Either This Or Upon This

As I sat with my friends, eating food and looking up at the sky, I felt a sense of relief and peace. It felt like a normal afternoon. The only problem was that it wasn’t a normal afternoon. It was World War I. I was in a trench, filled with rats and bodies.

I turned to my friend, Al, and asked for a cigarette. I smoked away, without a care in the world.

"Something wrong Robert?" my friend Paul asked.

"No, nothing, just waiting for the shelling to start again" I replied.

Low and behold, we heard loud whistling in the air, sort of like the sound of a screaming soul hailing down on us.

"Inside we go" said Al, and so we entered the underground part of the trench. It was as if we had radars to detect the shelling. We took a seat on our bunks, and tried to sleep.

I dreamed about when we volunteered. When America declared war, we were eager to fight, straight out of grammar school. How odd it was to volunteer for this horror. Before leaving, I walked with my girlfriend along the pier, where my boat was waiting.

"Why must you volunteer?" she asked.

"I guess I feel I owe something to this country" I replied.

She smiled, and I noticed a tear roll down her cheek. I was about to tell her not to cry, until she reached into her purse and pulled out a silver locket, which gleamed beautifully in the sun. She handed it to me, and I still remember her eternal words as she clasped it into my hands.

"Either this or upon this" she stated, handing me the locket. I nodded, kissed her goodbye, and got on the boat to Europe.

In no time at all, we were in France, immediately being sent on an offensive to stop the German invasion. St Mihiel was chosen for the offensive. France was a beautiful country no doubt, but as we drove closer the frontlines, I could already tell that I was getting into something far worse than I ever imagined.

I did not sleep much longer, for some crazed private came in screaming, afraid of the shelling. Having woken up everyone, we quickly hit him over the head to knock him out, and took him to the medical ward.

Just then, a whistle sounded. It was time for the offensive. The German trench was only a few hundred yards away. We gathered up, in the trench and waited for the signal.

"Onward!" yelled our sergeant. We got out of the trench, and ran toward the German trench. Machine guns blazed, the sun beat down on us, all while stepping over dead bodies of our comrades, not a pretty sight. I was next to both Al and Paul, running toward the German trench.

"Stay low guys!" yelled Al, and kept running, holding onto his helmet, which kept slipping off. I could hear the screams around me, an echoing despair. I held the locket tight, and ran onward.

We were finally in range of German rifle fire, and the mirage of bullets came flying. Paul fell quickly, giving off a quick scream. He had been shot in the neck. I didn’t slow down and kept running until I found a small crater. Al and I dove in, and got our rifles ready.

"Halt the Hun!" I heard someone yell. Me and Al peaked up, and fired our rifles at the Germans. We were not sure if we hit anything or anyone, but we just kept firing. I looked around while reloading.