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tamingthemuseTitle: A Union of Six
Fandom: Original
Prompt: #307 Hope Chest
Character(s): Generals O.W.H, Fox, U.H., Superb, Lo and Colonel Lawrence
Genre(s): Friendship/History
Rating: Light PG
Word Count: 2,968
Summary: Summoned to her headquarters for a special occasion, General Fox wishes to preserve the finest collection of officers under her command for all time.
Warnings: None really, except to say that this idea really took off. I've always had a fascination with American history, and suddenly just yesterday, a concept popped into my head and now I'm running with it. If I choose to continue with this collection of characters, I'll eventually reveal their historical identities. Fun to write all around!
A Union of Six
General O.W.H rode into the courtyard to the fanfare of the finest band thus formed in the United Army, an old song of legend resounding through the town and resting well on his ears. Though he disliked the attention given to him when he didn’t deserve it, he was nonetheless grateful and dismounted his horse before saluting the musical lads, to which they held a long, glorious note in response. He mustered a slight laugh as he turned to walk inside the white wooded house where his superior commander awaited his arrival.
Upon entry, he beheld the lady general seated busily at her desk, natural light peeling in from the windows to aid her in her paperwork. She didn’t look up at him right away, possibly because she simply didn’t hear him enter, so O.W.H politely cleared his throat, drawing her spectacle laden eyes up immediately.
“My dear and confident General O.W.H, I am very glad to see you well, sir,” she greeted him, standing to her full height and saluting formally.
Her subordinate responded in kind and nodded his appreciation. “The same to you, ma’am. It’s been almost a month since we last met.”
The commanding general smiled only slightly and returned to her chair. “Such is time when it comes to war. It is eaten away so quickly, but digested over slower periods. Truly, we must appreciate this amount of time we will have together today.”
“I do admit that your request for such a meeting surprised me, General Fox,” O.W.H told her, striding over to the chair opposite his superior’s desk. Old age was beginning to wrack his body, but none showed in hers, as if she were ever youthful and infinitely wise beyond her also increasing age. “Do we really have time for something like this?”
Fox looked up again from her paperwork at her right hand man, sincerity shining easily through her eyes. “Once again, time is a precious thing, my friend. For now the battlefields are quiet and the weather is permissible for this gathering I have called. It is also fortunate that you as well as the other commanders are so close, therefore making travel much easier for everyone. I do believe that this is a rare opportunity and it should be utilized properly.”
“Very well, ma’am,” O.W.H replied, head down and looking solely at the desk out of some manner of shame. He had a habit of attempting to turn happy occasions into moments of somberness and guilt. A soldier from the youngest age allowed, he always felt it prudent to seize any and all chances to gain momentum, and as his body steadily began to wither, so did his resolve. The fiery man he once was had deteriorated slowly and no longer sustained the vigor he was known for before achieving the position he had now.
Fortunately, Fox was good at alleviating a stressful atmosphere with her light humor and added something of comical significance. “I’m sorry to say that you were not the first to respond to my wire. Colonel Lawrence arrived just after dawn and has since been… making herself as useful as possible. I must say that her presence has been both relieving and somewhat noisy as she assists Mister Freelance in the adjoining room.”
Her senses by far too attuned to hear anything at all, especially her despised nickname, Colonel Lawrence opened the door dividing them and stomped her foot to the floor as she saluted. “My apologies for the disturbances, ma’am! I will try to keep the noise down, ma’am!”
Fox chuckled amusedly to herself and saluted back calmly to her most recently added officer. “At ease, Colonel, you don’t need to be so formal on this day of rest. You may carry on with what duties you see fit, whether they be actually resting or assisting Mister Freelance.”
O.W.H found it hard not to laugh while Lawrence stood there abashedly, her eyes dancing to and fro as she toiled with the commanding general’s words of advice. Finally, she stamped her foot again, saluted and retreated into the room behind her to most likely continue her work with their guest. With her gone, both O.W.H and Fox laughed despite themselves, enjoying the merriment of Lawrence’s always over-achieving manner of life.
