J is for Juxtaposition

I have joined the group  "Blogging from A to Z" .  This is a  a month long challenge to write a short story everyday and each day corresponding to the letter of the alphabet.  I have linked up the site - simply click on the name so that you might read any sort of short story from the huge line-up available.  the stories are supposed to be short so that many can be read, quickly.  Simply a titillation of talent.  Happy reading, and thank you for joining me.  

J is for Juxtaposition

They sat down at the crossroads.  The three friends had been walking for weeks.  Dragging their friend, Harry, with them as they staggered homeward. 

The three young men had been friends for as long as any of them could remember.  They had become fast friends as toddlers accompanying their mother’s in the fields. The three had learned so many lessons together; don’t mess with porcupines, don’t lift up a ladies dress to see what the older boys are talking about, don’t climb trees with hornet’s nests in them, and the best lesson ever is how wonderful baby vegetables taste freshly picked.

Harry, Jon, and Ethan, three best friends.  Jon and Ethan had teased Harry unmercifully when Harry confessed his “undying” love for one of the local girls.  When Ethan’s face broke out in horrific acne, Jon and Harry took him to the local “witch”.  The acne soon cleared up, applying her poultices, solidifying the boys belief in the supernatural. 

When war was declared, the three naturally ran off to join the military together.  They were assigned the same unit.  They were assigned the same trench.  Knowing each other for so long, they moved in unison.  One flinched the other two ducked.  They attributed this intimate closeness with the simultaneous decision to walk away. 

Sitting on the at the crossroads Harry said aloud, “Here we sit, me Mum would say this was a juxtaposition.  We sit at about the half-way point.  Shall we go back and win the war?  Shall we go forward to our homes?  This far removed from either location, what will we discover upon our arrival?” He smiles a thin smile, searching the faces of his two friends for their determination.

leigh