April 13, 1865
There was this young, Confederate civil war soldier walkin' down a dirt road in the Union. He was sick and dyin' and he knew it. He just wanted to go somewhere quiet with his horse and just lay down and fall asleep and never wake back up...
He had asked a few houses already if they could spare a few bites to eat, and they would agree, but once they found out he was a Confederate, they kicked him out.
He finally decided to give up on asking anyone else and just kept on walkin' past all the houses he passed.
A plain, simple house came onto view and he didn't even look up. He just bowed his head. He didn't know there was an old man and woman sittin' on the porch. The old man yelled out to him.
"Hey, son, you look like you haven't eaten in a while. Why don't you come on up here and let my wife make you some supper?"
The young man looked up with watery eyes. "Sir, I'm a Confederate and you're most likely a Yankee. I ant gonna waste your time."
The old man stood up and walked down the steps. "I'm a Confederate in a Yankee town. Now get on up here."
The boy looked up with hopeful eyes. "You'll help me?" His voice cracked.
This time the woman answered. "A' course we will! Now come on, my husband'll take care a your horse."
Tears streamed down the soldiers cheeks. "Thank you." He almost whispered.
The wife ushered him inside and made him the best food he had ever had in his life.
The old man looked at him. "You look ill there, son. My brothers a doctor in the city. I can take one a my horses and go and get him for ya if you want."
"I'm much obliged, sir, but I haven't a penny ta my name."
"He's my brother and he dosen't charge family." The man said with a smile.
"Thank you, sir."
"Your quite welcome. Now, lets get you into bed. I'm sure your extremely tired."
The man and woman helped him into their spare bedroom. His head hit the pillow and he fell into a deep sleep.
The next mornin' the old man left before the boy woke up. He woke up coughin' and the woman came in to see if he was ok.
"I've been better, Ma'am." He answered her when he could breath again.
"You've fought for us and now look at ya. Sick. You don't deserve this. You're to young." The woman said, smoothing his hair back from his brow.
"Ma'am, you just met me yesterday, you don't know what I've done in my life."
"I know a sweet child when I see one and I know you wouldn't have done anything that bad."
The boy was caught in another coughing attack.
"I'm gonna go and see if my husbands back yet. You need his brother and bad." She walked out.
An hour later the doctor had came and went. He was extremly sorry that he couldn't stay, but he said he had patients back in town he had to care for.
The boys condition finally had a name: Pnemonia. And it was bad. The doc said his lungs were so full a fluid that he was suprised that he had lived this long. His brother thanked him for his commin' out here and then he turned back to the boy.
"Well, how do ya feel?" He asked him.
"I've felt better." Was the soldiers reply. "Sir?" He asked the ol' man.
"Yes, son?"
"What are you gonna do with me after I die?" He asked with no hesitation.
"Well, what do you want to be done with?" The woman asked this time.
"If your brother could help you, do you think you could bury me out under your ol' oak? It's very beautiful and I think I would like to spend eternity there."
"Yes. We can do that." They answered with sad smiles.
The young man fell asleep without another word. He was at peace.
A week later and the boy was almost gone. The ol' man and brother had already dug his grave and built him a coffin even the Gods themselves would have been proud of.
The man walked into the boys room and saw that his brother and wife were sitting at the edge a the bed. He thought the boy was gone until he saw the slow -to slow- rise and fall of his chest.
The mans brother turned to him. "He's almost free a the pain. The pnemonia's gonna take him by night fall, if not sooner."
"That's what I thought."
The boy opened his eyes as far as he could, which wasn't far. He coughed a couple of time's and then whispered, "Can I have one last favor?"
The wife began to cry. The husband was the one that answered. "Yes you can. What do you want?"
"Can I see my horse one last time?" The soldier asked.
"Yes." They all answered.
The room the boy was in had a window on the far wall. The three of them pushed his bed as gently as they could over to said window. Then the husband went out and got the boys horse. The horse stuck his head through the window and didn't move. The man came back inside.
The boy smiled at the sight of his best friend. "Hey there." He said to it. "Have they been takin' good care a you?"
The horse rubbed his nose against the young mans chest. "Yea, I've missed you too. I love you buddie. You've been there for me for everything." The boy reached up to stroke his horses mane.
The horse bowed his head and the boys hand slipped back onto his chest.
He was dead.
I just wanted to say that this could have been a dream and this could have been an actual story. I can't remember. I want to say that this was a dream that I had when I was in like 1st, 2nd grade. But, it also could have been a story that we read, but I REALLY doubt it becuase who would let a 1st grader read a story like this? I haven't found anything on the internet about a Civil War story like this, so I think I'm gonna stick with my dream theory.
I know this was a depressing story. I started to cry at the end, even though it's mine. So, leave a comment and tell me what you think about it! I would really enjoy it. :)