Richard K. Sharon

Diary of a Lover

PART ONE

Chapter 1

I lay sweating, face down on the loose sand. Small weeds, crushed against me, pushed through my light clothing and made me itch all over. But I couldn't scratch, couldn't even move, because I knew the Japanese attack was going to come at us from over the hill at any second. I pressed hard into the warm grit and listened to my heart thud, tightening my trigger finger on my Thompson. I looked to my right and left. All of the guys were ready, coiled like fine-tension wire.

And then it came, wild shrieks from the enemy, charging over the crest, right at us.

"Yankee dogs, you die! Yankee dogs, you die!"

"Banzaiiii! Banzaiiiiiii!"

Just listening to it sent chills deep into my gut. We stayed cool and held our fire until they were only about twenty feet away. Then, standing up in plain sight, I threw a grenade and opened fire, yelling, "Take that, you dirty Jap bastards!" With quick expulsions of air from the side of my mouth, I made the Thompson come alive, letting it jump in my hands.

But I should have fired from cover. I was stupid. Suddenly there was a thud on my chest, and with the utmost majesty and grace I spiraled down to the sand, face up to the sun, dead.

"Hey, Joey! You cheated! That's not a grenade, it's just a hunk of old ice plant!" yelled Donnie.

"Yeah!" It was Louie's voice. "Only the heart of the ice plant can be a grenade. We all said so!"