phrases like "gallop" and "swiftly" which bring action into the text.
The story's central idea is that war is gruesome and can change a person. The author could be offering a lesson to readers that facing and dealing with loss is important. This can be reflected in the following quote from the passage, "In life, we face loss. What’s important is making that loss count." One can apply this lesson to their own life by accepting and learning from their losses and channeling them into positive changes.
History comes alive through the detailed descriptions of weaponry and military terminologies that were used during World War II. The allusions to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the involvement of the US in World War II are quite familiar. But the allusions to more specific actions or terminologies related to the war would require a quick search to get a full understanding of the context.
From Rolando:
ReplyDelete“So many bodies, it reminded me of the plastic toy soldiers a boy would have scattered around his bedroom floor,” Miles makes the reader create a picture in their head about how the battles might have looked like by giving an example of a fairly relatable scene of plastic toy soldiers scattered around a floor. Miles also uses allusions a lot in his story like “shrapnel” which I had to search up and “trademark Alabama twang,” to significantly bring the story to life, with slang and bringing in the setting. Miles’s central idea, “ In life, we face loss.” “What’s important is making that loss count.” Though at first, I thought Miles had just stated his central idea he puts emphasis on it through his main character dying at the end resulting in an unhappy ending, but instead, he uses the central idea not all battles can be won to really make the reader think about what can be learned.