Wood's Blog

She and the VFW.

“I’ve never been here before,� he whispered.

“Don’t worry,� she answered. “It’s a piece of cake.�

For 12 minutes they stared at the apparatus, unsure how to master it. Then, at the 13th minute she put on her fez and entered the VFW.

She looked behind her and he was still standing there, mute and immobile.

So, she went in alone, scanning the place. The walls were lined with memorabilia and patriotic emblematic material. It was dim, and a little smoky. The old guys playing pull tabs at the bar looked at her fez and nodded absent-mindedly at her.

She found a stool at the bar and sat down. There was lots of talk about various wars, and some talk about Iraq. There weren’t many women in the place, but she felt okay with her fez on.

Finally she saw a younger soldier there, wearing tan camo fatigues. He was far away across the room, but you could really feel his presence. She went over to talk to him and he said that he wasn’t allowed to talk, that she’d have to go talk to his girlfriend in a different part of the VFW.

His girlfriend told her about how Daniel lost his right to communicate, they even took his hats. Daniel, was, in a sense, a prisoner of the war; he was not allowed to come home or to talk about it.

After she left Daniel’s girlfriend, she left the VFW and went to tell him whom she had left behind what she’d seen and heard.

Outside the apparatus everything was the same as when she’d left.

Posted by wood0072 at December 7, 2005 9:12 AM