Veterans' Day
Nov. 11th, 2012 10:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mysidIn honor of all who served, a passage from The Charioteer, a novel by Mary Renault, set during WWII:
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"Has something happened?"
"Yes," said Alec. "It's Bim. I thought, as we were passing...I wasn't sure if you'd heard."
Ralph said "No." He stared at the glass in his hand, and drank as if it were a routine duty he was absently carrying out. "No, I'd not heard. How was it?"
"Over Calais somewhere. He was seen to hit the ground; he hadn't baled out. There seems no doubt about it."
Ralph didn't speak. It was Bunny who said gently, "Poor old Bim. I ran into him only the other day. It seems like a few hours."
"He had a long life," said Sandy, "as it's going now."
"Has something happened?"
"Yes," said Alec. "It's Bim. I thought, as we were passing...I wasn't sure if you'd heard."
Ralph said "No." He stared at the glass in his hand, and drank as if it were a routine duty he was absently carrying out. "No, I'd not heard. How was it?"
"Over Calais somewhere. He was seen to hit the ground; he hadn't baled out. There seems no doubt about it."
Ralph didn't speak. It was Bunny who said gently, "Poor old Bim. I ran into him only the other day. It seems like a few hours."
"He had a long life," said Sandy, "as it's going now."