Song: I wish I was back in the Army
From: White Christmas
Start song at (1)
"So, is the training for the Army as rigorous as the rumors say?" Jamie asked after the parade marchers had returned to the sitting position.
"Yes! But it has to be. It builds character, teamwork, perseverance, and strength. Makes you use your head and at the same time learn to follow orders. The training turns a bunch of strangers into fine-tuned working machine." The general replied.
"Yeah, sometimes I find myself thinking back on my Army days and wishing for its structure again." Rob said.
"I hear that!" Jeff agreed.
"It was different from civilian life, I'll give it that!" On Josephine commented.
"More… Oh, more ready for anything I guess you'd say." On Stephanie added.
(1) "You don't realize how second nature living in the Army becomes until you leave it. What was second nature now becomes a bit of a hiccup. You expect to be told what, and where, and how you're supposed to go about things. When you aren't you start wishing for it again. Three free meals, plenty of free cloths for all four seasons." Grandpa Bennett remembered.
"And if you are down on your luck you can always push the blame onto a higher up!" Jeff joked. That got snickers and full-blown laughs.
"You never had to worry about attracting a man." Stephanie put in.
"Each man was gunning for your attention. The ladies had their pic!" Josephine agreed.
"Men do look good in uniform."
"So do the women!"
More laughter, people raised their cups in a toast to the comments. "Here, here!" Grandma through in her two cents, causing several to look at her. "What! I was a young them to you know!"
"Every person wished you luck, and doctors treated you with the best of care for no pennies out of your own pocket." Grandpa said, bringing the looks of shock to an end.
Back and forth the vets spoke about life in the Army. Men, then woman, and sometimes both.
"We played cards, betting with the sweets that came in our care packages."
"Impromptu dances, talent shows, all that good stuff!"
"Don't forget the birthday party, complete with home made gifts crafted from what ever we had on hand."
"Oh, and of coarse that time a Cookie cake came in the mail. That thing was so big that there was enough for all the solders in the other two barracks tents." All the banter was filled with fun and laughter, each story lifted everyone to higher and higher spirits. And the higher the spirits the more stories came back to them.
Bunny dug, and dug. With a final scoop of dirt he'd finished his 12th new tunnel to his 12th deserted island. "Jack!" He shouted into the wind.
He waited to the count of 20 polkas then went to the other side of the island and repeated the process. The same result came from there and the other two corners. Despite himself Bunny was starting to get a little worried, but his pride and anger still burned the brightest.
He produced a map, a magic one that allowed it to show all the various islands of the ocean new and old weather freshly born from volcanoes or coral reefs or the oldest ones from when he first helped to change the earth from its egg shape into its round spherical shape, it was far, far more accurate than any man drawn one. He crossed off the island he was on, "okay so that leaves…" There were far too many, there was no way he was going to be able to find Jack like this. With an exasperated cry he tapped his foot and opened up a tunnel.