Twin

I was later told that it was one of our men: An American. No one really knew that the war was so close to home until he was shot down over the Chesapeake Bay. I was told that the pilot died instantly, but his twin-engine plane remained mostly intact and continued to fly until it ran out of fuel over the Mississippi River, coming down just outside of Tallapoosa. Those Peruvians sure can aim.

I don’t remember what the plane looked like, or what the voices of the men who lifted me up and carried me home sounded like. The only thing I remember was that Till’s high-pitched, nails-on-a-chalkboard rendition of my name was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. It might just be the fragment of the wooden propeller that knocked me out during the crash, but I think these feelings I have for her are real in the most complete way possible.

Till must have either sat next to my bed for hours or been incredibly lucky, because it was dark when I woke to find her hand in mine. When our eyes met, a smile the size of a watermelon slice appeared on her face.

“You’re awake!” Her green eyes shone brightly in the dark.

I smiled yes.

I’m not really sure why, but for some reason half of South America wanted to see the United States burn, from sea to shining sea. It was probably something about American emplacements we had been pushing on them since the late 1990s. Most of the fighting had been going on in southern Brazil: This was the first time there was a casualty on American soil.

“How are you, Till? Did you get hurt?” My query seemed to touch a nerve, as the girl started to sob, her chest heaving with what appeared to be painful undulations.

“Oh g-g-God, I was s-s-so s-s-scared.” The words dribbled out of her mouth like water from an old fountain. “W-w-when I s-s-saw all the b-b-blood…”

“But, are you alright?”

“Y-y-yeah.” I raised a hand to wipe her tear-stained cheeks, but I was greeted with a stabbing pain in my shoulder.

“D-d-don’t move, Grayle,” Till said softly, sniffing up her tears. “Your collarbone is broken. The doctor set it, but you shouldn’t move for a while.”

As I saw her sit there, shivering in the night with tears and fear, I realized that I could ignore the war no longer. I was a part of it; it was a part of me; and I wasn’t going to lie around and doing nothing while people I love died. I was going to war.