Excerpt 1:
Lark stopped
and turned around. “Captain?” she said hesitantly. Mark turned to face her.
“Yes Lark?”
“I love you.” Then she dropped
her torch. Mark opened his mouth to answer her, but the fire had already built
a wall around her. He dropped his torch too. Then he closed his eyes and
whispered.
“I love you too.”
Excerpt 2:
“Sir? May I
come in?” the commander nodded.
“I fear you come bearing bad
news.” He said, sighing heavily.
“Yes sir, I have.” Captain Arna
ducked inside the tent. “I am afraid that the members of the SITU have been
declared killed in action. This includes Captain Mark Seber, Agent Lauren
Mallows, Agent Tobin Mace, Agent Henri…” The commander droned him out, and closed his eyes.
“Thanks you Captain Arna, that
will be all.” He said. The captain nodded and stepped back out. The commander couldn’t believe it. The
members of the SITU. [insert names of country]’s golden soldiers. The heroes of
the year. All dead. Gone. He sighed again and pulled out some paper to write
his condolence letters.
Excerpt3
Mark sat
down wearily on the bench and put his head in his hands. The grief pushed down
on him like a ton of bricks. Up until this point he hadn’t been able to cry.
But now it all rushed at him at once. A man does not like to be seen crying.
Especially not the country’s newest hero. But he couldn’t hold it in anymore.
He didn’t even care if anyone saw him.
He got off the bench a knelt in front of the memorial. It was a marble
tombstone, surrounded by flowers, with benches on every side. People had come
and put little trinkets at the base. Flowers, blankets, notes. Mark ran his
fingers lightly across the letters spelling out the names. They lingered on
Lark’s name. He traced each letter carefully with his finger. L. A. U. R. Then
he dropped his hand again and looked away.
Why did he have to survive? Why couldn’t he have died under that rubble?
He heard footstep behind him. He took a few deep breaths and struggled to stop the tears
forcing their way out of his eyes. But he didn’t turn around. He stayed there,
kneeling in the dirt.
“Captain?” His heart stopped. He was afraid to look. “Is that you?” There
must be something wrong with his hearing. That was all. Besides, lots of people
called him Captain. “Cap?” He felt like the breath had been knocked out of him.
He slowly turned his head, his brain swimming. He couldn’t quite comprehend
what he saw. Lark’s worried face broke out into a look of relief. “Oh Captain!”
She hobbled quickly towards him and
knelt down next to him, embracing him and soaking his shirt in her tears. He
hugged her back and breathed in the
scent of her hair.
“Please tell me I’m not dreaming.” He whispered, holding her
tighter. She was sobbing too hard to
answer. He finally let go of her and took hold of her hands. “What, how?” He
stuttered. Lark sighed.
“I don’t know.” She answered truthfully. “All I know was that I was stuck
under that rubble for what seemed like days. The stone protected my from the
majority of the fire. When I heard people up above, I tried to call for help,
but no one heard me. A few days later a
forest dweller found me. How,I don’t know. But he did. I was feverish, and
starving, and dehydrated, and well, injured.” She looked down at her leg. For
the first time Mark noticed it. Or rather, the lack of it. A wooden prosthetic
was in its place. Lark continued. “He
took me to his healer who nursed me back to health. I assumed that everyone
else had died. But I came into town with the family I was staying with to help
them sell some things. I heard rumors that you were still alive, and I had to
find out for myself. I heard about the memorial, and decided that it might be
the best place to look. I suppose I was right.” She smiled up at him. He
laughed and hugged her tight.
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