“I fear she may be trying too hard, General.” Fox commented, penning her name on a document she had just finished reading over once more before the disturbance.
“That’s an understatement,” a third voice came from the door that had just opened. A tall, roughened man stood in the doorframe and saluted his entry. “Being the oldest of five kids with four younger brothers sure does put her in an odd position to be proud of herself. But that’s the way folks like her are, I suppose.”
“General U.H, it is agreeable to see you, sir.” Fox greeted her cavalry officer in the same manner in which she welcomed her right hand man, offering him a nearby chair which he politely refused. “I trust your ride here was comfortable?”
U.H. laughed beneath his bristled mustache and moved to lean against the wall. “After the first three thousand miles, a soldier doesn’t even feel the saddle to be uncomfortable anymore.” Looking to the elder man seated in front of him, U.H. patted the man’s back and smiled. “Say, General, are you still in need of another good stock horse, or were you able to procure one on your own?”
O.W.H sighed, not in defeat, but in acceptance. “I don’t have as good an eye for horse flesh like you do, U.H, so no, I haven’t found one yet. I could do well with your help, I reckon.”
The cavalryman’s grin widened and he assured his comrade with a hand clenching slightly over a broad shoulder. “Not to worry, O.W – I saw a fine farm on the way up here, just a few miles down the road, and I’d be glad to take ya by there so that you can pick the horse of your best liking.”
“Never minding that I just admitted to you I can’t spot a good horse even if he was plopped down in front of me?” O.W.H had to reiterate, though with a smile, even if he was embarrassed.
“A blind man couldn’t pick a bad horse on that farm – I own it.”
“Ah yes, I almost forgot that you purchased that farm a few months ago.” Fox chimed in, removing her spectacles to clean with the appropriating cloth. “General O.W.H, you are in good hands with this gentleman, because it was he who suggested my beloved Traveler to me. Never before have I ever ridden a more perfect animal.”
As the conversation went on of ideal breeds of horses, even tales of the mysterious, speed demons in the far east finding their way into words, another conversation was approaching from outside the small house. Something like bickering, but on a friendlier level, though it was still somewhat awkward to bear hearing.
“It’s as I told you before, we were just kids back then and I didn’t know any better,” the female argued as she stepped onto the stone ledge leading into the doorway.
“But it was a promise, Winnie! A promise I have held to my heart all these years!” The man was more boisterous, almost pleading with his tone as he emphasized his words with his hands.
“You were six years old, Lo, and I was four,” she replied in the sarcastic, rolling her eyes.
“Has that much changed since I was that age?” The man was steadfast and determined to break her wall somehow.
Saluting her commanding officer first before replying, she never broke eye contact with General Fox and said, “The beard, for starters.”
Embarrassed when he realized that the end of their discussion had taken place before all of his ranking officers, Lo saluted finally and looked ashamed of what had happened. But Fox was once again grateful for the light heartedness of her comrades and greeted them both with the warmest of smiles.
“Generals Superb and Lo, I welcome you today to our brief time of reprieve. You both are looking well and healthy. Your winter season was more tolerable than ours, I hear.”
Always proud and dashing, General Superb strode over to stand beside her commander, practically gleaming with everything admirable about her. “We are fit as we are due to the great amounts of activity and victory we achieved in the southern conflicts this past season. I will be the first to tell you that General Lo’s performance at Broken Bridge was beyond exceptional, and I do believe that was due in part to your promoting him to his current rank. Thank you for giving me such a well serving man to have as my executive.”
Not equally as proud as his superior, Lo looked to the floor bashfully while Fox smiled in great approval. “That is truly wonderful news, General Superb. I am honored to have such brave men and women serving with me during this crucial time.” When she penned her name on the final document, she rose from her seat (with offered assistance from Superb) and straightened her formal and narrow gray dress. The attire suited her, her subordinates agreed, for she was amiably referred to as Gray Fox among the ranks, thus rendering her the official title after her first display of tactical prowess in the battle at The Junction.
