Monthly Archives: July 2019

Chapter 16

Forward and Backward

March, 1865

The next morning at dawn, we stood at our posts, ready to climb over the ramparts and press our attack. I was nervous, as I always was, but resolved to acquit myself as best I could, avoiding injury and trying to inflict as little of that as I could. This seems an odd thing for a soldier to wish, but I never enjoyed killing, and wanted no more of it. I knew that more opportunities would be thrust on me, but, as I have said, aspired to make the best of those by causing no harm.

And so we went up and over, firing like madmen in every direction, but harming few. We surged toward them for about fifteen minutes and labored through 1,000 yards, and then they came back with a savagery I had not seen before. Well-fed and well-rested, they screamed like banshees and cut us down like wheat.

Oddly enough, the thought of wheat made me think that Laurel would be planning her garden. This tender picture so disarmed me that I nearly shot one of our own. The bullet sailed high, but the man could not tell where it was intended to strike.

With that, I turned with the others and ran for all I was worth. We were becoming better at retreating rather than advancing, I thought. After all, we had had plenty of practice.

We fell back until the Union advance petered out, and found one of the many groves of trees in that area. There we rested and tended to our wounded. The dead would be gathered up later, after the battle. The thought of those once living and breathing men lying insensible on the cold ground caused a great melancholy to descend on me. I tried not to think too much of it.

I found Adolphus, and I was right glad to see him. “How long do you think we will keep doing this?” I asked.

“As long as we continue fighting back.”

“I pray that will not be long.”

“As do I.”

We erected the best defenses we would in the trees, and sat down, alert, to await further attacks, but none came that day. As the dusk gathered, I asked Alphonso, “Do you think they’ll attack soon?”

He surveyed the scene in front of him. “It’s always hard to tell, but with darkness coming on, my guess would be that they are done for the day. We should remain alert nonetheless.”

“Of course. Do you think they’ll try using sappers again?”

“If I read the setting correctly, I do not think so. It is too difficult to dig among roots with the tools they have.”

“That is good news.”

“Ah, yes, but we also will have the usual shot and shell to contend with.”

“That settled, are you hungry?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s eat, then.”

We fell to our rations, eating eagerly as if the food were good. It is amazing, I thought, what the human mind and body are capable of tolerating. And that includes the war itself.

 

 

Chapter 15

Dug In

March, 1864

We fell back about half a mile, beyond the worst of the shelling and had time to dig some hasty trenches. They weren’t very deep, but they were better than nothing. Once they were as deep as we had time to make them, we huddled in the bottoms, our rifles ready. We stayed like this for half an hour, and nothing happened.

“What’s going on?” Andrew asked.

“Absolutely nothing,” Adolphus replied, “as you can tell.”

“I wonder what’s they’re waiting for?” I asked.

“Maybe they’ve given up and all gone home.” Andrew smiled sardonically. Adolphus and I snorted.

“More likely they’re waiting for enough troops and fire power to drive us back to Lynchburg in one fell sweep,” Adolphus mused.

“That is more likely.” Andrew looked serious.

We stayed in our places for an hour, and then the same captain came up on his horse. He stood in his stirrups and shouted, “For whatever reason, they seem to be stopped, as if they’re waiting for something. That gives us time, but not much, to erect some ramparts. Fall to it, men! Quickly!”

We immediately set to work felling trees and trimming their branches. The resulting logs were cut to length  and then fixed in the ground, a procedure we knew too well. We had our work decently done within an hour, and still no sign of anything from our enemy.

With our section finished, Adolphus, Andrew and I collapsed against a log wall.

“That was a lot of work!” Andrew said. “I am exhausted.”

“You’d best regain your strength,” Adolphus told him. They will no doubt regroup and then be on us once again.”

We did not care: we fell asleep in the mud, without benefit of blanket or cot. The events of the last day had tired us so that we could not resist.

Adolphus awoke me.

“Wha—wha—what is it?” I asked.

“Do you feel a tremor in the earth?”

“Of course not. I was insensible.”

“Feel—there it comes again.”

I tried to wake myself and calm my senses to see if I felt anything. I hesitated for a moment, and then said, “No, nothing. Perhaps you were dreaming.”

“It woke me to my present state. Perhaps, if this is what I think it is, we had best quit ourselves from this place.”

“But we just got here!”

