Steve's Diary

June 16, 1939

Dear Diary,

Okay, I wasn't gonna say anything but this morning... I tried to enlist.

The man wouldn't let me, either. He stamped my form with a massive '4F', which apparently meant no go on the military for me. Coulda been on my asthma alone, he said.

What a load of bullshit.

I knew when he started asking me about my parents, there would be an issue. The whole mustard gas thing with dad wouldn't be that bad, but telling him about mom and her tuberculosis... that might kill me, and not only in the sense that I might get upset all over again, but also in the sense that they wouldn't let me enlist.

Ugh, and I tried telling him that I wanted the 107th, too. No luck there either, but I guess it might've helped for me to actually get through the enlistment office first...

Whatever, right?

—————

I watched the screen as the black and white videos flashed back and forth, a man narrating.

War continues to ravage occupied Europe... but help is on the way. Every able-bodied young man is lining top to serve his coubntry. Even little Timmy is doing his part; collecting scrap metal, nice work, Timmy.

"Who cares? Play the movie already!" A man a few rows ahead of me shouts at the screen. I looked to my left to see a woman in the aisle, she looks upset. I can nearly see the tears welling in her eyes. She probably has a man overseas, I thought, and soon so would I.

"Hey, you wanna show some respect?" I whispered to him, barely audibly. He didn't seem to even hear me, though.

Meanwhile, overseas, our brave boys are showing the Axis that the price of freedom is never too high!

"Let's go, get on with it! Hey, just start the cartoon!" The jerk in front of me yells again, but I didn't look at him. I was watching the woman. She reminded me of myself, in a way because when she flinched, I really felt it, too.

I jabbed his shoulder from behind, thinking about how the woman and I were one and the same, feeling my own face grow red from how much I was fuming. "hey, you want to shut up?"

Together with allied forces, we can face any threat, no matter the size!

I watch him as he spins around, slowly standing up... and up and up and- this man is massive, jeez, he didn't stop getting taller.

It was late in the afternoon when I made my way out of the theater... I managed to find myself in an alleyway, yet again fighting for what I believed in.

I felt my hands go up, hovering around my face in attempts to protect myself from what I saw coming. He hit me square in the jaw and I flew back, landing flat on the ground. My face was sore, but adrenaline pumped through my veins and got me back on my feet. He hit me again almost immediately after I had stood up again, landing me right back on the ground. I stood again, somehow, though. I picked up a trash can lid, remembering back to the last time I did that... I tried to block his next shot with the metal lid, but he managed to grab it from me and throe it to the side, punching me again right in the mouth. I felt may legs fly up as I fell to the ground again, this time my face throbbing like my heart had somehow made it's way up there.

It was all moving in slow motion. I watched him hovering over me, panting, waiting for me to give in. I felt my mind glitch, like there was something taking over and not letting go. It was a memory from when I was a young kid...

"Salvatore will put us on the street unless you-"

"Unless I what?!" she interrupted him. "Draw gold from the gutters?! You have to find work," she told him, yelling back. I hid under the table and covered my ears, trying to block out the unbearable noise.