Wordlessly, she directed her staff to follow her into the next room where Colonel Lawrence worked hurriedly on straightening out unseen wrinkles in the canvas hanging from the opposing wall. It was a wonder the smooth cloth didn’t fall from its position, what with Lawrence toying with it so. Mister Freelance, relieved for the presence of all six officers sighed in gratitude – most likely to finally be closer to freedom from Lawrence’s constant meddling.
“Mister Freelance, I do thank you for your presence here today, sir. These are my commanding officers, all of which I do believe you already know, yes?” Fox greeted the young man with a handshake rather than a salute – the man (just a grown teenage boy, really) was not a soldier and therefore wasn’t at all required to be so formal.
After the shake, Freelance still saluted anyway and replied, “Yes ma’am, I’ve had the privilege of meeting all… until Colonel Lawrence pleasantly surprised me with her…’assistance’ today.” The officers tried not to laugh, O.W.H doing so to himself quietly.
“Oh Lawrence, it’s been such a long time.” Superb prodded intentionally, causing the short blonde hairs on the back of Lawrence’s neck to bristle tightly. “Still keeping busy with everything possible, I see.”
The colonel growled lowly, only heard by Freelance and Superb and looked the generals’ way. “Got to make the best use of my time if I can’t be involved in any action, General Superb. I, for one, am grateful to Mister Freelance for giving me the opportunity of helping him today, even if it is frivolous work.” Lawrence stamped her foot to the floor as she saluted her comrades, each doing the same as they laughed, watching the tripod teeter noticeably due to the thunderous manner in which Lawrence impressed her polished boots on the ground.
Nervously, Freelance managed to steady the instrument and ushered his clients to stand before the canvas. “General Fox, I prepared a chair for you, ma’am, if that is permissible.”
“I had planned to stand with my comrades, Mister Freelance,” she replied in a tone that was hopeful, yet disappointed just the same. “But I am growing older and I don’t think my bones would allow me to stand for the period of time that is required of me.”
“I don’t think Lawrence’s rickety bones would allow it either.” Superb teased again, more spurts of mild laughter erupting from the officers in the room while Lawrence tried to defend her ways as usual.
When the arguing and chuckling ceased, Freelance allowed them to decide standing order on their own, for this was to be their treasure, and as such, it should be designed to their liking. Finally, an arrangement was agreed upon, with General Fox seated rather regally in her chair in front of her trusted entourage.
To the farthest right, General Lo took his place, hands folded behind him with a look of both pride and grimness on his face. Early battles fought in the war had already begun to test his limits, but he was a tough soldier from the get-go, an unbridled manner of bravery about him with an air of charisma burrowing down underneath preserved only for his dear and cherished General Superb. Serving directly under her was the best he could have hoped for, save for his greatest dream in life – her hand that he had promised to make his when they were mere children.
Knowing in her heart back then that it was merely child’s play, General Superb thought nothing more of Lo’s “proposal of marriage” since the day he threw it at her while sitting down to supper with her family. Ever since that day, any path in life she took, he followed – even into the military where they both achieved substantial records. Superb earned her reputation through surpassing all manners of curriculum she was tested with, proved her strategic worth in combat with her mind-bending tactics, and had a sense of humor that knew no bounds. Though she was growing weary of finding humor in Lo’s romantic behavior towards her, she was still honored to stand beside him to his right and on Fox’s left.
Positioned directly behind his treasured commander, General Old War Horse did not smile, his face sullen as if grieving still for the losses of his wife and children three years prior. He couldn’t find much joy in the aftermath of the Fever epidemic that swept through his home, except for in serving his country by being the soldier he was. In the years after losing his family, General Fox was of great comfort to him in offering spiritual counsel and deep friendship. It was not exactly a cure, nor was it a remedy, but it was a method of appropriate healing for a man now past his peak and starting down the other side of the slope. Ever since that day, if he couldn’t fully devote himself to anything, he vowed to at least serve his commanding general with every bone in his body.
General Unsung Hero, or U.H. as he preferred, stood beside his old friend with a modest smile beneath his faintly graying mustache. He wasn’t as fond of his title as the others were, but since it was given to him by both his cavalrymen and General Fox, he had little choice but to accept the honor. When he told his wife this past Christmas of the name and how he received it, the missus was deeply moved and praised her husband for his valor. Storming through shrouds of gunpowder amidst raining shrapnel must have been terrifying, but U.H. never even flinched atop his horse. For his gallantry, he not only achieved his place in history, but gained his position at General Fox’s side.