“And if we don’t leave, we will die! Awaken Andrew!”

Something about Adolphus’ manner made me do so. He was sensitive to all manner of things, and did not make any request lightly.”

“Should we wake those around us?”

“I fear that for our safety we may not. Perhaps some of them felt what I did.”

I went over and awakened Andrew. “Andrew! We must move!”

He came to slowly. “Why? What has happened?”

“All I know is that Adolphus says that he feels something in the earth and we must to. And I believe him.”

“What time is it?”

“Three, if I read the moon correctly. We need to go!”

Andrew hauled himself to his feet. “Now where to?” He was too groggy to think straight.

“Westward!” Adolphus cried. “And at your best pace!”

The three of us climbed out of the trench and ran as hard as we could. We had gotten about a thousand yards away when there was a tremendous explosion right where we had been, accompanied by a bright flash and shaking of the earth. Alphonso had been right.

The force of the explosion threw us to the ground, but we were alive. I shuddered to think of what had happened to those poor souls who did not awake and run, and said a quick prayer for them.

We regained our feet and continued running. When we could go no more, we put our hands on our knees and tried to recover our breath.

“Alphonso!” I gasped. “What in the name of all that is unholy was that?”

“Sappers.”

“Sappers?”

“Yes. The Federals dug tunnels under our lines. That is why they did not stage a counterattack. Then they stuffed the tunnels with explosives and set them off, to the effect that we have just seen. It was perfidious and unexpected. I have read of it, but never dreamed of experiencing it first-hand. What a horrible way to die!”

“It is indeed,” I murmured. “Murder most foul.”

“But then,” Adolphus mused, “War is about sanctioned murder and all sorts of horrid violence. I wonder if it is all worth it.”

“For my money, having seen what I’ve seen and experienced all I’ve experienced, I’d say it isn’t.”

We continued on our way and met up with the other survivors about half a mile away from the explosion. We all collapsed to the ground and awaited the next event.

 

 

Chapter 14

A Backwards March

March, 1864

Adolphus looked over at me. We were hidden in a grove of trees about five miles behind our previous installation. Parts of our army regrouped following the Union assault, and I did not see that we could mount much more than a delaying action. There were too many of them and too few of us.

My friend Bullard and I had made our way back to our lines, where we were nearly shot by a jumpy boy who couldn’t have been more than 15. We were so desperate we were putting children in the front lines.

And so, without the benefit of ramparts or walls, we stood behind trees and waited.

“Alphonso,” I called.

“Yes, Caleb?”

“What do you suppose happened to Andrew?”

“That is difficult to ascertain. If he survived the assault, he would need carrying, and that would have slowed all their paces and made them more likely to capture. No, I fear we will not see our friend until the war is over, and even then, such are the vicissitudes of combat that we might not see him again this side of heaven.”

“I heartily pray that is not so, although I treasure your honesty and the way you withhold nothing from me.”

We resumed our watch. The waiting is the worst part, I thought, not knowing what will happen. Just then a rider came up on a horse. “You men!” he shouted. “Orders from the captain! Move to the south and west. The Federals are massing there and likely to attack. Do it for Jeff Davis and for Virginia!”

Honestly, at that point I didn’t want to do anything for anyone except my family and friends. But, then, my friends were around me, so we gathered our goods and weapons and moved as directed. The forest became thicker as we did so, which is good for cover, but problematic when it came to making rapid progress to the potential battle. Indeed, we had not fought our way very far through the underbrush when we heard the sounds of muskets. The battle had indeed been engaged.

“Adolphus! It has begun! What shall we do?”

“What else, but press on toward the fray! If not for Jeff Davis and for Virginia, for each other!”

“Those were my thoughts exactly. For friends and family!”

“Amen, my brother.”

We moved as rapidly as we could and came to a bluff overlooking the battle. We had managed to gather together enough  troops that, at least in this circumstance, we outnumbered. I know this was not universally true, but it boded well for a slowing if not a downright stopping of the enemy.

“Look, Adolphus! We outnumber them!”

“Yes,” he said grimly. “For the present. Lay on!”

We trained our rifles on their troops, and soon almost all of them lay wounded or dying. We suffered few casualties, and someone along the line, someone was leading his neighbors in a round of huzzas. I could not bring myself to do so, so piteous was the sight, enemy or no.

The shooting over, Adolphus and I sat with our backs against the same tree. “What now?” I asked.

