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8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡsRpDvLm0zv 維尼
France, Summer 19188964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8J8S8iFdoV 維尼
I thought of you and where you'd gone597Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4CiK9EcnV
And let the world spin madly on8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXbSdRfLlr 維尼
“Yellow like mustard. Orange like marmalade. Red like poppies.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPtYAMdDR9 維尼
“And what’s the sky like?”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpxPd9eNqD 維尼
“A baptism.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8kZYQfH21B 維尼
“Sounds like a painting.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡMY3RiwoNB1 維尼
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?”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡXytmPd3fJ4 維尼
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.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCM0i2EJtl 維尼
“Water,” she breathes, “In all forms, really. Ocean, rain, fog and snow for months.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4vEirUuB2 維尼
“For months?”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0pN4DyQVW 維尼
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.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwDqMfkRRZ 維尼
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.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDk9pwtzfo 維尼
“Careful. You’ll slit your finger open.” The pilot holds out a palm.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1JzIYpecG 維尼
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-“8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfP21wvCcj 維尼
“Don’t trouble yourself, Lieutenant. You’re just tired.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡq4yPROdiWv 維尼
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.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5O9wQamSXI 維尼
“I wanted to apologize for how I acted when we first met, Nurse Halloway.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcbsSMptN8 維尼
“You can call me Annie, Lieutenant.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmx2Sqwqo7 維尼
He rubs the back of his sunburned neck, “I suppose you should call me Charlie then.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡijIL8lHzJx 維尼
“There is no need for you to apologize,” she waves a hand dismissively, “Tell me more about your home.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PFIxUgTnu 維尼
“I can barely remember now. It’s been years.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡJIwlIYJOGE 維尼
“Surely there is more to say.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZKhTbKOGU 維尼
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.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJLzEiauD5 維尼
“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.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27szjtnj7G 維尼
“How nightmarish.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpE5nkX6so 維尼
“I’m sorry about your friend.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLbIsB7Gp8 維尼
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.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡeNyYukj1VX 維尼
“I remember it.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDEpLttIC4 維尼
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.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡRccu3THs22 維尼
“I thought you hit your head-“8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡxEgInti5wR 維尼
“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.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡoyi9dZaH5P 維尼
His eyes cut away to the ground, “You don’t have to talk about it, Annie. I understand.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8kqTWwRbn 維尼
Annie shoots up from her seat, her chin raised and face placid, “Do you know the myth of the Halcyon days?”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHIHtyoRgU 維尼
He shakes his head.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOIMdxcCuE 維尼
“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.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡomWCROHroE 維尼
“Why didn’t the gods just save the both of them in their human forms?” Charlie can’t help asking.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzv3yQgCd7 維尼
They avoid each other’s eyes. They watch the sun till it is merely a ghost in the west.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHIk23rQ1S 維尼
“I can’t even remember what peace feels like anymore,” Annie comments, an owl calling out the twilight, “More amnesia.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOzZIIgcC9 維尼
“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.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBqmfKZ7vZ 維尼
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.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡtdnSx9ww8r 維尼
“He was your friend too.” Annie hooks arms with him, “I’m sorry.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCNwDyf2DH 維尼
“He survives months of hell at Gallipoli and manages to get himself shot down on a blue sky day in June.” Charlie scoffs, “Damn.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡLH3CaY8nbB 維尼
“Damn,” she repeats.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡg9fkvTksXX 維尼
“You were in love with him, weren’t you?”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4SusCO8HJ 維尼
“The Halcyon days are in January. Do you know how cold the water is then?”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡIc4F75bRtV 維尼
“How cold?”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRyhbSuTG2 維尼
She rests her chin on his shoulder, “So cold it feels like you’re being burned alive. So cold you never forget it.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIhtu3yr9s 維尼
“I’m sending his things home to him. A few last letters to his family that he never got out.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgQIa7AeaD 維尼
“I have two of his books still. Tell me before you package everything up.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡvTNI8lMSfP 維尼
“Don’t you want to keep them? To remember him by?”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLH162Y2At 維尼
“His wife would probably like them back.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8gVOBMKhJf 維尼
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.8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFHz3jewg1 維尼
“The war will be over soon, Annie,” he pats her hand, “I’m sure of it. The Halcyon days will come again soon.”8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Ta1wXIMWV 維尼
“Yes, they will,” she repeats. 8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwfb4TGcBz 維尼
The whole world is moving597Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLg8hLzKnJ
and I'm standing still 8964 copyright protection593ＰＥＮＡＮＡsNOhQEXiY8 維尼
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