Taps

:51:02

I was thinking about Charlie.

:51:06

You know, he came in here
scared of his own shadow, homesick.

:51:13

Used to cry himself to sleep.

:51:17

I was betting he wouldn't last
the first week of orientation.

:51:22

You'd call "Right face"
and he'd go in the other direction.

:51:29

And by Thanksgiving he was calling cadence.

:51:33

Never got a hit in inspection.
He turned out to be a tough little kid.

:51:42

Always so eager to please.

:52:12

It's getting close to dawn.

:52:17

That plebe year, it's a tough time.

:52:20

Yeah, it is.

:52:23

Some of them, like Charlie, thrive on it.

:52:29

I did. I... I thrived on it.

:52:36

I can't remember why any more.

:52:42

I was thinking about that basketball game
we played, one on one, last winter.

:52:54

It was so cold,

:52:56

hurt to breathe, and your fingers
could barely feel the ball, you know.