Learning to Love the Other Side

Springfield Beaut(James )

Dear Ma and Pa,

I'm goin to war.

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The excited chatter about war and the grumbling complaints about uniforms not fitting had all but come to a halt. The boys were exhausted from the physical hell Drill Sargeant had rained down on them. The boys had been pushed above and beyond their physical fitness limits and most of the young men had never run so far, preformed so many push-ups, or sang so many cadences in their lives combined. Being fit to work a farm required a lot of strength and endurance, but the Drill Sargeant had put them through something they have never imagined possible in one day. And every single one of the men felt some type of soreness or fatigue in their feet, shoulders, arms or abdomen in the morning; not one man was spared from Drill Sargeant's wrath, especially not James.

James stumbled to his feet. "Geez," James mumbled, gingerly rubbing his aching arms and shoulders. He was aching in places he didn't even know existed. It had only been a day, and James was already feeling like he'd been run over by an entire herd of horses.

James glanced around the tent and then down at his friend. Apparently Adam and the rest of the men were pretty whooped as well. He saw the other four men (excluding Adam), groaning and rubbing their sore muscles just as he was. The tent was pretty cramped as was, but SGT stuffed six of them in what he figured was hardly room for three. They had all slept pretty soundly because they had been so exhausted, but spooning each other because of lack of space was not ideal.

James peered down at his friend and nudged him with his boot. Adam only groaned in response.

"Ge'up, Adam." James nudged Adam again, this time harder.

"You're worse than my nagging Ma, James, geez," Adam groaned groggily. He finally did stand up, but a sour frown was apparent on his average face.

"I didn't ask for her to come along," Adam added, eyeing James irritably.

James chuckled to himself. The perks of being a poor farm boy; he was used to getting up at the crack of dawn. Adam was not, and boy was his friend in for it.

"Ah, sorry for interrupting your beauty sleep, sweethe-" James didn't get to finish his sentence, as Adam's hat flew straight into his face with a loud whack!

The hat had caused James' face to become red from the hard-hit, but James just laughed and laughed, amused by his friend's behavior. The other men decided it was pretty funny too because they all joined James in the chuckling and laughter as Adam sat scowling.

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"Well, damn, Goldby! Sargeant sunshine sure does hate you. Boy, I ain't seen such hate for nobody before!" Private White, one of James' tent mates said, shaking his head and shoving more beans into his already stuffed mouth. Private White was scrawny, all bones, and had bucked teeth, and bad acne. He had a face only a mama could love, James decided. He liked the guy though, he was goofy and pretty good-humored, though rambled on way too much for his liking. Sargeant sunshine was the boy's new nickname for the Drill Sargeant. They had been calling him the name behind his back as a sort of a game, trying not to get caught.

"Yeah, I swear sunshine plots how he's gunna torture me next for the fun of it," James chuckles, shaking his head.

The boys from James' tent were all gathered around an unlit firepit. Each man had a round, cheap tin bowl filled with beans and small bits of meat leftovers littered sparingly throughout the meal in their uniformed laps.

The atmosphere was light and joking as the boys chowed down on their food, and the boys were back to good spirits again. James was especially excited about today because he had heard rumors that the men would get to clean their weapons and demonstrate their shooting abilities. He loved his Enfield musket, and though it was an older model, James still knew how to take a good shot with it.

After the soldiers had marched, eaten, ran, and had been yelled at by the Drill Sargeant, the men were ordered to retrieve their guns.

"Ooooeeee, you got that fancy new Springfield rifle. How you go an' manage to get you one of them beauts?" asked PVT White, staring awestruck at Adams' shiny new rifle, his toothy grin wide with excitement.

Adam stood up a bit straighter and looked at White with a smug grin. "Yep, she sure is a beaut. My pa knows some guys makin' em. Made sure we got our hands on em real quick."

"Yeah, I hear some people talkin' bout them Springfields bein' handed out to us soldiers to use once they gone and made some more. I hope I get my hands on one," added another man, eyeing the rifle with jealousy.

James had to admit, he'd been lucky enough to use Adam's rifle when they were hanging out one day, and its accuracy was magnificent.

"Ladies, line up in formation, ya hear?"

"Yes, Drill Sargeant, sir!"

The boys quickly stood up at the Sargeant's bellowing voice and went to do exactly what he had asked them to do. The men were quick to grab their weapons and form a straight line this time around. They had done it so many times in the short time they had been in at the training camp, that it was beginning to feel mechanical, at least, for James it was.

It was another blistering hot, Georgia day, and James was already feeling the familiar dampness on his back and temple. By the end of the day, he knew he and his comrades would be drenched in sweat. He stood in the formation, his shoulders pulled back taught, his feet glued together, and his musket slung over his shoulder. James started mentally preparing himself for Sargeant sunshine's personal vendetta against him, wondering what kind of singling out torture he had in mind for him today.

James eyed Sargeant sunshine with piqued interest. A newcomer had walked up to the Sargeant, and the two men stood speaking in lowered voices. The man was a similar rank to the Drill Sargeant's, and James was immediately intrigued because the newcomer had interrupted the Sargeant's yelling marathon- something no one ever dared to do. Drill Sargeant's face had gone from sour (his resting facial expression), to surprised and slightly flustered. Whatever the newcomer had said, sunshine wasn't expecting it.

"Go and pack up your rucksack, boys, and report back to formation immediately. You're leavin' for war."

***What did you guys think of this chapter? What do you think about James' and Adam's time in Bootcamp being cut short? Do you think they are ready to face the realities of war? Also, I will change this in my next drafts, but since a lot of you have commented on "average Adam" in the past, I snuck another average moment in there because it's funny. Have no fear though, I'll take that out the next draft lol

Thanks for reading, and please remember to vote and comment if you liked this chapter!! It gives me the motivation to write more:D ***