Tying up the line on its left was Colonel Lawrence, bright, youthful and obviously over-bearing, she made certain that her hand was visible in clenching the hilt of her family’s saber. The youngest on staff, her rank being ignored, Lawrence was here to seek glory for her family, and possibly more. Her comrades thus far had struggled to learn why she was here, only receiving the answer of “for peace and country” whenever asked the simple question. Were she to be frank and honest with them, she would answer that she didn’t know that yet herself, having answered the call for soldiers to rise without needing a push in the right direction. Her brothers, all too young to join the service, looked up to their big sister as she marched away from her cold home on the farm and to a splendor she was longing to see come to pass. She had decided the day she set foot out of the house that she would find her reasons along the way, not before, and not after.
To complete the half that was smiling, General Fox folded her hands in her lap and looked directly at Freelance while he worked to preserve the delicate moment so tediously. In the lighting so carefully placed (and re-placed due to Lawrence’s fidgeting), her silvery hair glowed softly like moon beams touching the war stricken earth. And the earth was both suffering and reveling this day; in a state of pain due to the anguish of death so frequently replenishing her, but also grateful for the remunerating sunshine that was soaked up into the ground just after a refreshing spring rain the previous night. Fox was the primary cause of the earth’s hardship right now, but soon she prayed that the bloody conflicts would end now with such a capable staff representing her impregnable army of volunteers. They were the finest collection of individuals she could have asked for, each a hero in their own right, and while they all had their short-comings (some seemingly more than others), they stood above all others as servants of the nation rather than themselves.
Within his camera obscura, Freelance immortalized a great general and her most trusted comrades that could one day be viewed centuries from now with awe and reverence. For now, it would be placed upon a shelf, then into a hope chest of a distant family member to one day be seen again by those that would remember them. They would endure for all time in this photograph.
Fandom: Original
Prompt: #307 Hope Chest
Character(s): Generals O.W.H, Fox, U.H., Superb, Lo and Colonel Lawrence
Genre(s): Friendship/History
Rating: Light PG
Word Count: 2,968
Summary: Summoned to her headquarters for a special occasion, General Fox wishes to preserve the finest collection of officers under her command for all time.
Warnings: None really, except to say that this idea really took off. I've always had a fascination with American history, and suddenly just yesterday, a concept popped into my head and now I'm running with it. If I choose to continue with this collection of characters, I'll eventually reveal their historical identities. Fun to write all around!
General O.W.H rode into the courtyard to the fanfare of the finest band thus formed in the United Army, an old song of legend resounding through the town and resting well on his ears. Though he disliked the attention given to him when he didn’t deserve it, he was nonetheless grateful and dismounted his horse before saluting the musical lads, to which they held a long, glorious note in response. He mustered a slight laugh as he turned to walk inside the white wooded house where his superior commander awaited his arrival.
Upon entry, he beheld the lady general seated busily at her desk, natural light peeling in from the windows to aid her in her paperwork. She didn’t look up at him right away, possibly because she simply didn’t hear him enter, so O.W.H politely cleared his throat, drawing her spectacle laden eyes up immediately.
“My dear and confident General O.W.H, I am very glad to see you well, sir,” she greeted him, standing to her full height and saluting formally.
Her subordinate responded in kind and nodded his appreciation. “The same to you, ma’am. It’s been almost a month since we last met.”
The commanding general smiled only slightly and returned to her chair. “Such is time when it comes to war. It is eaten away so quickly, but digested over slower periods. Truly, we must appreciate this amount of time we will have together today.”
“I do admit that your request for such a meeting surprised me, General Fox,” O.W.H told her, striding over to the chair opposite his superior’s desk. Old age was beginning to wrack his body, but none showed in hers, as if she were ever youthful and infinitely wise beyond her also increasing age. “Do we really have time for something like this?”
