Forever

        There are those among you who don't know me. Well, let me start by introducing myself. My name is Charles, and I am immortal. I don't know how I became this way, I just am.
        I was born December 7th 1923, on a farm outside of Alvin, Texas. My family was poor, but as a kid I never went without. Somehow my father kept us fed, though how he did this I don't know. He was a hard working man, my father. Rarely did he say much, but one thing he always told us was that he wanted more for his children.So my older brother, David, and I where to concentrate on school. "I'll be damned if my boys will work the fields their whole lives. They're better than that." I'd hear him say to my mother. School always came first, no matter what.
        I grew up as normal as most children in that time. I went to school, did my chores, then went out and did what boys do. Build forts, play tag, get beat on by my brother. You know, normal kids stuff.
      One day, when my brother had counted to thirty, and I was still franticly trying to find a hiding spot, I came across a green chest hidden in the back of a closet. Being "Meddlesome" as my Grandmother would say, I opened it. Inside I found a uniform, a pair of boots, and other things. Most said 'U.S. ARMY' across them. Having forgotten about my brother by this time, I was surprised to suddenly get a slap across the back of the head followed by a "gotcha", and white spots across my eyes.
      The next thing I knew David was beside me rummaging through the chest. As we really got into it, we heard the front door, followed by the sound of my fathers footsteps. Quickly we put the chest, and everything in it, back into the closet and shut the door. Knowing that our mother would be calling us for dinner any minute, we decided to wash up, and head downstairs.
      After dinner I helped my mother clean the table. When I finished I went back into the dining room to find my brother gone, and my father reading the newspaper, as was his usual routine. By that time my curiosity had been feeding upon itself, so I decided to ask about the green chest. "Hey dad, I was hiding from David in the upstairs closet, and found a chest with a bunch of Army stuff in it. I was wondering where it came from?" At first he didn't answer, he didn't even put down his paper. I was about to ask again, when he folded the paper, and set it on the table. "How many times have I told you not to go messin' with things that don't belong to you?"
      Suddenly all I could think of was his belt meeting my backside. Just as I started to feel the sweat break out on my forehead, he stood up and walked off. Not knowing what to do I went into the den, where I found my brother listening to the radio. I was about to sit down when I heard my father call us into the dining room.
      The first thing I noticed as I came around the corner, was the chest. "I guess you boys are old enough now to know about this stuff." my father said. "So sit down."
      We sat for hours as he told us how he fought "The Krauts" in the war. He told us how he lost most of his friends, how he'd expect to die every day, and his relief each day that he didn't. I realized that I never truly knew my father until that day. I always respected him, but on that day, I came to understand him. Growing up I saw him as the man married to my mother. I called him 'Dad' because, that was what he was, but he always seemed to keep us at arms length. That day I think I found out why. I think he felt like a man out of place in the world, like he should'nt be there. I came to love him that day. 
      After that my brother and I where hooked. All we wanted was to be a hero like our father. From then on all we played was war. We made our own medals, wooden rifles, we even asked our mother to sew some uniforms for us.
      We'd get a bunch of our friends together and fight mock battles, using the woods around our house as the battlefield. There was this one kid, named Nathan, that everyone thought was a little crazy. He always played the leader of the Germans, and of course he always lost. He would bring cherry bombs with him to our battles, where he got so many of them I never knew, but he always had at least six with him. He said it made the battle more realistic, having them going off around us.
      One day while we where out playing in the woods, Nathan decided to throw one of his cherry bombs toward us. While I saw it coming my brother wasn't paying attention. I mean what idiot would throw a cherry bomb at you? Just as I managed to duck it, and try to get my brother out of the way, it went off, right in David's face.
      All I could hear was a ringing in my ears, but at the same time I had never heard such silence. When I looked up I saw my brother standing, looking at me with a strange look on his face. He shook his head, and started to walk away. I was just about to go after him when I heard yelling. I turned and saw everyone running toward us. When I looked back David wasn't there.
      I started to look around wondering where he could have hid so quickly. I was about to call for him when I saw Nathan. He was frozen in place, staring at the ground by my feet, with a look of horror on his face. I looked down to see David lying there, with half his face missing. It didnt hit me at first that I was looking at my brother. To be honest it looked like a scene from a modern day horror movie.
      As the realization swept over me my legs gave out, and my stomach started doing hoola-hoops around my ass. One of the other kids was trying to say something, but all I could hear was a pounding in my ears. I guess my heart had taken the opposite direction than my stomach, because it seemed to be stuck behind my eyes. I layed there for a while unable to move, until I heard a gut wrenching scream pierce the pounding in my ears. I looked up to see my mother standing there. One of the other kids must have ran to get her.
      I can't imagine what it must have been like to run up to see one of your children like that.   
                                        Stay tuned