What’s This Hurly-Burly All About?
“Only the dead have seen the end of war. “— George Santayana
Their uniforms might have been from the previous century and their muskets were rusty and often misfired. The war had been going on for nearly thirty years in Central Europe but none of the soldiers knew why. Exhausted and homesick, they would bring up the question day and day out.
“Some kind of religion thing,” said the Bavarian sergeant, “but I ain’t ever got a good grasp over the details. How about we ask the lieutenant? Educated man, probably he knows.”
The young officer shook his head. “I can barely recall a few minor things mentioned in history class. The teacher spent much more time on the Roman Empire and the Crusades. Let’s go find out from the colonel. He’s been in this hurly-burly since the first shots rang out.”
So the sergeant and the lieutenant went to the commanding officer. The old man confirmed he’d been fighting the war from the get-go, but he no longer remembered what had caused it. “Suddenly we found ourselves surrounded by fire, noise, devastation. Civilians were also dying left and right. But that’s about the only snapshots I recall from the early years.” He sighed. “As much as I long for peace, I can’t imagine it ever returns again. I agree, though, it would be interesting to know why the damn thing erupted in the first place.”
Then it occurred to the lieutenant. “How about this, we capture an enemy soldier. He might know.”
“Bad idea,” said the colonel. “It could be detrimental to morale. Let’s just keep shooting them.”
*****A sketch of this article was published in the May 2024 issue of ScribesMICRO.*****
