Following In My Father's Footsteps

Gus shook his head. He could still see himself and his mates when they were young boys, playing games of war. Never again would war be a game, he thought. It was real now. Before this, it had never seemed quite real. You could watch the protests on the TV, you could hear about people setting their papers on fire and going to jail. It was not until his number was the one pulled from the barrel that it hit him that all of it wasn’t just a work of fiction constructed for entertainment. No. This stuff was real. There was a war, and he was headed straight for it.

Once, back in his Granddad’s day, there would’ve been a line out the door of young boys volunteering to go out to war. To fight for their country and do their part for Australia. In his Dad’s day, they made some go, but a great deal still put their own hands up, his Dad included, having had the importance of doing his bit ingrained in his mind. Not anymore. Now, they had the balls in the barrel and the birthday lottery with no winners. Now, they’d make you go, whether you wanted to or not.

Gus remembered the war games played as a child. He knew, staring up at the canvas ceiling of the tent he lay in, that war would never be a game again. His grandfather and his father had both done their part, now it was his turn to do his bit for Australia. But unlike them, he wasn’t so sure he was so eager to go to war. Not that it mattered. He didn’t have a choice anyway. But still. The fearful cries of his mother when they’d pulled his number, his birthday from the barrel had him on edge. That woman was never afraid of anything. She was the strongest person he knew. So if it was enough to scare her into tears, then there must be something to be concerned about.

“Gus!” The sound of his friend’s whisper from the sleeping bag beside his own caused Gus to jump, and he gasped at the unexpected break in silence. He rolled over on to his side to see his friend, Ernie, was covering his mouth with a hand. Slowly, he let it fall away, before speaking in a voice that was softer than before, if that was possible. “I’m sorry! Did I wake you?”

“No,” said Gus, his voice equally quiet. “I never went to sleep. Haven’t been able to.”

“Thinkin’ about tomorrow?” said Ernie. Gus nodded. “Yeah, me too. But, some say this’ll be the last bit of piece we’ll get for a while. We want to make the most of it. How’re we possibly gonna sleep in a war zone? I wouldn’t be surprised if I went of sleep deprivation rather than something to do with the war.” Ernie chuckled, but Gus remained silent.

“I’m sure we’ll find a way,” he said, choosing to ignore Ernie’s last comment. “I just… I don’t know that I want to go out there,” Gus said, more to himself than to Ernie, but he still heard.

“We don’t have a choice though mate. What’s the point of dwelling on it?”

“I don’t know. Grandad and Dad were both excited when they went off to war. I’m not. If I’m completely honest,” he said slowly, “I’m scared.” 

Ernie’s face softened. “People know more about wars now, All your dad and his old man had to go off was the excitement and push of everyone else. They had no clue what it actually meant to go to war.”

“That’s the thing Ernie,” said Gus. “They’ve been to war, yet they’re still telling me I should go, when they know what it’s like. Why would they do that, once they’ve been exposed?”

Ernie shrugged. “You got me mate! I mean, we probably weren’t. It was a whole different time when they went to war. Back in their day, going to war was honourable. So, when they’ve had that instilled in them their entire lives, and told what heroes they were for going out and fighting, of course they’re going to drum it into us.”

Gus nodded. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I just… I don’t really want to go. Not after the look on Mum’s face when they called me number.”

“I don’t really want to go either,” said Ernie. “We’re just doing our bit. We’re doing what we’ve got to do. But hopefully, this’ll be the last generation to go out and fight. Hopefully, our sons won’t have to follow in our footsteps like we followed in our Father’s.” 

I Just Want To Hear You Sing

As she weaved her way through the tables, collecting as many empty glasses as she could on the tray she carried, Katie happily hummed along to the country music playing over the loudspeakers near the bar. Temporarily forgetting where she was, Katie even began to sing along, her voice soft and sweet. One of the regular patrons, seated at the last stool by the bar's edge smiled at her as she passed him. "You've got the voice of an angel, Darlin'" he said. Immediately, Katie's cheeks turned a bright shade of red as his comment dragged her back to the reality of the bar. 

