Fairytales (583 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.58 on 22 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by HighVoltage900 (View user info) at 2007-03-16 10:49:53 EDT
"There aren't anymore fairytales these days." Captain Vespers said as he sucked down the last bit of his cigarette. As the final wisps of smoke went into his lungs giving him a brief respite from his injuries, the entire room shook.
It shook because the bombing and shelling was getting worse.
"When the last war ended, I thought I had seen the end of things. I really did. But...." Vespers took a moment to cough blood onto Stevens who was attempting futilely to put the good captain's entrails back into his open stomach.
"But I see now that there will now never be an end to these terrible wars. Wars worse than any before in history. And it is because we are no longer afraid of anything. The monsters that haunted the Black Forest, that resided deep in mountains, the serpents that hunted in the open oceans, they're all false. We know that now." Vespers said softly as Stevens wrapped his last bit of bandages around the dying captain's torso. It was a band-aid to hold closed a severed limb for all the use it was doing, but the effort had been made.
The building around them had crumbled long ago, probably when the battle had commenced. It was a forgone conclusion from the beginning, but the defenders had fought valiantly. On their shoulders rested the hope of the free world, and there fate had been all but sealed.
Until....a crazy plan had been formulated.
"People need fear Stevens. People need to know that there is something out there to keep them in check if they stray too far. It's the great balance to our power as a people. We have fear like we have shame, to keep us from becoming a horrible and twisted race." Vespers murmured looking down at the blood stained uniform he wore and the red soaked bandages below.
Stevens got to his feet and picked up Vespers sidearm.
"Look at me; I lived on a farm when I was a kid. The farthest my family had traveled from home was to visit my grandmother. I didn't know anything about the world before the last frontiers became tamed. But when they did everyone went insane. And now I have seen more countries than I knew of. I shed blood with more people than lived in my home town. I killed more people than were in my family." Vespers admitted as he took the gun that Stevens offered him. It was standard issue to French officers, not like the American Thompson machine gun that Stevens had brought with him from across the sea.
The ground shook, too subtle beneath the rumbles of explosions to notice, but it did. It was a different resonance that was the crawl of tanks making their unstoppable way to the ocean side.
Vespers reached up to Stevens and pulled him close.
"It was when the fairy tales became lies, that we knew monsters didn't exist. It was then that we looked around and saw one another truly for the first time. We are alone here, all alone we humans. It is inevitable that when the things that we feared went away, that we unleashed our true might on the world, and on each other." Vespers said with a tear beginning to slide down his cheek as he thought of what would happen to his country again, just like last time.
"The only monsters that are left are the ones we make. And the only hero's are the ones who stand against them. Each one is just a human, but together they make the Beowulf that slays Grendel, they are the Charlemagne to the pagans, they are.... They are hope."
"The English need more time to get the boats here, there are over 300,000 men here who are going to fight another day but they need to get across the channel. It's not far from England to Dunkirk, but it's far enough to make a difference. If they stay here they will be slaughtered by the monster and it may be the end. There may be no more heroes' to take their place." Vespers stopped speaking for a moment. He lay propped up against the crumbled wall that had been blown away long ago. In his moment of death it seemed ludicrous to him, but it wasn't. It couldn't be.
His shaking hand reached up and fumbled into his breast pocket. He pulled out a black and white picture of a young man and a young woman hugging each other in the midst of a vineyard. The picture made his eyes sparkle before he gave it to Stevens.
"I know America hasn't entered the war yet, and that makes the fact that you are here mean that much more. You will have to be the hero. You will have to defeat the monster. Can you do it? Can you hold it back in time for the boats to get here and save the day?" Vespers asked. Stevens looked at the photo for a moment before putting it into his own pocket.
"Yes I can." Stevens said.
"Good...." Vespers said with his last breath.
Stevens looked at the fallen French officer for another moment before going outside to meet the others. All of them were men who weren't getting on boats, all of the ones who were going to stay while Dunkirk turned into hell on Earth.
"The Germans will try their best to cut down the retreating British and French. I don't know who you are but we are going to stay here and give them enough time to escape." Stevens said to the rest of the hero's.
They stayed. They stayed long enough to save the day, before the monster destroyed them all.
User Reviews
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2007-03-16 15:56:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I SURVIVED DIEPPE '42
Submitted by St_Jimmy (user info) at 2007-03-16 15:28:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I enjoyed this.
Submitted by HighVoltage900 (user info) at 2007-03-16 13:09:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Hookhand (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:32:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
This was good. It would have been a +2 if you didn't insist on putting an apostrophe in the word "heroes"
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You are right I feel like a douche bag.
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2007-03-16 12:51:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by Susie_Derkins (user info) at 2007-03-16 12:40:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Pssst! DM has a saggy diaper that leaks. Pass it on.
Submitted by simple_catalyst (user info) at 2007-03-16 12:35:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by tiaprae (user info) at 2007-03-16 12:00:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by DesolateMisanthrope (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:56:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
worse than mediocre and all I see are ass kissing 2+. I have to keep that bloated average in check, to the best of my rating abilities.
Submitted by sicosemen (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:46:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Hookhand (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:32:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
This was good. It would have been a +2 if you didn't insist on putting an apostrophe in the word "heroes"
Submitted by particle_man58 (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:20:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
War is hell.
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:17:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
STFU n00b
Submitted by FlakMonkey (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:16:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
evening it up
Submitted by FlakMonkey (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:16:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
i don't like the fumbling with tenses you are sometimes guilty of.
also, there are a few instances of apostrophe abuse in here. give your stuff a few read throughs before you post it.
and, you don't always use language as efficiently as you could. see below.
this is redundant: 'It was a forgone conclusion from the beginning...'
the bit after the comma is unnecessary: '...as he thought of what would happen to his country again, just like last time.'
outside all of that, this was a decent piece. the fact that i finished it at all speaks to something, as i can barely get through a lot of what is posted here anymore.
1.5
Submitted by odin (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:10:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Susie_Derkins (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:10:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by DirtyHarry (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:09:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Well done, sir.
Submitted by tiaprae (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:06:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
wow
Submitted by DrogoRoch (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:04:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2007-03-16 10:57:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This is really good.
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For some unknown reason I now have that song about the boat from the war of the worlds album going through my head.
This is bloody good.
Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2007-03-16 11:02:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2007-03-16 10:57:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This is really good.
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-03-16 10:53:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Now after all these years you are at last opening
Was it worth all that war just to win?
If it was can you take me back to where it begins
Come and take me back to where it begins
Come and take me back to where it begins
Come on, open wide and let some light in
Let us in
Let us in