Premonition

Author: hell's lil angel13

Summary: Bäumer, Kropp, Müller, Leer had very different ideas of what war would be like before they actually saw it. Set in spring, 1914, prologue to All Quiet on the Western Front

Disclaimer: This book belongs to Erich Maria Remarque. No profit is being made from me, I'm just using the characters for my enjoyment

Warnings: A few swears and suggestive dialogue

A/N: This started out as a school assignment for my tenth grade English class. We were supposed to make a half-page dialogue out of a part of the book. That wasn't creative enough for me, since we had to take Remarque's own words and then just add stuff. So, I made this instead. It's a sort of prologue to the story, where the boys, at age 16, talk about what they believe war is going to be like. There's a lot of speaking because the assignment was a dialogue. Hope you enjoy!

Leer and Müller's names were already written on the board for after school detention because of that prank they pulled this morning. For some reason, that gave Paul more bravery while he faced off Kantorek.

"Mr. Bäumer," Kantorek said in a low, eerie voice, almost sneering down at him. "Can you tell me, in your own words, what I was just talking to the class about?"

Think quickly, Bäumer, he thought to himself immediately. Maybe you'll get lucky. "You were talking about the importance of the Periodic Table in everyday life, sir." He smiled, trying to make it seem like he really believed what he just said. Kantorek just rolled his eyes.

"Nice try, Bäumer, but we're doing arithmetic right now. I think I'll be seeing you after school, don't you?"

"I dunno, are you coming over for supper?" Paul said without thinking. He immediately regretted it. The room went silent and Paul felt very cold.

"Do you want to repeat that, boy?" Kantorek sneered, even lower than before. Paul just shook his head and sat back down in his chair as the schoolmaster wrote his name under Leer's.

Fifteen minutes before school ended, Kantorek handed back their French tests. "Some did well," he was saying. He looked over at Albert Kropp before saying, "And some did not do so well." He put Kropp's test face-down on his desk before bending low. He looked like he was going to whisper something, but he said so probably half the class could hear, "This is the fourth test in a row you've failed. You can join your classmates in detention, Mr. Kropp."

Kropp nodded, looking more annoyed at him than upset at the failure. When Kantorek had his back turned, mischievous Jason Müller turned in his seat to face Kropp and gave him a sly wink. Marlene Schmidt, who sat behind Kropp, looked excited, thinking the wink was aimed at her. Müller paid her no attention, however.

"Is he gone?" Leer asked Kropp who was closest to the window. Kropp looked all around him outside, but saw no sign of their little schoolmaster. It had been ten minutes since everyone else had left and the storm clouds were just starting to move in overhead. Through the open window, the boys could smell the salty air, signaling a storm was coming close.

"Yeah," Kropp said happily, "outta sight."

"I gotta say Müller," Bäumer said as he put his writing down, "that was one of the al-time best pranks I've ever seen."

"It was pretty good, wasn't it?" Müller asked proudly as he switched on the little radio on Kantorek's desk and sat back in the old man's chair with his feet up, tracking mud all mover their teacher's desk. The man on the radio was talking about, what else, the war.

"Wouldn't it be great?' Leer said, referring to being out on the battlefront. "Fighting for our own country, being looked up to by everyone? We'd be heroes. And not to mention the girls would love us!"

"It would take more than a war for girls to love you, Leer," Müller said casually, earning him a hard punch to the arm.

"Come on you guys, seriously," Leer said cracking his knuckles. "Think of all the glory we could have. Everyone in Germany, no, everyone in Europe would know our names. Just think; Bäumer, Müller, Kropp, and Leer: heroes of Germany!"

"Yeah," Kropp said dreamily with a glazed look coming over his face. "Our parents would be so proud of us. Just think Paul, you mom and dad," Kropp threw his arm over Bäumer's shoulders and moved his other hand as if painting a picture for him. "Beaming with pride, their only son a hero in their eyes, and everyone else's."

Bäumer thought about it for a few moments. "It would be great," he said finally.

"Of course," Müller said shaking Bäumer by the lapels a few times. "The fame and glory is nothing compared to the feeling we'll have when we're out there actually fighting."

"What do you mean?" Leer asked interestedly.

"Don't you listen to Kantorek?" Müller asked standing up on Kantorek's desk and taking a position Kantorek would usually take when he got passionate about whatever he was talking about, like conjugating irregular French verbs,

All three other boys scoffed and said in unison, "No!"

"Yeah, I don't either. But there was this one time that he was talking too loud for me to sleep and he was talking about the warfront. We'll see places we've never seen before, anything about our hearts' desire will be met!" He jumped off the desk with a loud SLAM! He walked up to Paul and put his hands on the taller boy's shoulders. "Bäumer, think about it. Wouldn't it be great to experience something like this? Think about all the stories you could write. You could be a famous war novelist, I just know it." He suddenly got a very serious expression on his face. "I know you're an amazing writer, you really are already. You'd be even better if you could write about something like the war, from a first-hand experience."

Paul thought for a moment. That would be amazing, he thought. He was always saying that he wanted to write about things that people cared about and that really touched them deep down. And he was always telling Müller that he was sometimes hard up for material lately. This could be a great chance for him.

"And not just that," Leer spoke up suddenly. "There'll be girls, French girls. And you all know what they say about French girls!" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Leer, you dirty pig-eating shit!" Kropp said then slugged him good-naturedly in the arm. "You are so right my friend!"

They all jumped out of their seats and started to walk around the classroom. None of them watched the window anymore. "We'll be heroes."

"We'll be rich and famous."

""We'll get girls!"

"Who'll marvel at our battle stories and scars."

"Everyone will know us."

"And want to shake our hands when we walk down the street!"

"We'll be strong and fearless."

"No more Kantorek!" Müller suddenly shouted, hands held triumphantly over his head. Everyone stopped a second and thought about what that would be like. It was a good picture.

"Bäumer, conjugate 'avoir' in its present tense."

"Leer, show me the capitol of Newfoundland and Labrador and tell me its leading export."

"Kropp, find me the area of a decagon if one side is 92, another is 57, another is 12, and find the remaining seven sides."

"Take your seat, now, Mr. Müller!"

"Damn Bäumer, you got Kantorek down!" Müller congratulated then felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see none other than Kantorek standing right behind him, not looking happy at all.

Müller laughed nervously and said, "Hello Mr. Kantorek, nice day isn't it, sir?" A blazing stare followed. "I'll tell my mother I'm staying after all week."

"Two weeks, Mr. Müller."

"Yes sir, two weeks," Müller said as he took his seat again. Two weeks? Jason Müller was going off to war soon. He could handle two weeks of detention for the fame and glory that would come later on. Kantorek would regret this when that time came.