"Thanks," she said sliding away from him with her tray, toward the sink to wash the glasses she'd collected. I think. As she washed and dried, Katie went back to her humming, soon becoming lost in her own little world.

"Hey, Katie!" The voice of her manager, Troy, made her jump. She looked over her shoulder to see him leaning against the doorway leading to the staff area. Well, a small anteroom with several doorways, leading into the break room, the staff toilet and Troy's office. 

"Are you working on Tuesday night?" Troy asked when she reached him. 

"I don't know," she said, scrunching her eyebrows together as she tried to picture her calendar. "I don't think so." 

Troy's face  fell momentarily. "Could you?" 

Katie looked at him. His eyes were wide and sad, like a puppy dog begging for food. She wanted to scold him for pulling that face. It was a cheat. Everyone knew you couldn't resist, couldn't say no when someone pulled the puppy dog eyes. But, he was her boss. So instead, she said, "sure," causing the smile to return to his face. 

"Thanks Katie," he said, making to head back toward his office. "You're a star!" 

Katie never gave Troy's request a second thought. He asked her to work extra shifts all the time, or to cover for one of the other girls who worked at the bar. Who was she to deny them? It was extra money after all. There was nothing out of the ordinary. What she had forgotten was that Tuesday was karaoke night, and little did she know, Troy had heard her singing softly to herself when she had thought she was alone and away from prying ears or in the moments when she temporarily forgot where she was. 

A smile spread across Katie's face when she walked in for her shift to find them setting up. "Hey Katie!" called Nate, Troy's nephew, waving at her from where he was helping set up over by the makeshift stage on the other side of the room. 

"Hi Nate," she called, waving back as she hurried to put her things out the back before her shift started. Katie shook her head. Somebody had to tell that young boy that there was absolutely no chance that what he was hoping would actually ever happen. She knew it wouldn't, but wondered if he knew it too, because if he did, he had a major case of denial happening. She shook her head, feeling bad for him as she emerged from the break room to start her shift.

As she always did when she was lucky enough to be rostered onto a shift on karaoke night, Katie enjoyed listening to the songs and humming along to the tunes, most of which she knew off by heart. As always with karaoke, there were those who surprised everyone with their talent while others made her want to cover her ears to block out the noise, of what to them was singing, but to everyone else was a whole lot of wailing. All of this, Katie had expected. What she hasn't was what Troy said, up on the stage after what she thought would be the last act.
"Well, folks," he said, "I hope you've enjoyed our karaoke night. But, it's not quite over yet. If she'll oblige us, we have a very extra special treat for you all tonight! She's one of our own, and it's her first time on this stage so please put your hands together and give a warm welcome to Katie!"
At once, it seemed the whole room was staring at her, causing her cheeks to grow hot. She pointed to herself, glaring at Troy, whom she had a clear view of seeing as the crowd seemed to have parted like the Red Sea for her surely imminent ascent onto the stage.
Troy nodded, a small smile on her face. Suddenly, Katie understood his request for her to work that night had not been as innocent as it had first seemed. He beckoned with his finger, but she stood her ground, folding her arms across her chest and continuing to glare back at him.
"Well folks, it looks like she might need a little encouragement!" At once, there was the loud steady rhythm of clapping as the crowd repeatedly chanted her name and Katie knew, should have known all along, that there was no getting out of it this time. Just as she was about to step out, she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over to see the man from the other night. "It's alright Darlin," he said. "We just want to hear you sing. Troy's heard ya! He knows how great you are! He just wants to share it with the rest of the world. An angel's voice like yours'd be selfish to keep to yourself, don't you think?" Katie shrugged and looked back toward Troy before taking a breath and taking that fateeful first step.

