"TEN HUT!" sergeant Ludwig commanded as the new recruits for the war crisis lined up for the initiation ceremony. Alfred and his older step-brother Arthur were in the mix of recruits. "so it's just gonna be us for a while, huh Arthur?"Alfred said with a worried look on his face. "ya, just you and me Alfred." Arthur said hoping his step-brother wouldn't notice his nervous shaky voice. Alfred glanced toward his younger brother, Matthew, on his friend Gilbert's front porch. All men over 18 in the country were recruited to serve in the army because of the many casualties during WWIII. Unfortunately, this meant Alfred and Arthur, because Alfred was 19 and Arthur was 20. As sgt. Ludwig finished the ceremony, the recruits were asked to go back to their homes, pack their things and say good-bye to their families. As Alfred and Arthur walked back to their small ranch house, Matthew ran up to them and gave them a big hug and said "I'll miss you big brothers!" then he started to cry. Alfred held back his tears with all his might while Arthur let loose one tear. "we'll be back," Arthur said "I promise." and with that they got on the bus and left.
While at boot camp getting equipped with their latest weapons, Alfred and Arthur both feared that they might not be able to keep their promise to Matthew, that they might not return to their family and friends. Then sgt. Ludwig's phone rang. On the other side of the call was a stern but somewhat worried voice. "SEND ME 100 TROOPS TO THE FRONT LINE ASAP!" As the sgt. went down the line he reached close to 100 troops, then He blurted "ALFRED! ARTHUR! YOU TWO ARE BEING SENT OUT! GET YOUR WEAPONS AND GO!" Alfred and Arthur sat there in shock. They never pictured they would be sent to the front lines. They then gathered their stuff and ran out.
BANG! Ratatattat! The guns sounded as they were running on the battle feild. BANG! Alfred looked over and saw Arthur on the ground covered in blood, lying there, helpless. Alfred ran over and started screaming "NO! NO! THIS CAN'T HAPPEN! WHAT ABOUT MATTHEW! ILL NEVER BE ABLE TO FACE HIM WITHOUT YOU! DONT DIE PLEASE!" with his last breaths Arthur replied "Alfred, make sure you make it home, and tell matthew that I... l-love him." and with that he coughed up some blood and
died. Fueled with anger and wanting to avenge his brothers death Alfred fought his hardest to come home safely for Matthew and for Arthur.
4 months had passed and the war was over and we had won. Alfred had finally arrived home to see his little brother, after 7 months away at war. When he walked through the door he was greeted with a "Big Brother! Your home!" and a big hug from Matthew. But after that Matthew asked, "where's Arthur? Isn't he coming home too?" Alfred choked up an replied, "I'm sorry Mattie, he's not coming home." with this matthew started to cry and said "why not?" and Alfred replied "because Arthur went to see mamma and daddy in heaven." with this said Matthew ran into Alfred's arms and they both started to cry. In the middle of this Matthew cried out "but he promised he would come home! He promised!" Alfred replied "sometimes promises have to be broken," and with that, they cried more.
Every year after that Alfred and Matthew went to go visit Arthur on his birthday, Christmas and anniversary of his death. They stayed for an hour at least, sometimes more. With that life continued on almost as if nothing happened, but there was always an emptiness in the room, like something, rather someone, was gone, never to return. And that person was Arthur.