Battle of the Rhine

Michael returns to town to a grand welcome.At the welcoming ceremony, he learned that among the five other young men who joined the army together, two were killed in battle, and John Hunter had half of his arm blown off by a Japanese mine. "You're not bad, kid," Hunter raised his wine glass with his remaining left hand, "Smart! You picked a good place..."

"I should have blown off half of my finger if I knew it earlier," Michael was lying on the sofa in the living room, and Mary was busy packing the luggage he brought back. They were all tattered and there were few decent souvenirs. You can get a subsidy-"

"Shut your mouth, Mike Fiennes." Mary was clutching a pair of panties. "I'd rather pay the goddamn money to the government than see you missing a part."

Mary has changed, her hair has been cut short, and she looks like a boy from behind in pants and a sweater.What hasn't changed is her temper, which is still so hot. "You're right, I shouldn't be talking nonsense."

"I'm afraid every day," said Mary, throwing the clothes in the suitcase in a mess, "for fear of getting a telegram telling me you're wounded, or—you know me, us, whoever's family is going to be a soldier, we What are these wives and mothers thinking? I unsubscribe from all newspapers and magazines because I am afraid that someone will knock on the door. When I hear the knock on the door, my heart rises in my throat, and I am afraid to open the door and receive A national flag... Yes, you can get a subsidy if you blow up your arm! Why don't you look at the dead Batty and Fei An, their parents can receive pensions, which is a lot of money!"

After speaking, Mary burst into tears and threw herself into Michael's arms.A woman's body is much softer than a man's. Michael hugged Mary and stroked her hair slowly. "Okay, okay, don't cry. I was wrong, you know I can't talk," he apologized under his breath, "I'm an idiot, when I was in school, my class was counting down... Remember my algebra class I've never failed, Tom Rice said he'd never seen a student as stupid as me..."

"You're an idiot, Mike." Mary smiled tearfully.

The distance between mouth and mouth is only ten centimeters, it's time for a kiss.But Michael tried hard, but his neck froze, and he refused to move his head forward, eliminating the distance of ten centimeters.Just a kiss, Michael continued to work hard, he blinked and mobilized all the muscles in his body, but he was still frozen there like a stone.It was Mary who kissed him on the mouth, patted his face with warm hands, wiped away the tears, and went on to pack the clothes, shoes and socks, and other rags.

"I should get you something back," Michael moved his shoulders, it's fine, he can still move, it's not a nervous breakdown, "plates, knives and forks, oil paintings—"

"Come on, I don't object to you going into the army," said Mary, kicking off a pair of boots, "but I don't want you to be a mugger, Mike. Besides, we have no shortage of plates, knives and forks, or There's nowhere to hang oil paintings."

"You're right."

"By the way, are you smoking?"

"I will quit."

Quitting smoking was easy for Michael.He wasn't addicted to cigarettes any more than he was addicted to "doing that."On the first night back, he tossed and turned in bed in the middle of the night, but couldn't fall asleep.There was a time difference between Europe and America, and he wasn't very used to being around someone—a clean, smelling woman. "Are you fucking sick?" He scolded himself silently. "You can sleep among a bunch of stinky men. Isn't Mary your wife? What are you doing?"

But he was just awkward, uncomfortable, and his hairs stood on end.No matter how Michael told himself and prayed in his heart, at three o'clock in the morning, he got up with the quilt in his arms, and crept into the living room.The sofa was much more comfortable to sleep on than the bed, and he breathed a sigh of relief.Covering the quilt and pressing the unloaded Luger under the pillow, Michael fell into a deep coma after a few minutes.

He fell asleep for a long time.On the third day, Mary went to work and shook him awake. "The meal is in the cupboard." She changed into overalls, her whole body was in good spirits, "get up at noon and eat—do you still remember how to heat the meal?"

"I can eat slices of bread." Michael half-opened his eyes, "...you look so pretty, Mary."

"Thank you." Mary leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, "Goodbye, soldier."

Mary's lips were soft and moist, she probably wore lip balm.Michael touched his cheek, turned over, and hugged the quilt tightly. "She's a good woman," he closed his eyes, "you've got to be nicer to her."

Michael lay on the sofa all week.Mary resubscribed the paper, and he read it every day, and then slept with Ruger on his pillow.Sometimes he would wake up suddenly, thinking he was still in battle.After checking back and forth several times, he could lie back and fall asleep again.When he couldn't fall asleep, he would touch the military badge on his chest, thinking wildly.Michael hung Quincy's badge with his own.The German military registration card is divided into two parts. If a person dies, others can break off half of it and take it back. "Carl Quinnessy." He said the name on his military badge, and he recited the German alphabet from beginning to end.Mary was glad he had learned a foreign language, even if he knew a few words. "It doesn't hurt to use your brain more," she said. "You can think about it and go to a school in the city. It doesn't matter what you study..."

"I want to learn mechanics." Michael stared at the ceiling, "This is a useful knowledge."

"Very good, great."

Michael said he wanted to major in Mechanical Engineering purely because it was a college major he knew.According to the new policy, he also has the opportunity to become a college student.In fact, he is not very interested in being a college student. He reads the newspaper every day, flips through every page of the newspaper, and reads every report about German prisoners of war a dozen times.The weather is cold, and Europe gets colder earlier than the US.Has Quincy been released?Or put in a POW camp?If he was released, did he come home?Is there a place to spend the winter?Michael kept thinking over and over again, clutching the military card.After returning to the United States, his evil desires subsided, and he became the good man he was before, and he would never have lust for a man again.At the same time, he lost all impulse to "do that."One day, more than a month after he came home, Mary suddenly asked, "Do you want a baby, Mike?"

Michael lay on the couch, reading the last page of a magazine, "Kid?"

"Do you want a baby?" Mary walked to his side and bent down.She wore a new dress, revealing her fair breasts.Michael glanced at the white skin from the corner of his eye, then moved his eyes firmly away, and continued to study the discussion about the future of Germany.

"Okay," Mary said, walking away, "just right."