Custer's War: A Short Story
I knew that tomorrow I would begin the whole thing over again. I would wake up and wonder if I’m crazy. I would meditate and try to contain myself throughout the day. I envied the dead who can look forward to becoming bones with their hair scattered around their skulls. What can I say, I long only to sleep without dreams. I have only my weed and my beer to console me. I am tired of all this war stuff swirling around me. How I wish I could find a woman to sleep with. I wish I could look into her eyes as sleep overtook her and her eyelids became heavy. I wish I could watch her as her head sank into her pillow. I feel if I could find a woman who would allow me to fall sleep beside her I would find myself in another world. Perhaps, I would be wiser in that world and would leave the past like I
…show more content…
I felt I had crossed into Michigan, but I wasn’t sure. I kept looking for a roadside marker when I saw a billboard outside of Monroe. It said Monroe, the Home town of General Custer. I thought I would never tell anyone I was from Custer’s hometown. What type of man would admire a man who killed women and children and led his men to death because he followed the demands of his pride? Then, again he acted as all officers act, which is why officers have as much to fear from their sergeants as from the enemy. VI When I arrived home it was dark, and I went to bed. In the morning I called Aunt Claudia. She didn’t answer. I called again around noon. She didn’t answer and after lunch I drove to see her. Arriving at her home, I knocked. She didn’t answer. Her car was parked in the driveway. I walked in the woods. I couldn’t find her. I went to the work shed. In the rear of the shed and under the windowsill, my uncle had made a small shelf where he hid his spare key. I opened the house and found her lying on the couch. At first I thought she was asleep. Her eyes were open as if she stared at something in the distance at least a 100 yards in the
I felt I had crossed into Michigan, but I wasn’t sure. I kept looking for a roadside marker when I saw a billboard outside of Monroe. It said Monroe, the Home town of General Custer. I thought I would never tell anyone I was from Custer’s hometown. What type of man would admire a man who killed women and children and led his men to death because he followed the demands of his pride? Then, again he acted as all officers act, which is why officers have as much to fear from their sergeants as from the enemy. VI When I arrived home it was dark, and I went to bed. In the morning I called Aunt Claudia. She didn’t answer. I called again around noon. She didn’t answer and after lunch I drove to see her. Arriving at her home, I knocked. She didn’t answer. Her car was parked in the driveway. I walked in the woods. I couldn’t find her. I went to the work shed. In the rear of the shed and under the windowsill, my uncle had made a small shelf where he hid his spare key. I opened the house and found her lying on the couch. At first I thought she was asleep. Her eyes were open as if she stared at something in the distance at least a 100 yards in the