mysid: the name mysid on a black and white photo of two children with a tricycle (tricycle)
mysid ([personal profile] mysid) wrote2012-11-11 10:41 am
Entry tags:

Veterans' Day

In honor of all who served, a passage from The Charioteer, a novel by Mary Renault, set during WWII:

* * * * *


"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."