“We fall back and prepare again,” he answered. “There are more where these came from.”

“Yes, and such a pity that so many feel.”

He looked around at me. “If they had not, it would be our deaths they would be talking about, not us speaking of them. You know that.”

“I do, but that does not stop me from feeling as I do.”

He stood up. “Ah, well, with God’s grace, we will come through all of this and it will seem but a bad dream.”

I loved Adolphus as a brother, but I knew that I would never forget all I had seen. It was too extreme, and there was so much of it, how could it be any different?

I joined him in standing up, and together with our brothers in arms, we made our way to the rear. The faces of the men around us looked much as I imagined we did: tired, haggard, and horrified by what we had seen.

After a short while, we came upon a small meadow which was beginning to fill with all manner of soldiers. There was a period of confusion as like tried to find like, but after a few minutes we had sorted ourselves into infantry, artillery and cavalry, with the medical corps standing to one side. We did not bother to try to find our units: we knew we had to form up as quickly as possible to prepare for the counterattack.

I looked around and there came Andrew! Adolphus and I rushed over to him and gathered him into a huge and heartfelt hug.

“My boy!” Adolphus exulted. “Seeing you is like the experience of Mary and Martha seeing their brother come from the tomb, alive again!” (Adolphus could always find a story from the Bible to suit a present situation.)

“Yes!” I cried. “How is it you were so stricken and now here you are, if not the picture of help, much improved? Did the good doctor also work a miracle?”

Andrew grinning. “Of sorts. He got me back to his surgery and laid me down. The pain in my abdomen became more and more pronounced until I feared I would burst. The doctor knew what was happening then, so he called for a basin, pulled down my long johns, and delivered of me a lengthy tapeworm! That was all the cause of my distress, and, once delivered from it, I felt as well as I could, under the circumstances.”

Adolphus raised his face to the sky. “It is a miracle of sorts!” he cried. “You who we thought were dead are alive. It is another kind of resurrection.” Adolphus does get carried away, I thought, but then concluded he had good reason to do so.

I clapped Andrew on the shoulder. “I guess some of our smoked pork was not smoked enough! But you are so much better. It makes me happy to see it.”

Just then a bellowed at the top of his lungs, “All right, you gray backs! We’re going to fall back and build some defensive positions! And we need to hurry! The Yanks are beginning to gather even now! Hope to it!”

We along with all the other troops double-timed it to the west. Soon we came on a small hill that looked to me as if it would make a good place to dig in. We fell to it in a flurry of dirt being flung from shovels and had made decent progress toward our defenses. Then the Northern artillery started.

“How did they regroup so quickly?” I asked. The same sergeant said, “They quickly replaced the ruined cannons. They have more than enough to do that!” This does not look good, I thought.

The cannonballs were landing long, but it would only be a matter of time before they found the range, with terrible effect.

A captain appeared on a horse. He rode up and down among us, shouting, “Fall back! Fall back!”

“But we just got here,” Andrew mumbled, but I noticed he put on his pack and grabbed his rifle. Now we all ran even faster to avoid the cannonade. Unfortunately, some ran into a line of exploding ordnance, and once again I witnessed bodies being torn apart and men thrown through the air to land and lie still in the mud. Then I ran. I ran as I had never run before.

Chapter 13

Unexpected Restoration

March, 1864

I opened my eyes to see the leaden sky, which was not a surprise. What was curious was that I was not lying in the mud, but being carried by someone or something at a great pace, which made my body scream with pain. Who or whatever carried me stopped and shifted me so that I was facing the ground. Then I knew it was another soldier carrying me over his shoulder. But to where? We were a fair distance behind enemy lines, so why would one of them carry me away?

“Hey!” I called. “Take it easy!”

“I’ve got to get you out of here, and the sooner the better,” came a rough voice. “I know it hurts, but it’s the only way to save you.”

“What happened?”

“Yankee shell fell short, wiping out most the enclosure. I grabbed you and took off. I think we can make it to our lines.”

“What about my friend?”

“Corporal, I don’t know your friend, and even if I did, I wouldn’t stop to look for him.”

“What is your name?”

“Full of questions for someone whose life is being saved, ain’t you? Anyhow, it’s Bullard. I’m an artilleryman myself, so I know about these shells. When I heard it coming in, I threw myself down and tried to burrow in. I guess the mud saved my life—I got deep enough I didn’t even lose consciousness. But I don’t want to think about what I saw. Tell you what—I’ll keep going if you don’t ask any more questions.”

