FINALLY, A PLACE TO LAY MY HEAD. I WATCHED MY BROTHERS DIE IN THE FIELDS. I SEE THEM WHEN I SHUT MY EYES. BUT HERE, I’M SO FAR AWAY FROM IT ALL. MY MOTHER DIED BEFORE I LEFT, MY FATHER LIVES BUT IS DEAD JUST THE SAME. MY HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART, ONE HELL OF A GAL, SAID SHE COULD BARELY RECOGNIZE ME. WE SIPPED MALTS BY THE SWIMMING HOLE, BASKING IN THE SUN, AND IT ALMOST FELT LIKE OLD TIMES. BUT THE DAY ENDED. ALL DAYS DO. MINE WILL END SOON. THEN I’LL BE WITH MY BROTHERS. SHE CAME TO ME LAST NIGHT. IT WASN’T A DREAM; I WAS WIDE AWAKE. SHE WHISPERED IN A BREATHY GASP “I’VE COME FOR YOUR COMFORT. I LIVE TO SERVE”. I FELT HER FINGERS RUN THROUGH MY HAIR AND I SHOOK, SHUDDERED AS HER BREATH TRACED UP MY NECK. AND SHE WAS GONE. AND THE CANDLE BY MY BED EXTINGUISHED. I WAS RESTLESS. I NEEDED TO WALK. SO I WANDERED. THE GARDENS IN THE COURTYARD ALL SEEMED TO BEND THEIR HEADS AND KNEEL BEFORE ME, HERALDING MY HEROISM. THE MOON PIERCED THE SKY, AND STARS SHONE LIKE THE LANTERNS WE HUNG TO GUIDE OUR WAY ON THE BATTLEFIELD. I FOLLOWED THEM. I WALKED FOR WHAT FELT LIKE ENDLESS MILES. I FOUND A SMALL BENCH TOWARDS THE END OF THE GARDEN, SURROUNDED BY TREES SO TALL THEY SEEMED TO HAVE NO LIMIT. I WAS OVERCOME WITH THE ENORMITY OF MY SURROUNDINGS AND THE SMALLNESS OF MY OWN EXISTENCE. PERHAPS I’D STAY HERE FOR A WHILE.