Art Pact 161


We line up on the safe wall of the trenches, the one closest to the enemy. During the night the rain has poured down like the judgement of God, so that the bottom of the trench is just one huge shallow puddle reaching a mile in either direction. As we shift to try to keep our feet free from the mud it ripples away from us towards our company-mates, each of us therefore culpable for sluicing the fetid liquid over the tops of boots. The slatted wooden walls leak a thick mud that seeps into our clothing - we try to stand clear of it but each time someone goes past us we are forced to step back to allow them passage, mumbling at the idiots who dug the fortifications so narrow.

"Now then!" shouts the sergeant, uncomfortably loud. It seems impossible that the enemy cannot hear him just as well as we can. "It is thirteen hundred hours now! At fourteen hundred hours precisely our beloved captain will sound his whistle, and I and the other sergeants will sound our whistles in response. Do you understand?"

"Yes sergeant!" we cry.

"When you hear the second whistle - that is to say, my whistle - you will immediately proceed to scale the ladders on the safe side of the trench. Is that understood?"

"Yes sergeant!"

"If one of you is having difficulty, the others will help him! If one of you is reluctant, the others will remind him of his duty, and encourage him to scale the ladders!"

"How will we do that?" one of us asks. He's the weedy one down at the end, constantly pushing his broken glasses up his nose. They never stay here. He's got his hand up, like a child in a classroom asking to go to the toilet, and we all feel a little sad for the poor chap.

"Perhaps you could repeat your question!" the sergeant yells, "bearing in mind that in a strict hierarchy there are certain forms that need to be observed in the communications between superiors and subordinates!"

"Sorry, sergeant!"

"That's alright!" cries the sergeant. "This is a tense moment, and it is perfectly understandable that you might make a mistake. I would hardly have commented on it except that the rest of your conduct has been so exemplary that I feel you are ready to take constructive criticism on small points!"

"Thank you sergeant. How will we do that, sergeant? I mean, encourage the others to scale the ladders, sergeant?"

"I'm glad you asked that, private, and that's more like it!" The sergeant points to the scaling ladders - they are filthy with mud, and we imagine how difficult it will be to clamber up them in the heat of the charge. "You will remind your fellow soldiers that to travel forward we must travel upward! You will remind them that they have undergone a gruelling training regime to get this far, and that if the powers that be did not think they were capable of performing this necessary task, they would not have sent them here. You will help your fellow soldier to think of his family and friends at home, and how they would cheer him on if they could be there at that moment! Does this answer your question, private?"

"Yes sergeant!" calls out the weedy private. We are proud of him, because deep down we all wanted to ask that question, but most of us lacked the emotional strength.

"Now then! It will not have escaped your notice that our rear-line boys have been pretty active over the last few days! Those of you who have been on overwatch will be acquainted with this already, but for the rest of you - do not be surprised when you go over the top! Our artillery has been hammering the area with feel-good literature, pillows, and a delightful glitter that has made no-man's land quite festive, if I do say so myself! You will not be fazed by these features of the landscape! Oh no! For you are the king's soldiers, and well-prepared for your duty! Do you agree?"

"YES SERGEANT!" We shout in unison.

"Very good!" He struts along the line. It has begun to rain again - just a light spitting - but the thin sheen of water collecting on his face makes him look extra passionate, as though the effort of instruction and encouragement has brought out a sweat on him. "You will indeed not be fazed. In fact, you will use these features to your advantage, just like your drill sergeant told you! You will look at the beautiful glitter and it will lift your hearts. What will it do?"

"LIFT OUR HEARTS, SERGEANT!"

"Yes it will! You will pick up some of this literature and briefly flick through it while you run towards the enemy, and it will remind you that you and he are human beings, brief candles on this world but with the power to do good. What will it remind you of?"

"OUR CAPACITY TO DO GOOD, SERGEANT!"

"I can't hear you!"

"OUR CAPACITY TO DO GOOD, SERGEANT!"

"That's better!" The sergeant gives us a thumbs-up. "Now, you will run directly towards the enemy, brandishing any pillow you may pick up along the way! If you do not pick up a pillow, you will not worry? What will you not do?"

"WORRY, SERGEANT!"

"That's right!" he reassures us. "You will not worry, because those pillows are just gifts, and the best gift you will be able to give the enemy is the knowledge that he is a valued human being, loved for his existence and his potential. So if you do not pick up a pillow, what will you do?"

"We'll run with our arms open?" asks the weedy private.

"Wide open!" agrees the sergeant. "So that when you meet the enemy you will be able to give him a friendly hug with no delay! How much delay, soldiers?"

"NO DELAY, SERGEANT!"

"Very good! There are a lot of enemy troops out there, and each one of them needs to be turned into a friend with reassurance and encouragement! It's a difficult job, but you're the men the king has trusted to do it, and you're the men who are going to do it. What are you?"

"THE MEN, SERGEANT!"

He gives us another thumbs up.

"You've got an hour to prepare," he tells us. "Get comfortable, limber up, and above all, think positive thoughts! Dismissed!"

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Art Pact 176 - In Memory

Art Pact 115

Art Pact 123