Forged

Written for https://christinebialczak.com/2024/05/28/simply-6-minutes-welcome-to-the-challenge-05-28-2024/

His body as still as the rock fortress, he adjusted his medals.

If he shut his eyes, he was able to visualize his former comrades, their grief immense. Yet the one bond he discovered was a German solider. He was unsure if he had the ability to survive his injuries, and another young man sat beside him.

He was unable to grasp German, and the teenage boy had no command of English.

A lit cigarette removed from his top pocket, he cleared a place in the dirt, and left the stub, along with the bullet. Their bond for the young soldier, kept them from their former sides.

Without them sharing those minutes, showing their reason to survive. His wife and children, and a sweetheart no older than eighteen. Each uncovered the inspiration to move on with their separate fight.

‘Leon, glad you made it.’

‘Hallo, du siehst gut aus.’

‘You look well too, for an old guy.’

‘We are both old my friend,’ Leon said. ‘But we are the lucky ones.’

They both prayed, in a silent rememberance of the fallen. As they turned back into the sunshine, they lit a cigarette in honour of their friends. Lucky to be alive, war lasted less time than the friendship formed in chaos.