Battleship Captain
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Logan Clyde swirled the glass of amasec in his hand. He had long sicne been able to afford better tasting vintages, but he still found himself coming back to the old standby at this time of year.
He took a sip, letting the liquid seep down his throat. He tasted berries, and smiled. It brought back old memories. Memories of being an sixteen year old fool ready to take on the universe.
He heard a knock on his door. he got up from the desk, the same one that he'd used for many decades, and opened the door.
A few familiar faces greeted him.
So few of us now. So few left to make even this once a year event. He thought.
They entered, and took the same spots as they had when they were teenagers. They passed around a bottle of the home brewed alcohol as they had many times before.
Only this time, four did so. Last year, there had been six. He remembered when they had first done it. There had been fifteen.
Who will go next? Will it be Ken, or Sharik? Or me even? Will any of us even be here next year? He thought.
"What're are you thinking anbout Lo?" Ken asked.
"When we first did this. We thought we would be together no matter what, always there at that time. And each year, we lost more and more. Till only the one's that we're closet to were here." He felt the familiar
pain at dredging up those memories, but he let it come. If he didn't remember them, what kind of friend had he been then?
********************
Logan Clyde, a young man, shivered in the cold. He could see the fire ahead, and he quickened his pace. The snow crunched underground, the only sound other then his own labored breath.
As he got closer and closer, he could here voices.
"Logan! Glad to see ya made it!" He heard Kenny say.
He ran the last few feet, and the two shook hands. The bottles clinked in his pack as they did so.
"You really did it didn't you?" Kenny asked. "You actually stole all that amasec/"
"Not as much as I planned, but enough to last." He replied. They took out the bottles and people began to file over, greeting him and sharing in the fun.
This is worth the punishment. Worth the beating and the grounding when i get back. He thought.
Throught the night more and more people began to come, each bringing food, or drinks, or wood or blankets. Stories were told, laughs had, bets of drunken skill were made.
Through it all, Kenny, Logan, Dave, Travis, and Sharik stayed in their own little section, talking about things only they cared about. The night wore on, and people slowly filed away till only his group and a few other remained.
The fire was burning low, the cold slowly leaving as the sun began to show itself.
They had long sicne run out of jokes and stories, and were now enjoying a comfortable silence. They sipped the last of their drinks, savoring it, knowing full well the headache they would have soon, and
the punsihments their parents would met out.
Logan thought hard on what he was about to say. He knew that it probally wouldn't work, but he felt the need to anyway.
"Let's do this next year. On this same day."
The others looked at him. So wondering just how drunk he was, other thinking it might be a good idea.
Kenny backed him up.
"Yeah. It'll be a great way to keep together. Especially with all the new tests and things at scholam." With Kenny's comment, the other soon followed, adding their own promises and reasons
why they would.
The sun slowly began to rise above the mountains that characterized their home. Slowly, the other began to leave, until just Logan sat there.
Thank you Emporer. You hvae blessed me in many things, and for this I thank you.
You have blessed my family with love and joy.
I thank you.
You have blessed our minds with wisdom, our bodies with strength.
I thank you.
You have blessed our fields with plentiful crops, and our forests with much prey.
I thank you.
You have blessed me with good and decent friends.
You have given me more then I think I truly deserve. And for this and more,
I thank you.
As he finished his prayer, Logan got up and left. The snow didn't seem to pull so much at his boots, the sun warmed him more then he had felt before.
He opened the door to the farmstead. it did not squek.
You let the door not make noise.
I thank you.
he chuckled at this prayer.
The house was quiet, and the sun was not yet fully up. He had enough time to get a few hours rest.
As he put on his pajamas, he was asleep before he hit the bed.
*************
He came out of his reverie. Tears slowly rolled from his eyes. They were not of pain, but of happiness.
The others were experiancing similar reactions to their own memories.
Ken, no, Kenny in private, looked up and spoke.
"I remember each year we did it back on home. I remember the last the best, though not the fondest."
Logan and Sharik nodded. The fourth member did not. She could not. She had not been there.
***********
Logan lay still in the blanket he had brought. He was alone, one of the few of his friends who was. He did not mind it.
He had heard Kenny and his new flame late in the night, and had silently congratulated him.
If you can get one and keep it up in this weather, that should be your reward.
The Retreat, as they had started to call it in recent months, had gone like before. Drinking, eating, laughing, sometimes one of them would be lucky and get some lovemaking.
But that morning, it did not go as usual.
As they gathered around the dying fire, watching the sun slowly climb overhead as they munched on some terrible food that tasted better since they were drunk, Sharik broke the news.
"I got a letter written in red yesterday." He blurted.
They all stopped what they had been doing, and gazed at him.
"My scores on those stupid scholam test are what got me into it."
Nobody talked anymore. They tried to process this information.
Nobody could the rest of the morning, and left.
Kenny and Logan stayed.
"We need to join up with the Guard." Kenny said.
Logan agreed right away, with thoughts of seeing Sharik ending up in trouble without him and Kenny to bail him out filling his minds eye.
They left soon after.
He did not offer his daily prayer to the Emporer, he did not try and keep the quiet as he came back to the house. He did not change as he lay on his bed and slowly drifted to sleep.
The next morning, Logan found Kenny, Travis, and a few others whose names escaped him in his hangover at the recruiting office.
"So we all had the same idea?" He asked.
They nodded.
As he filled out the recruitment form, no thoughts of what may come in the future filled his mind. He did not listen to what the recruiter said as he nodded blankly.
He wne t home after he had filled it out, and fell into a fitful sleep.
The next few days were torture on Logan. Until he got the letter written in red.
Dear citizen of Jericho's Reach!
REJOICE!! your son/daughter/legal ward has chosen to join the Emporer's Imperial Guard regiment, the Chairho 667th Light Armored regiment!
In the coming weeks, instructions for the muster of this regiment will be sent out.
Your child/ward has chosen a great path in life. One of adventure and excitement, and they will see and do things you could not believe possible.
Do not weep for any reason, be it losing an able hand to (insert profession/chore here) for your family, as a small amount of currency will be sent to your family.
He sat down at the table, the gravity of what he ahd done sinking in. He heard his father come in, and felt tears spill down his face.
His father ranted and raved when he saw the letter, cursing him for a fool and a disappointment.
His father backhanded him, but he did not feel it.
He stared blankly at the wall of the kitchen, wondering if anybody else who had volunteered had signed up.
*******************
The memory left an unpleasant taste in his mouth. He took a sip of the amasec, and washed it away.
"I thank you everyday, for what you did for me." Sharik said.
The nodded. The mustering to basic had been harsh, the training brutal, and everyday after it had not been easier.
But he was glad nonetheless. It had been right.
Had made many friends, and lived his life more fully then he could have as a farmer's son back at Home. But regrets hung about him.
Each time they did, he remembered that first Retreat.
A knock on the door startled them all.
He opened it. A messanger from the medicae handed him a small letter, and left.
It was another letter. Also written in red.
Travis had passed away froma sudden heart attack in the night. It was why he had not made it.
Who will recieve my letter in red? He wondered.
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