I have a new book of short stories, The Futility of Loving a Soldier, coming out December 1st from Evolved Publishing.
The Futility of Loving a Soldier is a collection of eleven short stories about the effects of combat on relationships with military friends and family. Moving between why we love our soldiers to why we hate them, The Futility of Loving a Soldier demonstrates that we wouldn’t want lives without them.
Today’s excerpt is from “Burger Run,” about two friends sneaking out for a late-night snack the summer after their high school graduation. Eli has enlisted in the Army, and Abby is headed to college.
Eli cut the engine, handed me a burger, then took one for himself. I unwrapped it slowly, focusing on the patterns the grease made on the paper. I took a bite, even though I wasn’t that hungry. Beside me, Eli stared straight ahead, the burger on his lap untouched.
“Eli?” Usually he’d inhaled at least an entire burger before I even had mine out of the bag.
“What if they make me kill someone, Rabbit?” His voice was so quiet I had to strain to hear him.
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You’re in the Army now, young man. No chance to turn back. Ah youth. You’ve written this scene so well showing his fear.
Oh man…I think it’s incredibly candid and sad. You did a great job of writing a ton of emotions in a tiny excerpt, ED. Good 8. Best wishes on the book launch– please tweet me @teresa_cypher, and I’ll RT the launch for you. :-)
Should he be talking about killing someone during a meal? That would ruin my appetite. I definitely got a sense of his fear in this scene.
A little late to be thinking about that, but realistic that he would now be having second thoughts about what he signed up for. Excellent excerpt, loved the details and the uneaten burger.
A painful moment captured perfectly.