Fox looked up again from her paperwork at her right hand man, sincerity shining easily through her eyes. “Once again, time is a precious thing, my friend. For now the battlefields are quiet and the weather is permissible for this gathering I have called. It is also fortunate that you as well as the other commanders are so close, therefore making travel much easier for everyone. I do believe that this is a rare opportunity and it should be utilized properly.”
“Very well, ma’am,” O.W.H replied, head down and looking solely at the desk out of some manner of shame. He had a habit of attempting to turn happy occasions into moments of somberness and guilt. A soldier from the youngest age allowed, he always felt it prudent to seize any and all chances to gain momentum, and as his body steadily began to wither, so did his resolve. The fiery man he once was had deteriorated slowly and no longer sustained the vigor he was known for before achieving the position he had now.
Fortunately, Fox was good at alleviating a stressful atmosphere with her light humor and added something of comical significance. “I’m sorry to say that you were not the first to respond to my wire. Colonel Lawrence arrived just after dawn and has since been… making herself as useful as possible. I must say that her presence has been both relieving and somewhat noisy as she assists Mister Freelance in the adjoining room.”
Her senses by far too attuned to hear anything at all, especially her despised nickname, Colonel Lawrence opened the door dividing them and stomped her foot to the floor as she saluted. “My apologies for the disturbances, ma’am! I will try to keep the noise down, ma’am!”
Fox chuckled amusedly to herself and saluted back calmly to her most recently added officer. “At ease, Colonel, you don’t need to be so formal on this day of rest. You may carry on with what duties you see fit, whether they be actually resting or assisting Mister Freelance.”
O.W.H found it hard not to laugh while Lawrence stood there abashedly, her eyes dancing to and fro as she toiled with the commanding general’s words of advice. Finally, she stamped her foot again, saluted and retreated into the room behind her to most likely continue her work with their guest. With her gone, both O.W.H and Fox laughed despite themselves, enjoying the merriment of Lawrence’s always over-achieving manner of life.
“I fear she may be trying too hard, General.” Fox commented, penning her name on a document she had just finished reading over once more before the disturbance.
“That’s an understatement,” a third voice came from the door that had just opened. A tall, roughened man stood in the doorframe and saluted his entry. “Being the oldest of five kids with four younger brothers sure does put her in an odd position to be proud of herself. But that’s the way folks like her are, I suppose.”
“General U.H, it is agreeable to see you, sir.” Fox greeted her cavalry officer in the same manner in which she welcomed her right hand man, offering him a nearby chair which he politely refused. “I trust your ride here was comfortable?”
U.H. laughed beneath his bristled mustache and moved to lean against the wall. “After the first three thousand miles, a soldier doesn’t even feel the saddle to be uncomfortable anymore.” Looking to the elder man seated in front of him, U.H. patted the man’s back and smiled. “Say, General, are you still in need of another good stock horse, or were you able to procure one on your own?”
O.W.H sighed, not in defeat, but in acceptance. “I don’t have as good an eye for horse flesh like you do, U.H, so no, I haven’t found one yet. I could do well with your help, I reckon.”
The cavalryman’s grin widened and he assured his comrade with a hand clenching slightly over a broad shoulder. “Not to worry, O.W – I saw a fine farm on the way up here, just a few miles down the road, and I’d be glad to take ya by there so that you can pick the horse of your best liking.”
“Never minding that I just admitted to you I can’t spot a good horse even if he was plopped down in front of me?” O.W.H had to reiterate, though with a smile, even if he was embarrassed.
“A blind man couldn’t pick a bad horse on that farm – I own it.”
“Ah yes, I almost forgot that you purchased that farm a few months ago.” Fox chimed in, removing her spectacles to clean with the appropriating cloth. “General O.W.H, you are in good hands with this gentleman, because it was he who suggested my beloved Traveler to me. Never before have I ever ridden a more perfect animal.”
As the conversation went on of ideal breeds of horses, even tales of the mysterious, speed demons in the far east finding their way into words, another conversation was approaching from outside the small house. Something like bickering, but on a friendlier level, though it was still somewhat awkward to bear hearing.
