The train was taking us back to familiarity, a world which we had left behind years prior. But now this world was in front of us. Behind was the world of war. Behind was death. Behind were the sprawling fields of the front.
I watched absentmindedly as the raindrops streaked down the window. It was early morning. Through the rain I could see farmland. The land here hadn’t been scared by the war. It was still intact. Here, the war never happened.
We were getting closer to Paris. Closer to home.
“Are you there Luke?” Paul’s voice brought me back to the present. Back to the group of soldiers sitting around me.
We served together at the front, part of France’s 3rd regiment. Had served. We had served together. The war was over. Peace was brought to Europe with the German surrender. The past tense still eludes me.
“Yes” I replied, turning my gaze to Paul. He was smiling. Laughing maybe. He was talking with Jack.
“The Germans just couldn’t keep up! With Austria out of the war, Germany was alone. Without her allies, Germany collapsed. The Keiser fled, an-” Jack was speaking. He came to the front only a few weeks before the armistice. He was green. A fresh conscript out of the Parisian suburbs. Compared to Paul and me, he was an infant.
“Enough with the war talk,” Paul interrupted, “Leave politics to the diplomats”
Where Paul’s right eye had been was now covered by a black patch. Another loss in the war. He was sent to the hospital unit that was stationed a few miles from the front. There he remained for a few months. I visited on the rare occasion when I was available. The hospitals were crowded with soldiers and screams. Not many made it out of the infirmary.
Paul wasn’t one of the lucky.
When he recovered from his injuries, he was sent back to the front. France became desperate for men in the final months of the War. Every man had to do his part.
He received a medal for his injuries. A simple circle of cold metal was the replacement for an eye. For a life forever changed. In its youth, the medal shone brighter than the sun. However, months with Paul in the trenches left it tarnished. Covered in dirt and blood, it was like us.
Nothing left the trenches the same.
“Come on Paul, aren’t you excited for the victory? We’re the heroes of the Republic!”
“I’m just glad the war is over”
“I’m glad we survived.” I didn’t realize that I had spoken. They both looked at me with a hint of confusion in their eyes. There might be sadness there too. We all felt the same. What I said was probably taboo. It might not have been in the best taste, but it was true. Many others had died, but we lived. We survived the front.
But at what cost?
We stayed silent for a few moments, remembering the people we lost.
I broke the silence. “So what are you two going to do once we get to Paris?”
Paul spoke first. “In Pairs I’ll switch trains and head to Nice. And then I guess I’ll see my family. I haven’t been home in so long. I wonder how the place has changed. After that I guess I’ll try to find a job in the city somewhere. Maybe I’ll try to go back to school.”
We were all conscripted before we could finish school. As the war got longer, the men fighting got younger.
“What about you, Frank? Got any extravagant plans for the future?” I joked. Frank was the dreamer. The cost of being new.
“Me? I’m going to travel.”
“Travel? Didn’t you get enough of that during the war?’
“I don’t want to see empty fields or mortar holes. I want to see the wonders of the modern world. Capital cities, museums, monuments, orchestras. The whole thing!”
The scene outside became more urban and the train began to slow. We were nearing the station.
“What about you, Luke? What are your plans?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.” It was true, I hadn’t. I don’t really know why. Of course I’d return to my family in Paris, but after that I wasn’t quite sure. Could one return to a normal life after what we had experienced? After seeing a man clamp an artery in his arm with his own teeth for 2 hours after a shelling, could normality exist?
We all trusted a system which failed us. Now, we’re all trying to find ourselves in the fallout. We came from different parts of the same country. The war brought us together. The friendship which we shared was born out of the chaos of the trenches.
The train pulled into the station. People with blurred faces crowded the platforms, waiting for the next train which would take them to the farthest corners of their dreams. With a hiss, the train came to a stop. White steam surrounded the train, as if we were floating on a cloud. We stood up, grabbed our bags, and made our way for the doors. Paul led the way.
The doors opened, and Paul stepped onto the platform. I looked down at the steps in front of me. Before me was the possibility of a life outside the war. Paris was the city in which I was born. I was raised on these streets. The front was the first time that I left the city. Like the rest of the world, I could begin to rebuild my broken life. With this step, the world would change
I stepped down, onto the platform.