Spring is the season of rebirth–lambs and chickies and such–but also, regrettably, the season of WAR.
The Kaiser hatches his Spring Offensive... pity the entrenched Frenchmen
(For additional reading, see WWI or Vietnam).
In my novel The Gathering of the Chosen, events culminate in an epic battle fought in the town of Ruby, North Dakota, against a grim foe: The Bleakness*. From the novel:
The Grand Master sent them to their prearranged posts on the makeshift outer walls. Liza and James with Darlene and Sophia, Ana with Glen, ready to shoot crossbows and throw spears at the gray invaders. Lucas had been puzzled by these choices of weapon—why not bring out the artillery? In this remote town in North Dakota there must be all kinds of assault rifles tucked under beds and in closets, owned by the type of Americans who were scared of their Federal Government in a way that Canadians never were. Then he got an impromptu anatomy lesson from the old woman, Sophia. Something about the Bleakness not having internal organs or bones, so bullets passed right through the membranes of their bodies. And when bullets passed through something, they did far less damage than when they could smack against a kidney or a rib. Better to bludgeon them with an older brand of terror. Arrows launched by a stretched bow and spears by a human arm would not travel as fast as gunpowder bullets, but for this very reason were more likely to lodge in the chest of a Bleakness footsoldier and send him from this world.
*(said battle takes place on New Year’s Eve, not in Spring–just trying to sneak things into my preexisting Spring framework, ya hear?)
In honor of battle, here are a few of the tunes (out of millions) that touch on the theme:
Timid Question: Perhaps we can give up the fight and go home?
Brave Answer: No Retreat, No Surrender!
Timid Question: Perhaps we’ll hide in the dusty alleyways of Rugby?
Brave Answer: There Be No Shelter Here!
Timid Question: Perhaps The Bleakness will just put us in a nice POW camp?
Brave Answer: No One’s Gonna Take Us Alive!
Semantics note: It looks as though “perhaps” is a gateway-word to timidity. Don’t use it. Be a decider.
chroniclesofamisfit 