“You got a deal. And thank you.”

“Well, of course I should do this. We’re on the same side, after all.”

As we jostled along, I kept thinking how Providence had once again saved me. If a man didn’t believe before he got into the war, he would certainly change his mind quickly about that. I had seen that happen time after time, and wondered if God allowed wars so that we would believe in Him. It seems a high price to pay, but then we are mortal while He is divine. I sound like a chaplain, I thought.

I could tell by moving my head in a certain fashion that we were nearing the lines. No doubt Bullard saw the same thing just then since he redoubled his efforts. I watched as he took me over the ramparts and then laid me down behind the wall.

“I have to rest,” he gasped, “but can’t do it for long. We still have a ways to go, but not as far as we’ve come already.”

“Thank you for saving my life,” I told him.

“I was saving mine, too, remember?”

“Yes, that’s true. Would you prop me up? I want to see if I can spot my friend.”

“I wouldn’t recommend it. You’re safer lying down.”

“Well, that’s a good point. Being blown up has addled my brain.”

“We’ll just stay here a minute and then press on. If your friend survived, there’s only one way he can go to escape. I bet you’ll know soon how he is.”

“I pray that he is not dead.”

“As do I. There’s been enough killing.”

“When do you think it will end?”

“When the generals say, and who knows when that will be. They’re not like you and me.”

We stayed a while beside the wall, and I noticed that the firing to our west had died down. I did not know what that meant. It could have meant anything, so, as with so much else in the past few years, I would have to wait and see.

Bullard roused himself after a few minutes more. “Let’s get going. Do you think you can walk fairly well or should I continue carrying you?”

“I think I can walk.”

“I’m glad for that. You’re not that heavy, but heavy enough that I don’t want continue like this. Come on, I’ll help you up.”

He pulled me up and I stood there for a moment, slightly dizzy. He put out his hands as if to catch me. “You all right?”

“Just a little dizzy.” I waited a few seconds and said, “It passed. Let’s go.”

“All right.”

We made our way as quickly as we could, although I have to confess that I set the pace. I was impressed by Bullard being willing to place himself in danger for my sake. I would have to find some way to repay him, if we got out of this alive.

Strangely enough, we saw no one ahead of us, and I had to wonder what had happened. The continuing silence was odd, and I worried that we might be walking into something else. We came to a small rise, and, as we came down the other side, we saw a field strewn with bodies. Apparently it had taken the brunt of the Union cannonade, and the dead and wounded from both sides were much in evidence. We hesitated at the sight, and Bullard whispered, “Lord have mercy. I haven’t ever seen anything like this, and I’ve been in a lot of battles.”

There was nothing to do but pick our way among the troops, ignoring their piteous cries for help, for water, for their mothers. It broke my heart to do so, but at the time I had to think of my own survival. The scene would haunt my dreams for weeks afterward.

 

 

Chapter 12

An Unwelcome Return

March, 1864

I stood on the parapet with Alphonso and although he was ten yards away from me, I could barely see him in the gloom. We were standing watch in the pre-dawn hours, thinking it likely there would be an attack at dawn. Alphonso’s voice came to me.

“Caleb! Can you see anything?”

“In truth, I cannot. But I can hear the jingle of horses’ reins and the muttering of men. Very many men. I believe the attack is imminent.

“I have heard the same things, and I agree with you about an attack. Are you prepared?”

“As prepared as I can ever be. So now we wait.”

“May God be with us.”

“Amen.”

The attack came ten minutes later as the sun rose in our eyes, making it difficult to know the strength of the enemy. As the noise of their coming increased, a cloud hid the sun, and we both gasped at the number of troops coming toward us. I shot two of them, asking God to forgive me.

“We cannot hold against such a horde,” Alphonso said. “Should we retire?”

“We should—”

I had not finished my sentence when the first Union troops poured over our walls. We had no time to defend ourselves, and soon found we were being conducted at bayonet point toward the enemy lines. Here I am, a captive again, I thought. I am heartily sick of being held in thrall, first at the Old Capitol prison, then to Eleanor a number of times and, of course, to the Navy.

