The Rest of the Words
Cheating big time, but I want this done, so this wraps up all the 2016 Inktober prompts that I was using: Squeeze, Big, Little, Slow, One Dozen, Tired, Box, Creepy, Burn, Surprise, Wreck, Friend
"…And then I fell out of the apple tree again." Carter was regaling his pals with of his crazy stories about life back home. "Boy, was I surprised."
I needed that laugh, Newkirk thought as he wiped away tears of mirth. He'd been moping about his family back home, wishing he could say something, but knowing he could not. The mission was too important.
LeBeau gave his arm a squeeze. "Something's on your mind," he whispered.
"Just tired, Louis," he replied, squeezing back. It was hard to keep such a big secret from his little mate. From all his friends.
=HH=
One dozen missions later, all his friends could see Newkirk was wrecked, burned out with fatigue. When he jolted from a nightmare calling out for Mavis, he said something rather personal before he was fully awake. Wow, creepy way to talk about your sister, his bunkmate thought.
Carter was no snoop, but a letter folded carelessly atop the rough box where Newkirk stored them left no doubt; Mavis wasn't Newkirk's sister at all.
"What's she like?" he asked again. Newkirk's smile slowly crinkled his eyes, and Carter had his answer. They were together. And he missed her like a limb.