BROTHERS ON THE HILL a rock tree and then When that wasn’t
I threw at the another. enough,
I kicked the base of the tree until my toes were sore, but that still didn’t do it, so I pounded my fist into it over and over. Little pieces of bark flew off and my knuckles were so badly cut that my hand felt like I was holding it over a fire. The folded newspaper I’d stuffed inside my coat was poking into my ribs. I pulled it out and glanced at the headlines. JAPANESE BOMB PEARL HARBOR…1500 DEAD IN HAWAII, CONGRESS VOTES WAR I rolled the paper up into a funnel and wacked it back and forth against the tree until I couldn’t catch my breath. Then I threw it on the ground and leaned my head against the tree, closing my eyes. When I opened them and lifted my head, Johnny was leaning against another tree watching me. “You ’bout done?” I wiped my nose. I hadn’t noticed I’d been crying. “How long you been standin’ there?” I asked. “Long enough to know I should teach you how to punch.” He came closer and motioned at my bleeding hand. “You okay?” The cold air made my knuckles burn so I pulled my sleeve up over them and sat down heavily against the tree. “Nathan?” “I’m fine.” Johnny sat down next to me and, even if he was trying to hide it, a chuckle escaped. I wanted to hit him. “How’d you know where I was?” I wiped my nose with my shirt sleeve again and held my shaking hand against me hoping Johnny wouldn’t notice. “You always come out here when you wanna be alone—done it ever since you could walk, just about. Heck— they might as well name this tree after you.” Johnny was always joking about something. Mama said that he didn’t know how to take anything seriously, so maybe that’s why it was such a shock when he’d told me just minutes before that he was signing up for the war.
/
By Kirsten Starling 1st Place - Fiction
3