We and our captors, two soldiers who could not have been more than 16, made our way behind their lines and marched about half a mile to a corral where we joined our fellows. I was glad it wasn’t raining, for there was no shelter to be seen. A captain and two corporals sat at a table to process us. I thought that any army had a process with attendant paperwork. We got into a long line, and I thought, from what I can see here, this is not going well for us.

After a considerable wait, during which time we heard the sounds of fighting growing fainter and fainter, it was my turn at the table. The lessening noises to the west meant that the Yankees were being successful. I knew the plan was to mount a counterattack after we were attacked, but I could not hear any indication of that. Grant was going to push us to Lynchburg, and there was little we could do about it.

“Name?” rasped the corporal, looking unhappy at having been assigned this duty.

“Caleb Dillard.”

“What kind of name is that?”

“Well, my first name came from the Bible, and ‘Dillard’ is my family name.”

The corporal’s face twisted in an ugly grimace. “Did you think I didn’t know that? Do you think I’m stupid?”

“No, I was just answering your question.”

“More answers like that will see my boot applied to your rear end! I don’t like smartasses, and especially the Sesech variety! What’s your outfit?”

“Eighth Virginia.”

“Oh, well, we’re fighting in your state. Too bad for you.”

“Yeah, too bad.”

“I told you to watch your mouth.”

“I was.”

“Get out of here! We’ll hold you until we decide where to keep you.”

“I’ve already stayed in one of your prisons.”

“Well, aren’t you the lucky one?”

I said nothing, but moved over to the fence to wait for Adolphus to finish. He was soon done, and came over to me.

“Charming lot, aren’t they? I thought I was going to be run through with a bayonet for my simple answers to their questions.”

“Yeah, I had the same thing. Anyhow, I guess we wait to see what happens.”

“I can tell you one thing—there won’t be a counterattack.”

“That’s right.”

“I wonder what will happen to poor Andrew.”

“Nothing good, I’m thinking. This is bad enough for us, and we’re healthy, I can’t imagine what all this moving will do to him.”

“If they move him.”

“I grasp your meaning, sir.”

 

We stood there and watched other prisoners being checked in for a while.

“I guess they’ll move us when they’re good and ready,” I told Adolphus.

“Of that you may be certain—wait! What’s that?”

I had no time to reply. There was a flash and a roar, and I felt myself flying through the air to a face-first landing in the mud. Then I knew nothing.

 

 

 

Chapter 11

Starting Up

March, 1864

When we made our way back to our camp, a heavy rain set in just as we arrived. It rained for five days, turning the ground into a messy, sloppy morass.

“Do you think it will ever stop raining?” I asked Adolphus.

“We must pray that it will not,” he answered, “for when it does, the fighting will start again.”

Of course, it stopped raining, and after we had waited a decent interval, we assembled for the captain to address us.

“Soldiers, you have been faithful and true to the cause which brought us together. You have endured the fire of the enemy on the field, and been soaked by rain and chilled by the snow. You have endured endless meals of salt pork without too much complaining.”

At this point, the troops jeered, and delivered their opinion of the pork in terms I dare not share here. The captain smiled and took it in good humor.

“Yes,” he said. “Remember that I eat what you do, and were it not that I would starve, I would never let a morsel pass my lips.”

Here the troops erupted in to cheers, and I thought, we are hard up for something to celebrate. No salt pork! What an occasion that would be!

“I must bring you the sad news that we must continue to be so fed. Our only solace is that we will not starve.

“But to the matter at hand: the enemy has been provisioning all during winter camp and bringing in troops from all quarters. We have a difficult situation here, with fewer goods and little hope of fresh troops. In spite of all of this, I know that you will fight your hardest and do your best to repel the attackers. By doing so, you bring glory to yourselves and to our cause. May the South live forever! Three cheers!”

“Huzza! Huzza! Huzza!” the troops came back.

“And now go make your preparations. God be with you, and if we do not meet after the battle, then surely we will meet in heaven, where our brothers await us. Please kneel, and let us pray.”

We all knelt, some in the mud, but they didn’t seem to mind.

The captain prayed, “O Lord, you know the odds are against us, but we were reminded that the odds were also again Joshua when he rose against Jericho. And we all know how that battle turned out. May we have the wit of Joshua and the strength and courage of his soldiers. All this in the name of you, God, who are all powerful. Be with us this dayand all the days of our lives until we stand before your glorious throne. Amen.”

