Post by rspeirs on Feb 9, 2009 22:29:11 GMT
Spears hacked as he walked down the hallway to his bunker. It had been a long, hard, and otherwise bad day. It was coming close on 18:00 hours, which was 2 hours before curfew. At this point, the Sergeant just wanted to go to bed. He was sick with the rhinovirus, or to the commoner, the cold. It had been going around the 3rd Infantry division. First, a few corporals in Alpha came down with it. Then, a few in Bravo caught the common bug. Then, it spread to Foxtrot through Private Joe Hartstock. Now, it seemed like everyone who was everyone was coming down with a cold. Speirs was no different. He rubbed his sore nose as he stumbled down the empty hallway. Most men were still out at this time, but not the sickly Speirs. Today was to upsetting to stay awake.
Numerous things had gone wrong for this Sergeant. First, Speirs screwed up some major paperwork for Foxtrot. He started filling in the criteria that the paper required in the wrong parts, which, subsequently, made the whole 4 hours Speirs had spent on paperwork invalid, and otherwise, a waste of time. This annoyed Speirs, who was usually rather studious and diligent when it came to paperwork. It was the first time Patterson had ever had to comfort the Sergeant on this matter. Speirs took his work hard, and was deeply troubled by what he had done, but the Captain assured him “These things happen to the best of us.” “Not to me” He thought.
Then, Speirs got in an argument with another superior, this time, a Lieutenant who was giving Speirs a rough time over the issue over not doing his share of work “up to par.” Speirs however, tried to ignore this hypercritical Lieutenant, yet deep down inside, Speirs’s integrity was injured. He decided to take the issue up with the Battalion’s Major, who told him not to think about the issue. The Major smiled at Speirs, comforting him, saying the issue will be dealt with. Speirs hoped a strict reprimand would befall the Lieutenant, but was not sure what became of the issue. With it solved, he decided to focus his time on other tasks.
Speirs walked back to his bunk, opened the door, and walked in. He quickly changed into the clothes designated for sleep. He opened the black, heavy, luxuriant drapes that surrounded his window. It was too depressing in this room, he thought. He looked outside. The white snow, which a week before had covered everything like a blanked does a cold, languished soldier, was now melting, which had only added to the effect of dreariness which was indicative of today.
At this moment, Speirs thought about O’Brian’s conversation with him a few days back. He hadn’t seen him since, which Speirs thought, was because of the operation of aiding the 3rd Shock Army in Russia. Why, he thought, the 3rd Shock Army needed help in the first place was beyond him. He thought of the words of Stalin “Death solves all problems-No Man, No Problem.” He laughed at these words. “And they say I am cruel in battle.” Speirs said to himself. He didn’t think that an army that cruel would need help, and for a second, Speirs thought that O’Brian had molded the story in his own mind just to get away from Speirs. That was no way for a first officer to respect his Commanding Officer, Speirs thought. He would make note of it. As for now, he lied down in bed, and there was a knock at the door.
Numerous things had gone wrong for this Sergeant. First, Speirs screwed up some major paperwork for Foxtrot. He started filling in the criteria that the paper required in the wrong parts, which, subsequently, made the whole 4 hours Speirs had spent on paperwork invalid, and otherwise, a waste of time. This annoyed Speirs, who was usually rather studious and diligent when it came to paperwork. It was the first time Patterson had ever had to comfort the Sergeant on this matter. Speirs took his work hard, and was deeply troubled by what he had done, but the Captain assured him “These things happen to the best of us.” “Not to me” He thought.
Then, Speirs got in an argument with another superior, this time, a Lieutenant who was giving Speirs a rough time over the issue over not doing his share of work “up to par.” Speirs however, tried to ignore this hypercritical Lieutenant, yet deep down inside, Speirs’s integrity was injured. He decided to take the issue up with the Battalion’s Major, who told him not to think about the issue. The Major smiled at Speirs, comforting him, saying the issue will be dealt with. Speirs hoped a strict reprimand would befall the Lieutenant, but was not sure what became of the issue. With it solved, he decided to focus his time on other tasks.
Speirs walked back to his bunk, opened the door, and walked in. He quickly changed into the clothes designated for sleep. He opened the black, heavy, luxuriant drapes that surrounded his window. It was too depressing in this room, he thought. He looked outside. The white snow, which a week before had covered everything like a blanked does a cold, languished soldier, was now melting, which had only added to the effect of dreariness which was indicative of today.
At this moment, Speirs thought about O’Brian’s conversation with him a few days back. He hadn’t seen him since, which Speirs thought, was because of the operation of aiding the 3rd Shock Army in Russia. Why, he thought, the 3rd Shock Army needed help in the first place was beyond him. He thought of the words of Stalin “Death solves all problems-No Man, No Problem.” He laughed at these words. “And they say I am cruel in battle.” Speirs said to himself. He didn’t think that an army that cruel would need help, and for a second, Speirs thought that O’Brian had molded the story in his own mind just to get away from Speirs. That was no way for a first officer to respect his Commanding Officer, Speirs thought. He would make note of it. As for now, he lied down in bed, and there was a knock at the door.
