Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Sunday, February 5, 2012

For a Brave Knight, in memory of my father

    



                                                                       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. 


Recommend the writings and videos of John Eldredge
         For this page:  Check out "Wild at Heart"
         His Outlaw video is very entertaining

                                                                   Based on a true event.






#Brave #Knight

#Brave #Knight
A #Brave #Knight I painted

#Brave #Knight #Writers

#Brave #Knight #Writers
A Brave knight I painted