“Amen!” rose up in a chorus from all parts of the field. Then we drifted off to our shacks.

“So, what did you think?” Adolphus asked.

“I thought the captain gave a stirring and rousing speech. And the prayer was one we needed desperately. But what are your thoughts?”

“I have a different opinion. The captain is a wise and thoughtful man, so he would say nothing to discourage. But I thought he hardly seemed convinced of what he was saying. He knows what lies before us, and also can see defeat in the not too distant future.”

I thought for a moment and then said, “Now that you put the matter in that light, I find I must agree with you. But we will fight bravely until that end.”

“Well spoken! And this from one who spent his time in this war trying to avoid conflict.”

“I can only be pushed to far, and I have to think of our fellows.”

Adolphus nodded. “Yes, indeed. That’s what has caused us to persevere. And of course, our faith in God.”

“I agree.”

We came to our shack and went inside to discover Andrew lying on his cot. He grimaced as we went over.

“Andrew!” exclaimed Adolphus. “What is wrong with you, lad?”

“I have  terrible pain in my stomach,” he moaned.

“I do hope it’s nothing like Hiram had.”

“Would you summon the doctor?” he looked at me.

“Of course!” I double timed it from our shack and arrived, out of breath, at the surgery and went inside. Because there had been no fighting, there was only one soldier with a bandage on his arm. Doctor Brown bent over him. “Try not to use your arm, and it should heal up in about a week. Remember to keep is as clean as possible.”

“I will, Captain. And thank you.”

“Of course,” Brown said, turning to see me.

“Corporal Dilliard! And all out of breath, I see. What’s the matter?”

“It’s Andrew, Doctor. He has a pain much like Hiram’s.”

“I hope he will not have the same outcome of that poor lad. I’ll go back with you.”

The Doctor and I walked quickly back to our shack. I was glad for the slower pace.

“Is there anything that might account for his malady?” I asked.

“There is nothing among the troops that I know of. I will have to examine him and take my best guess. In a case like his, it could have a host of causes.”

We arrived at our shack and went in to find Adolphus bending over Andrew. He straightened up when he saw us.

“He says the pain grows worse. We must do something!”

“That’s what I’m here for,” said Doctor Brown calmly. He removed his jacket and handed it to me. He then opened Andrew’s shirt.

“Andrew, I’m going to press on your abdomen. It will hurt, but I must do that to determine the cause of your problem. Try to bear it bravely.”

“I will, Doctor,” Andrew said through gritted teeth. “Pray do not make it a long examination, for I could not bear that.”

“I will be swift as winged horses,” Brown said, and pressed on Andrew’s abdomen.

True to the Doctor’s words, Andrew arched his back and bit his lip until the blood came. But he said nothing. What a brave fellow, I thought.

Doctor Brown pressed in a few more places, and then stood up. Andrew collapsed on his cot, the blood from his lip running down onto chin. Adolphus stepped over with a cloth and held it on the poor man’s lip. “Hold this there,” he said. “It will soon clot up.”

“We must take him back to the surgery. Do you have anything we can carry him on? I do not want him walking in his condition.”

“We can carry the cot.” Adolphus gestured at Andrew. “It weighs no more than a stretcher.”

“If you say so. Follow me.”

Adolphus picked up one end of the cot, and I took the other. We made our way to the surgery, slipping and sliding on the mud that seemed to be everywhere, but being extremely careful not to drop Andrew. Finally we reached the surgery and took in. Two orderlies lifted him onto a table, and Doctor Brown began examining him more closely. He looked up at us. “I won’t know anything for a while, so go back to your shack and come back in a couple of hours.”

“We will. Does his condition seem to be critical?”

“At this point, I cannot tell. That is why I need more time.”

Alphonso and I made our muddy way back to our shack and sat on our cots. It seemed odd not having either of our friends there with us. Alphonso felt that too, for he said, “It seems strange not to have Hiram or Andrew here with us.”

“I was just having the same thought. We have been through a lot together.”

“You did more than I. You have done an excellent job taking care of them and encouraging them.”

“They are like sons to me, so I felt that was my duty.”

Alphonso yawned.  “After winter camp, I am unused to rising so early. I believe I’ll lie down for a while.”

“I’ll join you. My eyes are heavy as well.”

We lay down, and I thought about all that had happened in the past few months. After a while, I fell asleep with those thoughts.