As Darlene finished spreading out the last wrinkles in her cot she looked over to Erin. "Aren't you going to tidy up your bunk?" She asked, observing the tangled blankets, loose clothing, and flat pillows.

Erin simply shrugged. "I'll do it later. Besides, we should probably go join Jo in the mess tent."

"You're right."

/scene/

Jo sighed as she watched Erin and Darlene make their way over to the table she was seated at. She really wasn't up for any jokes or laughs today.

Sure it was the day of Christmas Eve, but it felt more like Armageddon. Everything about the holiday season's cheer seemed to be replaced with a rain cloud above her head.

She recently received a letter back from her now ex boyfriend, who was less that happy to see that she wasn't going to be as forgiving as he thought she would.

And she never expected Vietnam to be so gloomy.

She missed the Christmas season back in Oregon, when the evergreens stood out in the dusty white landscape. Or how she and her brothers would listen to her mother read them classic stories.

All the memorable scenery was gone. Here, the air was thick and humid, and it hasn't stopped raining in weeks.

More often than she'd let on, she wished she could go back to the states. Especially now. Because here, oceans away, she can't fix her relationships, she can't visit her mother, father, and brothers, and she can't seem to remember that snug feeling of falling asleep by the old fireplace. She shuddered at the though of forgetting anything that reminded her of home.

"What's up Jo? Need another smooch?"

She turned to look at Darlene, who sat uncomfortably close to her. "Would you stop calling me that!!"

Darlene glanced over to Erin and exchanged a look of confusion. For the first time, Jo didn't seem angry; she seemed hurt.

"What's eating you?" Erin asked.

She finished chewing a mouthful of rock-hard peas before raising her gaze to Erin, who was sitting across from her.

She looked back down to her tray and poked at the remainder of the peas. "That's what Richard used to call me, Jo," she gave a bitter laugh, "but after that letter it was Josie, then Josephine." She shook her head, not wanting to talk about it, yet at the same time wanting to scream all of her troubles out for the world to hear. "It's like we're acquaintances all over again. Like what we had together never existed."

Darlene frowned, "Listen... Josie, we didn't know that things were going that bad with you and your boyf-"

"Ex boyfriend," she corrected.

Erin looked at the mass of peas that were on their trays. "I suppose we're having yesterday's dinner for today's breakfast. I can't wait to see what Christmas dinner looks like," she said, changing the subject upon seeing Jo's discomfort.

Jo looked up at Erin. Christmas dinner was always a table decorated with long white candles and a mass of mother's food. Stuffed turkey and ham, cooked greens in cranberry sauce, followed with a slice of her mother's famous vanilla frosted rum cake. That was Christmas dinner.

Here all she had to look forward to was a platter of something she could swear were green-painted pebbles.

But Vietnam was her home now. So was this what she had to look forward to every year? How many years should she even be here?

"Josie?..." Erin watched as a few tears tried to escape her eyes.

Jo quickly wiped her face. "It would be nice if the army gave us real food for once. I can only imagine the monstrosity that will be dubbed 'Christmas dinner'."

Erin glanced at Darlene. Both saw the lightbulb flicker over each others heads, and they quickly wolfed down the rest of their breakfast.