“It’s as I told you before, we were just kids back then and I didn’t know any better,” the female argued as she stepped onto the stone ledge leading into the doorway.
“But it was a promise, Winnie! A promise I have held to my heart all these years!” The man was more boisterous, almost pleading with his tone as he emphasized his words with his hands.
“You were six years old, Lo, and I was four,” she replied in the sarcastic, rolling her eyes.
“Has that much changed since I was that age?” The man was steadfast and determined to break her wall somehow.
Saluting her commanding officer first before replying, she never broke eye contact with General Fox and said, “The beard, for starters.”
Embarrassed when he realized that the end of their discussion had taken place before all of his ranking officers, Lo saluted finally and looked ashamed of what had happened. But Fox was once again grateful for the light heartedness of her comrades and greeted them both with the warmest of smiles.
“Generals Superb and Lo, I welcome you today to our brief time of reprieve. You both are looking well and healthy. Your winter season was more tolerable than ours, I hear.”
Always proud and dashing, General Superb strode over to stand beside her commander, practically gleaming with everything admirable about her. “We are fit as we are due to the great amounts of activity and victory we achieved in the southern conflicts this past season. I will be the first to tell you that General Lo’s performance at Broken Bridge was beyond exceptional, and I do believe that was due in part to your promoting him to his current rank. Thank you for giving me such a well serving man to have as my executive.”
Not equally as proud as his superior, Lo looked to the floor bashfully while Fox smiled in great approval. “That is truly wonderful news, General Superb. I am honored to have such brave men and women serving with me during this crucial time.” When she penned her name on the final document, she rose from her seat (with offered assistance from Superb) and straightened her formal and narrow gray dress. The attire suited her, her subordinates agreed, for she was amiably referred to as Gray Fox among the ranks, thus rendering her the official title after her first display of tactical prowess in the battle at The Junction.
Wordlessly, she directed her staff to follow her into the next room where Colonel Lawrence worked hurriedly on straightening out unseen wrinkles in the canvas hanging from the opposing wall. It was a wonder the smooth cloth didn’t fall from its position, what with Lawrence toying with it so. Mister Freelance, relieved for the presence of all six officers sighed in gratitude – most likely to finally be closer to freedom from Lawrence’s constant meddling.
“Mister Freelance, I do thank you for your presence here today, sir. These are my commanding officers, all of which I do believe you already know, yes?” Fox greeted the young man with a handshake rather than a salute – the man (just a grown teenage boy, really) was not a soldier and therefore wasn’t at all required to be so formal.
After the shake, Freelance still saluted anyway and replied, “Yes ma’am, I’ve had the privilege of meeting all… until Colonel Lawrence pleasantly surprised me with her…’assistance’ today.” The officers tried not to laugh, O.W.H doing so to himself quietly.
“Oh Lawrence, it’s been such a long time.” Superb prodded intentionally, causing the short blonde hairs on the back of Lawrence’s neck to bristle tightly. “Still keeping busy with everything possible, I see.”
The colonel growled lowly, only heard by Freelance and Superb and looked the generals’ way. “Got to make the best use of my time if I can’t be involved in any action, General Superb. I, for one, am grateful to Mister Freelance for giving me the opportunity of helping him today, even if it is frivolous work.” Lawrence stamped her foot to the floor as she saluted her comrades, each doing the same as they laughed, watching the tripod teeter noticeably due to the thunderous manner in which Lawrence impressed her polished boots on the ground.
Nervously, Freelance managed to steady the instrument and ushered his clients to stand before the canvas. “General Fox, I prepared a chair for you, ma’am, if that is permissible.”
“I had planned to stand with my comrades, Mister Freelance,” she replied in a tone that was hopeful, yet disappointed just the same. “But I am growing older and I don’t think my bones would allow me to stand for the period of time that is required of me.”
“I don’t think Lawrence’s rickety bones would allow it either.” Superb teased again, more spurts of mild laughter erupting from the officers in the room while Lawrence tried to defend her ways as usual.
