Just an old man
Jim Sparks turned into the overburdened
parking lot of the local grocery to pick up a few essentials for his wife. Thousands of times he had done this over the
years but age had robbed him of his ability to react even with his vast
experience. Slowly he crept down the
long line of parked cars looking for an open space. To give up driving would be to give up his
independence. He had always been a hard
working freedom loving man. Up ahead he
saw his chance to park. He swung out
wide so he could get a straighter shot into the space then slowed down to a
creep but missed by two feet on the left side, so he stopped then backed
up. Again he eased toward his goal.
Jim jumped at the sudden blast from a horn
to right. He turned in his whole body in
his seat to see what the horn was about, his neck had long lost it's
flexibility. There in a sporty little
car sat a very pretty young girl shaking her fist in frustration. He must know her he thought and waved back
causing her to lay on the horn longer. Finally,
Jim's car settled into it's spot. He sat
staring out across the hood his demensia caused him to pause.
The girl in the car looked so familiar, he
was sure she was Yugoslavian. He sat at
the controls of his C-47 looking down the long line of torches that lit the
high mountain meadow where he had landed.
There was a lot of commotion in the back of the plane as his crew
stripped all non essential equipment to lighten the overloaded troop carrier. It had been at his orders to let on all the
women and children who gathered for evacuation that night. No one would be left behind. To clear the mountains they had to lighten
up. He stared out at the flashes coming
from the distant trees then heard the ping of metal ripping in the
fusulage. The crew chief shouted the all
clear as he gunned the engines to full throttled sitting on the break.
The plane bounced across the rough meadow as
enemy soldiers layed down heavy fire.
Jim's face felt the splatter of warm fluid coming from the direction of
his co-pilot. His right calf felt a
sudden burn. Screams from the rear of
the plane over came the sound of the straining engines as he pushed them
harder. The torches became dots as he
climbed the shear silohet of a Yugoslavian mountain. The landing gear scraped gravel as he cleared
the mountain top then dropped down the other side. The enemy fire could no longer harm them the
noise in the back settled into silence.
Jim sat in his car, a tear glistened on his cheek. It seemed like it happened yesterday.
A loud tap on his window landed him back in
the grocery store parking lot. He looked
out at the Yugoslavian beauty. She stood
beside his car in a rage.
"You stupid old goat! You ought to be in a home. Give it up man!"
The girl stormed off confident she had
straighten out a useless old man.
For this page: Check out "Wild at Heart"
His Outlaw video is very entertaining
Based on a true event.
