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France, Summer 1918copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzLjgTjiDC
I thought of you and where you'd gone315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjIdEA23zLQ
And let the world spin madly oncopyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡPscZiXrTmx
“Yellow like mustard. Orange like marmalade. Red like poppies.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡprdmAytlNx
“And what’s the sky like?”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJ613nVnFy
“A baptism.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡZv1cukaWdx
“Sounds like a painting.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡuDZHZzftU3
The Australian lifts a broad shoulder in a half shrug. His narrowed eyes to the sunset, he caresses the clean skin on his dimpled chin. He glances through the open flaps of the tent, "And your home, Yank? What do you remember?”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0aM7bQu6da
A cascade of the remaining suds disturbs the dry dirt beside the Anzac’s stool. She emerges, wiping the razor clean with her apron. Peering across the sparse field to the French horizon, she sees somewhere else.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡFcFHpa1z7f
“Water,” she breathes, “In all forms, really. Ocean, rain, fog and snow for months.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CS5kSFzlz
“For months?”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmKptVgX2t
The girl’s concentration breaks with a faint smile, “Sometimes we see the first flurries in October and the last of the banks don’t melt until April.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HGNo5YpF6
She drags over an empty crate and sits a few feet from him. Mindlessly, she runs a thumb down the clean edge of the blade.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLIxR2qwCL
“Careful. You’ll slit your finger open.” The pilot holds out a palm.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6f7QFBMVyO
She returns the straight blade. He snaps it closed and tucks it into his khaki shirt pocket. His knuckles trail down his jawline thoughtfully, “Thank you. For finishing it up for me. I don’t know what came over me earlier-“copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGv5uUbtkR
“Don’t trouble yourself, Lieutenant. You’re just tired.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡzZChxukX1W
Rising to his feet, he takes a few steps into the brown summer grass, his arms hanging at his sides. She studies him, her hands folded in her lap.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8cRZRsLN1
“I wanted to apologize for how I acted when we first met, Nurse Halloway.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcH6ic0uFk
“You can call me Annie, Lieutenant.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡlekYwStRPu
He rubs the back of his sunburned neck, “I suppose you should call me Charlie then.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzD0qCSToF
“There is no need for you to apologize,” she waves a hand dismissively, “Tell me more about your home.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYSC4bO5Fu
“I can barely remember now. It’s been years.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1IKZfCs6s
“Surely there is more to say.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡXU1AVsdNmB
The pilot threads his fingers through his hair, grey eyes like hawk’s feathers. He is all restless motion and activity. The energy hums under his thick hide like electricity. It isn’t a wonder he is such a good pilot.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgAmTExIJc
“The dust storms. After many months without rain, they rise up like bloody monsters and overwhelm the horizon. There is no breathing, no seeing, just the sand. Like diving into the ocean at your home.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9dUUdawGg
“How nightmarish.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDb0d6srUO
“I’m sorry about your friend.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2n5CJYhgG1
The statement is unexpected and yet was begging to be said long before Charlie ventured into the territory. A sharp exhale of breath leaves the girl’s thin lips as though she’s been stabbed between the shoulder blades.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSaHN4VXBB
“I remember it.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡezepAsw3Tq
The pilot peers over at the nurse. Still like the waters of an oasis, her folded hands are pale against her periwinkle skirts. Her posture tenses as she meets his eyes without hesitation.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWNXyxWPND
“I thought you hit your head-“copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhw1Zj6UhH
“That’s what I wanted them to think so I wouldn’t have to-“ her mouth hangs open and her gaze grows distant, “A self-induced case of amnesia.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwhJVRcsU5
His eyes cut away to the ground, “You don’t have to talk about it, Annie. I understand.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡSM1GKAdGq1
Annie shoots up from her seat, her chin raised and face placid, “Do you know the myth of the Halcyon days?”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡjhiPji9pcq
He shakes his head.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HXorSgDla
“A man went to sea and there was a terrible storm. The ship was lost and before he drowned, he prayed that the gods would return his body to his wife. The gods came in a dream to the sleeping woman and she woke knowing that she would never see her man again.” Annie smooths out the wrinkles in her apron, “She goes to the cliffs and casts herself off. Before she hits the water, the gods take pity on the both of them. They are turned into Kingfishers. It’s a type of bird. The Halcyon days are a time in winter when the seas are calm.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdXLTHl7nM
“Why didn’t the gods just save the both of them in their human forms?” Charlie can’t help asking.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8H3rwmJGLW
They avoid each other’s eyes. They watch the sun till it is merely a ghost in the west.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TD4h5XxJi
“I can’t even remember what peace feels like anymore,” Annie comments, an owl calling out the twilight, “More amnesia.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡIsvGepnAxL
“I don’t want to remember. Things will never be as they were before so what’s the point in wishing them into being,” Charlie spits into the dust.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFtp70LQGx
Her head is throbbing. With the calm fingers of a war weary nurse, Annie unpins her cap. Folds of hair fall and tremble around her shoulders. The pressure in her temples fades slightly but the fatigue remains in her eyes. She feels ancient, her movements geriatric as she approaches the pilot.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNrqRIwOgf
“He was your friend too.” Annie hooks arms with him, “I’m sorry.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZICFX23xz
“He survives months of hell at Gallipoli and manages to get himself shot down on a blue sky day in June.” Charlie scoffs, “Damn.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTfjimj4d0
“Damn,” she repeats.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0O3rFMXu3
“You were in love with him, weren’t you?”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡdB2WeIThMq
“The Halcyon days are in January. Do you know how cold the water is then?”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡRCj6VCtfHG
“How cold?”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjH3n8J96e
She rests her chin on his shoulder, “So cold it feels like you’re being burned alive. So cold you never forget it.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡckQfg4YamK
“I’m sending his things home to him. A few last letters to his family that he never got out.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdmUjixMxe
“I have two of his books still. Tell me before you package everything up.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡtNxaRVjA5p
“Don’t you want to keep them? To remember him by?”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhJFx0Kva6
“His wife would probably like them back.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLjCGDVdqt
He trades his weight from one foot to the other. He wets his dry lips and chastely presses them to the crown of her naked head.copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTgZ47UnIZ
“The war will be over soon, Annie,” he pats her hand, “I’m sure of it. The Halcyon days will come again soon.”copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxhxdPxXkI
“Yes, they will,” she repeats. copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Atnd908nr
The whole world is moving315Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuryvz1mfs
and I'm standing still copyright protection311ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOlROpZJNI
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