UNIT6

　　The Pasture

　　Night settled, thick with the acrid

　　odors of gunpowder and blood.

　　No moon meant firing at

　　muzzle flashes, an inexact method

　　by which to combat ones foe,

　　but the enemy had no advantage either.

　　With artillery fire blanketing

　　the field of battle, Jack had

　　no opportunity to go to Mikes aid.

　　He poked his head over

　　the rim of the trench to

　　see if he could spot Mikes corpse.

　　He knew he was dead.

　　He had heard his scream

　　of pain when he was hit.

　　His agonized moans had grown

　　weaker and less frequent and finally

　　ceased about ten minutes ago.

　　The regiment had been under

　　heavy bombardment for two days,

　　without respite. He had been

　　too late to stop Mike

　　as he propelled himself out

　　of the foxhole and staggered

　　as he hit the muddy terrain.

　　In hindsight, he should have

　　seen it coming. Mike had

　　started to break yesterday.

　　He was becoming bizarre, talking

　　about his patriotic duty to

　　expel the enemy from these shores.

　　Paradoxically, just before he

　　hopped over the edge of the trench

　　he scorned the day he had

　　heeded the call to enlist.

　　It pained him to realize that

　　his one friend in this ungodly war

　　had betrayed him by dying.

　　Soldiers dont often make friends with

　　one another, knowing they might die.

　　He and Mike were different.

　　They had known each other

　　since they were children.

　　Mike was the best man when

　　Jack and Lily walked down

　　the aisle just a week before

　　they left the dock and crossed

　　the channel to engage the enemy.

　　Clouds tumbled and overlapped one another

　　as the wind began to freshen.

　　It was getting colder now.

　　The prospect of another night

　　of rain, or perhaps even snow,

　　made Jack quiver with dread.

　　Blood tinged water was beginning

　　to crust over with ice.

　　He could feel his toes and

　　fingers stiffen as the temperature dropped.

　　Maybe Mike was better off than he.

　　At least the cold wouldnt

　　bother him any more.

　　Suddenly, comets of light began

　　to streak across the night sky.

　　They were using flares!

　　The increased tempo of cannon fire

　　coming from the left flank,

　　shattering the earth around them,

　　could only mean the enemy

　　had sensed their weakness, and

　　was coming in for the kill.

　　They were heading straight

　　for the underbelly!Jacks rifle misfired.

　　The whole corps had been issued

　　new guns a few days before

　　this campaign had started.

　　It wasnt long before they discovered

　　that the alloy used in the barrels

　　couldnt endure prolonged firing,

　　causing the shell casings

　　to adhere in the bore. How could

　　he repel the enemy without a weapon?

　　Jack felt a stab of pain

　　in his right thigh.

　　The ground around him ruptured.

　　Jerking from side to side,

　　he tried to dodge falling rocks

　　and the clods of dirt

　　raining down upon him.

　　He slumped into a prone posture

　　as he felt himself shoved

　　from behind by an unknown force

　　that felt as if it might

　　have been a racing locomotive.

　　The last thing he heard,

　　before his world was overturned,

　　was a chorus of screams.

　　Am I dead? Where am I?

　　Where is everybody? Cognitively,

　　Jack realized he was still functioning

　　physiologically so that meant

　　he was still alive, but

　　for how long? He couldnt move.

　　Maybe the impact had fractured

　　his spine and he was paralyzed.

　　He tried，analytically，to assess

　　the damage incurred by moving

　　his limbs, one by one,

　　in a clockwise direction,

　　starting with his right arm.

　　Everything appeared able to be

　　mobilized but for some reason

　　he couldnt get up off the ground.

　　Everything went black again.

　　Jack led his horse by the reins

　　as they stepped onto the overpass

　　bridging the gap between the plateaus.

　　In the distance, he could see

　　a twelve point buck grazing

　　in the pasture, silhouetted against

　　the waning sunset. Out of nowhere,

　　a bull came charging across

　　the meadow toward him. He tried

　　to run but his feet

　　were pegged to the bridge.

　　Drifting in and out of consciousness,

　　Jack tried to make sense of

　　what had happened to him.

　　He seemed to be in a cavity

　　under the ground. The earth

　　was compacted on his legs

　　but he thought he might be

　　able to rotate his body enough

　　to make himself a little more comfortable.

　　Was that a shaft of light

　　he could see through the groove

　　between the fingers of his left

　　hand covering his eyes?

　　He groped to clear a tiny

　　bit more space for himself.

　　The shutters of his consciousness

　　closed again.The galaxy was

　　being probed by lunar modules shuttling

　　between Earth and the other planets.

　　As a member of a federation of geologists,

　　Jack and his team had to

　　follow the seam of ore

　　to its source, a pasture

　　on a distant asteroid.

　　Once again, Jack regained lucidity.

　　Wow, he thought, that was

　　like a bad paperback novel

　　about astronomy! He sniffed the air.

　　It was foul with the smell

　　of death but qualitatively

　　able to sustain life.

　　Why was it so quiet?

　　Was he deaf? Was the battle over?

　　Was everyone dead? The weight

　　on his legs was becoming oppressive.

