Chapter Text
Picking up the newspaper as he sat down for breakfast, the date in the corner read; January 28th, 1916. The young man began to read aloud the headline.
“All single men, ages 18 to 41 must report to their local recruitment office and enlist”.
His grip on the thin paper tightened, his fingers creasing its pages. Glancing up at the lady on the other side of the table, he continued speak.
“As of Thursday morning on the 27th of January, all men unless exempt have been called to war under rule of the Military Service Act. Anybody refusing will be directly violating the government and country and will be tried for their crimes.”
He placed the paper down on the table and picked up a slice of toast from the plate in-front of him. His hand was shaking slightly as he brought it up to his mouth and took a bite. The lady opposite him sat in silence, her eyes angled towards the table, refusing to look up. The pair continued to sit there for a few more minutes, neither touching the food in front of them.
“No,” still looking at the table the lady spoke out, her voice barely a whisper.
Staring at her now as she spoke, the young man waited for her to continue, but she was silent again.
“What?” He asked, his voice only just louder than hers.
“I said no.” She stated it like a fact, as if there was no debate to what she had said. “You are not enlisting. No.”
“Mother, please.” His voice was louder than before and sounded tense at if he was holding back from yelling at the women opposite. “Did you not hear what I said?”
He stared at her as she refused to make eye contact with him. “It not a choice, there is no option.”
She now looked up at him, her eyes angry and filled with tears.
“Yes there is,” her voice was raised as she got angrier. “There is the option of not showing up.”
He stared at her, confusion lining his face. “It doesn’t work like that.” He spoke now at a regular volume, refusing to get as angry as his mother.
“I have not choice, and anyway it is my duty. I have a duty to protect this country,” he sighed, “and quite frankly I should have upheld that duty two years ago, and gone with father despite my age.”
“NO.” She yelled at him now, standing up from the table as her voice echoed around the room. “I refuse to let you go.”
“You cannot stop me, and I would get arrested if I refused.” He spoke to her now with a gentle voice, the same used to console a small child when it got upset. “I would be sent to jail mother, either way I would not be here with you. Surely it would be better to at least be helping the country?” He questioned her as his eyes stared into hers.
“At least in jail you would be safe.” Her voice had lowered now but there were tears running down her cheeks as she spoke.
“And I would be unemployed for life, you know how they treat criminals here.”
“But at least you would not end up like your father.” She spoke out, her words came tumbling out to fast to think.
A look of horror appeared on her face as her son went silent. Anger flashed across his face before the boy stood up and walked out the room. The half eaten toast still sat there and his cup of tea turned cold as it lay untouched.
For the rest of the day, the pair had not spoken to each other, the whole house was silent as neither made an attempt to speak.
Less than two hours after going down to eat breakfast that morning, the young man found himself digging through his wardrobe for a pair of shoes that weren’t falling apart at the toes. There was a single set that were at the back of the cupboard, they were a simple black pair of work shoes. They matched with the jacket and trousers that lay folded on the shelf. None of the items had been touched in almost two years, and had sat there collecting dust with no reason for use.
However it felt wrong to go and down to the recruitment office in just his day to day clothes. He wanted to make an impression, to seem like the type of man who could be good in the army. He was aware that it was a pointless idea though, they were accepting anyone who passed the health checks and even then, getting all of it perfect wasn’t necessary. If you could carry a backpack and could see well enough to shoot a gun, then you were pretty much set to enlist.
Getting changed he stood in front of the small mirror above the sink. He stared at himself as he tied a knot in his tie without even looking down, the motion was just muscle memory now. Looking at the person in the mirror, his eyes roamed the reflection as he studied his face.
His face was bland, nothing made him look out of the ordinary.
He had small lines flowing across his forehead, more than a person should at his age. The same creases appeared elsewhere on his face and outlined the dark bags beneath his eyes that came from his issues with sleep. His mouth sat in perfectly neutral position most of the time, with the edges naturally turning down slightly. Light clusters of freckles would scatter on his cheeks during summer, but disappeared during the later and early months of the year, leaving his face looking empty. His eyes were a plain grey, in certain lighting they could be considered blue but most of the time they lacked any colour. They were simple eyes, they had nothing special about them, they were just another part of his face. He had light brown hair, that was cut neatly, it was simple and straight. The small amount of facial hair matched it, as it lined the bottom areas of his face. He looked older than he was and always had. At 14 he could have easily ordered a drink without ID, and now could easily pass as his late 20s should he need to.
The rest of his body was in more than good health. He had always been a fast runner and as he got older had acquired enough muscles on his arms and legs to make him fitter and stronger than the average male. The jacket and trousers he was wearing that day were ironed, they fit perfectly and gave the sense of a school uniform due to how neat they looked.
He looked professional.
Grabbing a few coins from the dresser in his bedroom, he made his way down the hall to where his mother was sat in the living room. The room smelt violently of smoke and the remains of three cigarettes lay on the table next to her. She was sat in the armchair, though was not allowing her back to quite rest against it. Dried marks of tears ran down her face, and her eyes were filled with a look of numbness. She was staring at the wall opposite, her face empty and another lit cigarette was gripped tightly in her hand. The young man stood at the door watching her, she did not seem to notice her was there or made no indication towards him if she did. He coughed a few times in an attempt to get her attention before speaking.
“Well, I’ll be heading out now mother.” He waited for a response and she stayed silent, still looking in the other direction.
“I may meet up with the boys for a drink afterwards, so don’t stay up.”
Still there was silence.
Sighing, he turned on his heel and left the room, grabbing his keys from the table and walking out the front door.
Stepping out of the front door and pulling it shut behind him, he took a deep breath. He had no intentions of meeting up with anyone later that evening but staying out of the house for a while seemed like the best option. Making his way down the street he passed, the old lady who lived a couple doors down sitting in here front garden. He paused at her gate and called out to her,
“Good afternoon, lovely weather out today isn’t it!”
She looked up at him and smiled, waving her hand.
“Lovely weather, you’re right.” Her smile dropped slightly, “I saw the newspaper this morning. Are you heading down now?” She asked him, not needed to specify where she meant.
He nodded at her briefly, “Yes Ma’am”
Her gaze softened a little bit, a look of pity coming into her eyes. “And what about your mother? It’s just you and her isn’t it?”
The boy’s smile disappeared now, “I’m sure she will be fine.”
“Alright then, you take care now won’t you?”
“Of course, I’ll see you later.”
“Goodbye now.”
Continuing back down the street, he glanced over his shoulder and saw the old lady standing up from her chair and making her way into the house. The door was pulled softly shut behind her. A gust of wind came down the street and he felt a chill bury itself deep in his bones. Shivering he pulled the jacket round himself tighter and turned round, heading towards the town hall.