Absent friends
Today is remembrance day where we remember the fallen.
My friend Tiny did not die in battle but he is sadly longer here. Although he was a big man and in his youth a soldier. There was no aggression in him. This is one of the stories he told me.
"I joined up to be a cook. I wanted to be a soldier like my dad but not to kill. Anyway cook or not you have to go out on patrol sometimes. We were in Belfast in the 70s, Falls road, an IRA stronghold. Our patrol went into this pub and all eyes were on us and I was scared shitless. Then like the idiot I was, the magazine fell out of my rifle scattering rounds all over the place. (In the British army every round must be accounted for. If you come back with less than you went out with then you must have a damn good reason or you will be on a serious charge.) So there I am on hands and knees grabbing the bullets and stuffing them into my pockets to be put back in the magazine later. Everyone is laughing their heads off at me.
So when I get back to the armored personnel carrier I start putting the rounds back and find that there are 3 left over? Some wag must have dropped a few extra just for a laugh"
I miss Tiny