　　UNIT6

　　The Pasture

　　Night settled, thick with the acrid

　　odors of gunpowder and blood.

　　No moon meant firing at

　　muzzle flashes, an inexact method

　　by which to combat ones foe,

　　but the enemy had no advantage either.

　　With artillery fire blanketing

　　the field of battle, Jack had

　　no opportunity to go to Mikes aid.

　　He poked his head over

　　the rim of the trench to

　　see if he could spot Mikes corpse.

　　He knew he was dead.

　　He had heard his scream

　　of pain when he was hit.

　　His agonized moans had grown

　　weaker and less frequent and finally

　　ceased about ten minutes ago.

　　The regiment had been under

　　heavy bombardment for two days,

　　without respite. He had been

　　too late to stop Mike

　　as he propelled himself out

　　of the foxhole and staggered

　　as he hit the muddy terrain.

　　In hindsight, he should have

　　seen it coming. Mike had

　　started to break yesterday.

　　He was becoming bizarre, talking

　　about his patriotic duty to

　　expel the enemy from these shores.

　　Paradoxically, just before he

　　hopped over the edge of the trench

　　he scorned the day he had

　　heeded the call to enlist.

　　It pained him to realize that

　　his one friend in this ungodly war

　　had betrayed him by dying.

　　Soldiers dont often make friends with

　　one another, knowing they might die.

　　He and Mike were different.

　　They had known each other

　　since they were children.

　　Mike was the best man when

　　Jack and Lily walked down

　　the aisle just a week before

　　they left the dock and crossed

　　the channel to engage the enemy.

　　Clouds tumbled and overlapped one another

　　as the wind began to freshen.

　　It was getting colder now.

　　The prospect of another night

　　of rain, or perhaps even snow,

　　made Jack quiver with dread.

　　Blood tinged water was beginning

　　to crust over with ice.

　　He could feel his toes and

　　fingers stiffen as the temperature dropped.

　　Maybe Mike was better off than he.

　　At least the cold wouldnt

　　bother him any more.

　　Suddenly, comets of light began

　　to streak across the night sky.

　　They were using flares!

　　The increased tempo of cannon fire

　　coming from the left flank,

　　shattering the earth around them,

　　could only mean the enemy

　　had sensed their weakness, and

　　was coming in for the kill.

　　They were heading straight

　　for the underbelly!Jacks rifle misfired.

　　The whole corps had been issued

　　new guns a few days before

　　this campaign had started.

　　It wasnt long before they discovered

　　that the alloy used in the barrels

　　couldnt endure prolonged firing,

　　causing the shell casings

　　to adhere in the bore. How could

　　he repel the enemy without a weapon?

　　Jack felt a stab of pain

　　in his right thigh.

　　The ground around him ruptured.

　　Jerking from side to side,

　　he tried to dodge falling rocks

　　and the clods of dirt

　　raining down upon him.

　　He slumped into a prone posture

　　as he felt himself shoved

　　from behind by an unknown force

　　that felt as if it might

　　have been a racing locomotive.

　　The last thing he heard,

　　before his world was overturned,

　　was a chorus of screams.

　　Am I dead? Where am I?

　　Where is everybody? Cognitively,

　　Jack realized he was still functioning

　　physiologically so that meant

　　he was still alive, but

　　for how long? He couldnt move.

　　Maybe the impact had fractured

　　his spine and he was paralyzed.

　　He tried，analytically，to assess

　　the damage incurred by moving

　　his limbs, one by one,

　　in a clockwise direction,

　　starting with his right arm.

　　Everything appeared able to be

　　mobilized but for some reason

　　he couldnt get up off the ground.

　　Everything went black again.

　　Jack led his horse by the reins

　　as they stepped onto the overpass

　　bridging the gap between the plateaus.

　　In the distance, he could see

　　a twelve point buck grazing

　　in the pasture, silhouetted against

　　the waning sunset. Out of nowhere,

　　a bull came charging across

　　the meadow toward him. He tried

　　to run but his feet

　　were pegged to the bridge.

　　Drifting in and out of consciousness,

　　Jack tried to make sense of

　　what had happened to him.

　　He seemed to be in a cavity

　　under the ground. The earth

　　was compacted on his legs

　　but he thought he might be

　　able to rotate his body enough

　　to make himself a little more comfortable.

　　Was that a shaft of light

　　he could see through the groove

　　between the fingers of his left

　　hand covering his eyes?

　　He groped to clear a tiny

　　bit more space for himself.

　　The shutters of his consciousness

　　closed again.The galaxy was

　　being probed by lunar modules shuttling

　　between Earth and the other planets.

　　As a member of a federation of geologists,

　　Jack and his team had to

　　follow the seam of ore

　　to its source, a pasture

　　on a distant asteroid.

　　Once again, Jack regained lucidity.

　　Wow, he thought, that was

　　like a bad paperback novel

　　about astronomy! He sniffed the air.

　　It was foul with the smell

　　of death but qualitatively

　　able to sustain life.

　　Why was it so quiet?

　　Was he deaf? Was the battle over?

　　Was everyone dead? The weight

　　on his legs was becoming oppressive.