MY VETERAN FATHER - Weekend freewrite

in #weekendfreewrite6 years ago (edited)

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The blanket was always left in a nice big heap after she was done with laundry. My father liked that about her, although he never showed it, my sister was his favorite, his only sign of being pleased is to grunt like a caveman while nodding his head as he stared at his newspaper, he was always the tough kind of man.

He fathered us with a firm grip like his strong handshake, he would always shake my hand so hard and pull me with a jerking motion like he wants me to pull back, although I usually refuse to pull him back out of my respect for him, I actually think I could pull his old bones out of his sockets if I wanted to but father always possessed that mental edge. I remember one time I tried to pull him back, his countenance changed at a split second, he stared into my eyes with a serious gaze.

"You wanna tussle with me boy, c'mon show me what you got," He taunted as he twisted my arms with a swift motion.

"Oh jeez, I don't have time for this, Pa"

"That's what I thought," he chuckled to himself like a retired villain as he let go of my arm.

He always believed it's better to be feared than to be loved, although he's well in his 70's he still believed he is still quite young and agile, he refused to use his walking stick even with the doctor's order but he wasn't always so rigid like this. I could remember when I was younger he would take us to the park and he was the most cheerful being, It all changed after the war, he was one of the few ones that made it back from Vietnam. I've always felt he was holding on to so many deeply held secrets, no matter how many times I asked... he never told me about his experience overseas.

Tonight I had devised a plan to make him loosen up a bit. I bought his favorite brand whiskey and shortly afterward we started drinking. I watched his eyes lit up as he took each sip, we shared a couple of laughs and when I sensed that he had let his guard down, I asked him about his tour in Vietnam, his face changed for a brief second like he had seen a ghost.

"you know I planned a pet movie contest when I was younger," he answered me with a drunk smile "It was a fundraiser for the disabled community but I did earn some cash on the side," he took another sip as he chuckled to himself "good times huh..."

He found another way to ignore my question once again, maybe I have to respect his decision to keep this memory to himself. I sensed he wanted to preserve an image of himself in our eyes, he might be a cranky old man but he didn't want us to see him as a monster.

I was about retiring to bed when I heard a deep sigh from him.

"you know why I hate close combat? It always ends gory," he said looking at me but past me at the same time, like he was zoned out and trapped in a limbo state between the past and the present.

"My first close-combat kill was no exception, I was ambushed during a patrol by a lone combatant, he was very skilled with his knife but I gained the upper hand, I bashed his skull with a huge rock, I continued bashing him until I had no doubt of one thing, no doubt that his life was gone from his struggling body."

I sat back down, looking transfixed in his words, I had just got a glimpse of his dark memories and didn't want to hear any more of it, now I know what memories haunt him, how can he keep all these turmoil bottled up inside and still remain sane. I looked at him in awe as he dozed off on the couch, drunk with his favorite brand of whiskey.
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The Freewrite prompts is organized by @mariannewest, This is a threepart freewrite prompt. If you are interested in freewriting you can check out her blog for the daily prompts. thanks for reading :-)

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That's a pretty hardcore twist in the story bro...

Thanks for reading @dynamicgreentk. Indeed it is :-)

powerful writing such a twist

Thanks for the compliment @tattodjay, I'm glad you passed by :-)

Great use of the weekend freewrite prompts!

Thanks for dropping by @simgirl :-)

Wow. That was a very deep story. And soldiers can only really speak about the war with other soldiers. My dad was in WW2 and he never told us anything about it.

The Sunday prompt for you.

And remember, today is the last day to register for the contest!! Do it!!

Also, don't forget to read the latest posts from our new page
FREEWRITE HOUSE!

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Click the graphic to join in the fun!

thanks for reading. I'm happy to have channeled a real-life scenario as such. deeply held bad memories can be difficult to share.

@abmakko

Hey Michael! Long time, sorry I have been busy with finals but now I am done with the semester! I will be back on the Steemit Grind and look forward to writing more content and reading yours as well!

Great freewrite btw, the ending of this was awesome:

I sat back down, looking transfixed in his words, I had just got a glimpse of his dark memories and didn't want to hear any more of it, now I know what memories haunt him, how can he keep all these turmoil bottled up inside and still remain sane. I looked at him in awe as he dozed off on the couch, drunk with his favorite brand of whiskey.

Thanks for passing by bro. no worries. I'm sure your exams went well. It's good to focus on one thing at a time when grades are involved. keep having an awesome day :-)

That was quite a serious "take" on this freewrite, and well written!

Thanks for passing by @scribblingramma :-)

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