Absolution River by Aaron Mach

up just fine, be dry in no time.”
    Jack walked over to the creek and unbuttoned his shirt. When he took it off he revealed his mangled back. Eli saw it and was embarrassed to have witnessed it and turned to look busy working on the generator.
    Without turning while scrubbing the shirt in the creek Jack said, “It’s from the war.”
    “Don’t need to know, you ain’t want to say nothin about it.”
    “No, it’s okay Eli, you’ve been a good friend to me.”
    Eli leaned against the outer post of the porch and puffed on his pipe.
    “Back in the war my friend and I were surrounded. A rocket destroyed the chopper sent to evacuate us. The last thing I remembered was seeing the burning wreckage and feeling the impact of the butt of a rifle on the back of my head.” Jack turned from the creek and rung out the wet shirt. Walking over to Eli he continued, “I awoke in a bamboo cage that was outside and exposed to the elements. I had no idea how long I had been there and my friend was no longer with me. I had to assume he was dead. The cage was only three feet high and I was forced to lay flat for weeks on end. The only food they gave us were the scraps from the guards of the camp. Often it was nothing but bones. Every other day or so they would take me out and sit me in a chair in a small hut and ask me questions. Usually the same things, where was your unit, what were you doing, about future troop movements, stuff like that. I kept quiet, didn’t say a thing the eight months I was there. When things got real interesting they would whip me a couple dozen times then just put me back in the cage. Eventually the camp was deserted and they just left me there. Figured I would just die, wasn’t worth their time, you know. With what strength I had left I sawed one of the bamboo stalks with a small rock I found on the ground in the cage. I could barely walk and made my way through the jungle. A week later a platoon on routine patrol found me. Spent the next year in a hospital in Saigon until everyone was evacuated.”
    “God, I’m sorry Jack,” said Eli, taking heavy puffs from his pipe. He put his hat high up on his head and wiped his brow. “I can see why you ain’t much of a talker.”
    “Just used to it, be amazed what you can get used to.”
    Eli walked over to Jack and put his hand on his shoulder.
    “You know its gonna be alright now, son. It’s over now, you know?”
    Jack looked at Eli and nodded. Each hid their face, as they both understood the casualties of war were not only the dead, but also the living.

XV
    Arch walked into a diner near Big Fork. The diner was your classic fifties style that are often gimmicks now, but this was one of the few genuine diners that has remained over the decades. Everything from the fake leather seating, to the uniforms the waitresses wore was exactly the same as the grand opening. Arch walked over to the man in a well-tailored blue suit and blue vest. Instead of a traditional tie, he had one of those rope ties with the big medallion to tighten the rope around the collar. His particular medallion was of a buffalo, and only if you were really close could you see a small skeleton underneath its feet. Few got that close.
    “Can I get you boys something, some pie maybe, we have a great-” said Cheryl as she was taking the order. Her hair was big with large curls that seemed to remain in place by some magical powers. She was pretty, once, but considering she was in this dump since the place opened, the years had certainly taken their toll.
    “Coffee, black,” the man in the suit interrupted.
    “Same, some great what?”
    “Pie, I was going to say pie,” Cheryl said unfazed by the short responses.
    “Yeah, what the fuck kind of pie? Don’t fucking say blueberry,” Arch said in a low tone with a big smile so as not to scare the lady away. She was the harbinger of pie after all.
    “Blue-” Arched turned his head with one mildly crazy eye sort of jokingly, Cheryl thought. He