She could have laughed when she reached Troy on stage. Well, at what he said as he handed her the microphone. "I just want to hear you sing."

The Fight to Lead

Rooster strutted up and down the dusty yard, crowing happily as he did so. Little did he realise, Rat was following cautiously along behind him, trying to imitate his perfectly confident strut. Up until now, she'd been prepared and had managed to move herself as he moved so that she was always invisible. But this time, Rooster was too quick for her. He whirled around so quickly it made her jump before she froze again. His face went from an expression of elation to one of anger.
"What do you think you're doing Rat?" he snapped at her, causing her to jump back a few metres from him.
"I was trying to be like you," she said defensively, her ears drooping as her head hung low. She didn't think she was doing anything wrong. They'd both been having fun! At least, that's what she'd thought...
"And what makes you think you can be me?" asked Rooster loudly, beginning to flap his wings.
"I wasn't trying to be you. I was trying to be like you," said Rat quietly, speaking to the ground.
"What makes me think you can be like me?" Rooster spat. "You're you, and I'm me. Separate. Different."
"But..." Rat stopped, furiously searching her brain for a good defence. "But... I'm... I'm adaptable!"

Just as it seemed Rat would burst into tears, Pig appeared, trotting slowly toward them. "Rooster is right," she said, looking at Rat. "But so is Rat," she said as her gaze shifted to look at him.
"What?" they both asked, open mouthed. "Rat, the two of you are different," she said, "but Rooster, can't you see that Rat was only trying to have a little fun? She meant no harm," said Pig calmly. Beside her, Rat nodded her agreement. "It's fun to pretend sometimes," said Pig.

Meanwhile, Monkey, Rabbit, Dragon, Horse and Dog laughed as they played not too far away. They danced around each other and clapped as Dragon exhaled a puff of sweet smelling smoke in the middle of the small huddle.

Rat ran toward them, having decided it was best to leave Rooster to his own devices. Jumping up and down, due to her small size, Rat eventually managed to tap Dog on the shoulder. Dog turned round and lowered himself so Rat would not need to jump anymore. "Thank you," she said, panting for breath. "Can I come play with you guys?"
Dog smiled and edged to one side, closer to Monkey in order to create a small gap in between himself and Rabbit. "Don't be silly! Of course you can."

A little further away, Ox and Tiger argued loudly about who should be in charge. "I am the strong one!" said Ox, "I can protect us from attack."
"But I'm a born leader!" argued Tiger passionately.The argument went on like that a long while, each new retort becoming louder and louder.
Rooster wandered over to see what all the fuss was about, having heard the yelling from across the yard. He soon joined in, believing himself to be the best candidate for leader.

Before long, even the animals who'd been playing happily came to join in the fight. The noise disturbed Sheep and Pig, who's returned to her resting spot. They watched on, trying to understand what all the commotion was about. They were tempted to join in. They knew they had good leadership qualities. Pig was focused and known to achieve great things. Sheep was quiet and sensitive, but also creative and compassionate.

The argument was so loud now, with nearly all the animals involved or watching on, that Snake, who usually kept to himself so much that the others knew little about him, wandered to the quarrelling group. "Well," he said calmly, "I'm the wisest one. It's only right that I should lead us."  The group erupted with angry noises from the other animals. And so the heated debate continued, until suddenly, there was a thunderous bang as a bright light flashed overhead, stopping the animals in their tracks.

The brawl had become so loud and boisterous that it had disturbed the spirits from the sky. "Now," said the spirit, in such a commanding way that the animals all turned to look. "What is all this fuss?" he asked. Sheep stepped forward, and said quietly. "We all think we should be the leader."
"And so you all should," said the spirit. "You shall all be leaders. Each of you will take it in turns to lead for a year, however you should all be celebrated for your unique qualities." The animals nodded and murmured excitedly. And so it was, that each year an animal is chosen to lead and all the animals celebrated for who they are.