Soldier

Gustav had been at this all morning and he barely looked tired, I think he had me do some of it to prove a point, I would never really know. When we finally did speak we spoke at the same time, he waived for me to continue as best I could for being badly winded. "How..did they..find me?" He looked confused for a moment. I gestured towards his uniform. He smiled and looked up to me. "There is no they Herr Russell, and I found you because you needed me too." I was confused and relieved all at once. He read the confused part well enough though, because what he said next had the same effect on me as it did you. "I know what you see Russell, because I see the same things." At first I shook my head to try and deny it, I had no idea how he knew, I thought I had really lost it, and maybe I was imagining it all. He stopped me with a look. and said "It is true Russell, you arent mad."

"What did you do then?"

" I cried, what else could I do? I lost it, I had wasted away in some forgotten country for almost two years, I collapsed aginst his shoulder and let the madness come out. If Jakub and Michaela saw anything they never let on. It was thinking that they had that caused me to regain my composure. I laughed, imagining what I had to look like, a grown mand sobbing like a child on the shoulder of a stranger. But I have learned one thing John, thats what we are. We are strangers, and if thats true..then I guess I had known this man all along."

"We are strangers? What do you mean?"

"How long has it been since you felt like you knew anyone around you John? How long has it been since you really felt connected to them? Like you were living the same life that they were?"

John thought for a moment, his eyes dimming into the distance."Over 40 years. Ever since Limon."

Russell nodded and sipped his beer. As he set down his glass his eyes narrowed and he spoke. "Thats what I mean, you can know people, their names, where they live..but you havent really known anyone since that day."

John peered over his beer at him, he felt close to this man, but at the same time, he knew what he said was true. "I know you Russell, and I dont feel that way right now." He said with the skeptical tone his thoughts carried spilling over into his voice.

"I know, I didnt feel that way with Gustav either. Even though he was my enemy for the 2 years I fought in the war, I couldnt help but like him. The funny thing though, I dont know if I would have before what happened did. He was loud, I was always quiet, he was blunt, I was always polite. But he was the first person that I saw like a real one in years, he was the first person to break through the shadows, and I dont think I could of not liked him if I tried. I told him everything, like you told me, about the german machine gun bullet that took my life away, about my wife in America who believed that she was a widow, but more importantly I told him about the visions, and the dreams. He showed me much the same things I showed you, the pigeon was his idea too. When he finally decided to leave, I left with him, he said he had more to show me, and I had more I wanted to learn.