In the twelfth month of 1970, my neighbor said my husband was a deserter. One sentence from my five-year-old son plunged the whole courtyard into silence: “The person who wouldn’t let him come back is still here.”
No one knew my boy could draw military maps, identify enemy agents, and reveal secrets only the fallen would know. No one knew that the symbol he drew was exactly the same as the one his father had brought back from Laoying Ridge.
I thought a widow and her child had no choice but to endure it. Then he protected me with a slingshot, kept a record of every grudge in his notebook, and spoke of “that place” in his nightmares.
He said, “Mom, I’m here.” But when he trembled at the sight of a photo of Laoying Ridge, I didn’t know…
Who the child in my arms really was.
#Seventies #MyBoyDrawsMapsThatCatchSpies #PeriodFiction #TakingDownScumbags #MotherAndSonProtectEachOther
No one knew this child could draw military maps, identify enemy agents, and reveal secrets only the fallen would know.
Even fewer knew that the symbol he drew was exactly the same as the one his father had brought back from Laoying Ridge.
#Seventies #FiveYearOldMilitaryKidDrawsAListOfEnemyAgents #MySonIsAHiddenBigShot