When the arguing and chuckling ceased, Freelance allowed them to decide standing order on their own, for this was to be their treasure, and as such, it should be designed to their liking. Finally, an arrangement was agreed upon, with General Fox seated rather regally in her chair in front of her trusted entourage.
To the farthest right, General Lo took his place, hands folded behind him with a look of both pride and grimness on his face. Early battles fought in the war had already begun to test his limits, but he was a tough soldier from the get-go, an unbridled manner of bravery about him with an air of charisma burrowing down underneath preserved only for his dear and cherished General Superb. Serving directly under her was the best he could have hoped for, save for his greatest dream in life – her hand that he had promised to make his when they were mere children.
Knowing in her heart back then that it was merely child’s play, General Superb thought nothing more of Lo’s “proposal of marriage” since the day he threw it at her while sitting down to supper with her family. Ever since that day, any path in life she took, he followed – even into the military where they both achieved substantial records. Superb earned her reputation through surpassing all manners of curriculum she was tested with, proved her strategic worth in combat with her mind-bending tactics, and had a sense of humor that knew no bounds. Though she was growing weary of finding humor in Lo’s romantic behavior towards her, she was still honored to stand beside him to his right and on Fox’s left.
Positioned directly behind his treasured commander, General Old War Horse did not smile, his face sullen as if grieving still for the losses of his wife and children three years prior. He couldn’t find much joy in the aftermath of the Fever epidemic that swept through his home, except for in serving his country by being the soldier he was. In the years after losing his family, General Fox was of great comfort to him in offering spiritual counsel and deep friendship. It was not exactly a cure, nor was it a remedy, but it was a method of appropriate healing for a man now past his peak and starting down the other side of the slope. Ever since that day, if he couldn’t fully devote himself to anything, he vowed to at least serve his commanding general with every bone in his body.
General Unsung Hero, or U.H. as he preferred, stood beside his old friend with a modest smile beneath his faintly graying mustache. He wasn’t as fond of his title as the others were, but since it was given to him by both his cavalrymen and General Fox, he had little choice but to accept the honor. When he told his wife this past Christmas of the name and how he received it, the missus was deeply moved and praised her husband for his valor. Storming through shrouds of gunpowder amidst raining shrapnel must have been terrifying, but U.H. never even flinched atop his horse. For his gallantry, he not only achieved his place in history, but gained his position at General Fox’s side.
Tying up the line on its left was Colonel Lawrence, bright, youthful and obviously over-bearing, she made certain that her hand was visible in clenching the hilt of her family’s saber. The youngest on staff, her rank being ignored, Lawrence was here to seek glory for her family, and possibly more. Her comrades thus far had struggled to learn why she was here, only receiving the answer of “for peace and country” whenever asked the simple question. Were she to be frank and honest with them, she would answer that she didn’t know that yet herself, having answered the call for soldiers to rise without needing a push in the right direction. Her brothers, all too young to join the service, looked up to their big sister as she marched away from her cold home on the farm and to a splendor she was longing to see come to pass. She had decided the day she set foot out of the house that she would find her reasons along the way, not before, and not after.
To complete the half that was smiling, General Fox folded her hands in her lap and looked directly at Freelance while he worked to preserve the delicate moment so tediously. In the lighting so carefully placed (and re-placed due to Lawrence’s fidgeting), her silvery hair glowed softly like moon beams touching the war stricken earth. And the earth was both suffering and reveling this day; in a state of pain due to the anguish of death so frequently replenishing her, but also grateful for the remunerating sunshine that was soaked up into the ground just after a refreshing spring rain the previous night. Fox was the primary cause of the earth’s hardship right now, but soon she prayed that the bloody conflicts would end now with such a capable staff representing her impregnable army of volunteers. They were the finest collection of individuals she could have asked for, each a hero in their own right, and while they all had their short-comings (some seemingly more than others), they stood above all others as servants of the nation rather than themselves.
Within his camera obscura, Freelance immortalized a great general and her most trusted comrades that could one day be viewed centuries from now with awe and reverence. For now, it would be placed upon a shelf, then into a hope chest of a distant family member to one day be seen again by those that would remember them. They would endure for all time in this photograph.
