I stood there during our "moment of silence." Why can't we just get on with our work. I want to go home so that I can beat the next level in Claw. I looked around the classroom. Some people had closed eyes, and some had them open. I was one with open eyes. Why remember the past. Why do we have to remember a bunch of dead guys? I didn't even know a single one of them. Finally it was over and the teacher told us to open our Bibles. I glanced over at Ashley who was just opening her eyes. Why did she have to be one of them: Ashley, Ashley Temon? Mrs. Clemworth's voice brought me back. "Mike, did you not hear me?" I didn't answer. "Get out your Bible." I promptly obeyed.
I sat by my best friend Nathan at the back of the bus, where we always sat. We got to talking about the "moment of silence" that we had during school. "What's with the past? Why do we gotta remember it?" I asked Nathan.
"I dunno dude, if y'ask me, it's, like, totally whacked, dude." Nathan answered.
"Ya, what did any of the guys back then do us. I mean, I guess some of them were special, like Thomas Edison and them, but what's with the ordinary people?"
"Ya, Thomas Edison w's pretty special."
"I mean, I don't even know any of the guys that died in that war."
"Wha's d' point in war?"
"Maybe they all died for a good reason?"
"Ya, mayb' they were like t'ieves r' somethin', dude."
"Ya, they could've been thieves."
"Or kidnapp'rs."
"Ya, or murderers!"
"Dude, o' corse they were murderers. They were in a war, right?"
"Ya." I looked around the school bus, at all the kids deep in conversation. Glancing around I spotted Ashley Temon laughing away with some other girls, two seats ahead of us. I stared through the bobbing heads of noisy schools at her wavy, strawberry coloured hair. The noise seemed to drown out and all that I could hear was Ashley, laughing away. All I could see was her head, swinging around. Nathan calling to me brought me back. "Dude, yo Mike"
I grunted.
"Y'll nev'r get 'er. She's, like, not there, man. Let i' go dude, let i' go."
"What are you takin' about?"
"She'll neve' give y' a secon' look."
"She doesn't have to. All it takes is a first."
"Dude, y'r not ice."
"What?"
"She's taken, man."
"No she's not!"
"Ya, I saw 'er with Josh th'other day."
"So?"
"Man, y' can' take 'er from Josh. Josh is, like, a magnet, dude."
"She would never go out with Josh, he's a…a-."
"Magnet, dude. He's a magnet."
"It doesn't matter, she's not metal."
"Man, y'r tryin' t' tell me that y' c'n snatch Ashley Temon right out fr'm under Josh's nose?"
"No."
"Then what, dude?"
"I'll jump her over his head."
"Y're crazy, man. That's like, total suicide, dude."
The bus stopped and I stood to go. As I walked out Nathan called out to me, "Y'll nev'r get it, dude, and how'd we get 'ere from d' dead guys?"
I stepped off the bus and walked home.
That night, as I crawled into bed, I was still thinking about Ashley. Why does she have to be one of them? What did she see so appealing about a bunch of dead guys? Now is now, and then was then. I'm sure that nothing different would've happened if they hadn't fought. I went to sleep with that in mind.
The next morning I woke up to the smell of damp earth. I opened my eyes but couldn't see anything. I lay there and waited until my eyes adjusted to the light. Once they had I wished they hadn't. I stood up in absolute horror. All around I could see people lying on the ground. I looked up and saw the earth above me. I seemed that I was in an underground sleeping quarters of some kind. The guy to my right began to stir. I stepped back and knocked into another sleeper. I stood perfectly still as he sat up and stretched. A familiar voice whispered, "Yo, dude, wha' cha doin' up so early?"
"Nathan?" I replied with question.
"Ya?"
"Oh Nathan, I'm so glad you're here!" I went back to my spot and lay down again.
"What's with y', dude? Stop yellin'. Y' might wake som'n up." He whispered.
"What are we doing here?" I asked, now whispering like Nathan.
"We're sleepin'."
"No we're not."
"Well w' were a couple o' sec'n's 'go."
"No, I mean here."
Nathan gave me a blank look.
"Okay, why are we sleeping here?"
"Cause dis 's where w' always sleep, man. Wha's wrong wi' chu?"
"…No, I don't usually sleep here. Last night, or was it tonight, I went to sleep on my bed, in my room, not in some dirty old underground tunnel thing."
"Dude, are y' okay?"
"Of course I'm okay, why do you keep asking me that?"
"Y're not actin' normal, y' know, dude."
"What? Of course I am! If you were in an underground tunnel, would you be acting normal, huh?"
"Man, I am in an und'rgroun' tunn'l, an' I'm actin' normal."
"Well…how can you stand it in here!"
"Dude, stop yellin', an' I can't stan' in 'ere. I'm too tall."
Mike's voice returned to a whisper. "What is going on?"
"Wha' d' y' mean, man?"
"I mean, where are we, what are we doing here, and why are we here?"
"Y' repeat'd y'rself, dude."
"I don't care, just answer the questions!"
"Okay, jus' stop yellin'. We're in room five, and we're supposed t' be sleepin' until O six-hund'red hours."
"What? Where in the world is room five, and since when do you say stuff like 'O six-hundred hours'."
"Since always, dude! What's d' matt'r wi' 'chu?"
"What's the matter with me? What's the matter with you? I'm acting perfectly normal and you're talkin' all this stuff I've never heard of! I-."
"Man, stop yellin'!" Nathan scolded.
"You don't tell me what to do. I'm not following orders from a mad man!" I continued to yell.
"I think y' should go see cap'n yello'."
"What? Now you're really talking like a mad man. You're talking about yellow aliens."
"No man, cap'n yello'. He's our, well, I guess y' could say that he's our leader."
"Our leader? You're talking like we're an organisation of some kind!"
"…Well, I guess we sort o' are."
"What? We're normal people, not some group of freaks."
"Y've really lost it. Come on, I'm gonna take y' t' cap'n yello'.
"No, I don't need to see our leader. He's probably some crazy guy who haas brain washed you and now I'm next."
"Don' speak tha' way about cap'n yello'! He's brought us t'rough many tough times, and I'm proud o' d' way tha' he's handlin' the situation."
"What situation, that you're brain washed? He's the one who did it."
"No, dude, the war."
"What war?"
"The war that's been goin' on for…100 years? Man, come wi' me. We're gonna go see cap'n yello'."
"No wait, what war?" I wasn't yelling anymore.
"The war."
"What…what…what year are we in?" I was afraid to ask the question.
"We're in d' year 2000, dude."
"Why are we at war?"
"Ev'ryone's at war, man."
"World War III."
"Wha'?"
"World War III, it started while I was sleeping."
"No man, ev'ryone's been at war for abou' 100 years, or so. It couldn't o' started while you were sleepin'."
"What, that would mean that we've been fighting since…since World War I!"
"What are y' talkin' abou', dude."
"Why are we down here?"
"Wha'? This 's where we live, man!"
"No, why are we underground."
"Listen, y' don' want t' be up there. It's 'orrible, dude! The country's, like, totally destroyed."
"What? What happened to our defences?"
"Wha' d' y' mean?"
"The people protectin' our country."
"Are y' suggestin' that we 'ave people up there, in that mess?"
"Why don't we?"
"They might get killed, dude!"
I stopped. This was it. This was the answer to the question that I had asked the night before, or tonight. The world would turn out like this if those guys hadn't fought for our country. I'm really glad taht they fought for our protection.
Suddenly I was back in my room. It was dark outside. I lay down on my bed. It was for a reason. I'm glad for those who fought in the wars. I fell asleep.
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