The Red Field of Winter

A Story by Matt Penrose

A 500 word story written and submitted into the competition, "Winter Surprise".

Snow fell about them, everywhere. Christmas was a day away, and the tall lanky Englishman hung over his German opponent as he received the curving ball flicking like a ghost through the snow. Will Tamson eyed the German on the sideline as his mate Geeves barely managed to catch the ball as it left his foot. He slid through the snow in a spray of white, tumbling over the German who had no time to duck out of his way.

The young German boy before Will, who barely seemed 17, drifted leftwards as he prepared to make a shot on their goals looming just ahead. He swung in for a kick when a clump of snow caught his foot and sent him tumbling, leaving the soccer ball free of his guard. Tamson rushed in and swerved the ball over, passing it to Henderson who hit it back to him as he raced into the clear.

Tamson stopped, catching the ball under the grip of his foot. He took the moment to gather his breath for another quick dribble to the Germans’ goals not thirty feet before him. He could taste the alcohol still warm inside him. The young German slowed to gather on him and paused a few metres away, hanging forward as he prepared to lurch at any sudden move. For a close moment, the two men’s eyes met. It was a strange thing, seeing the features of a man from the other side of the trenches for the first time. Tamson’s eyes lit up and he snuck a grin. ‘How are ya doin’, lad? Trench life treatin’ you fine?’

The German boy opened his mouth to speak, ‘I’m—’ Bullets flecked through the skin of his youth and a fizzle of blood popped out the side of his head. There were cracks in the air, and the soft white about them became target practice as soldiers from the nearby trenches opened fire on them. There was a dissonance of snaps and cries of panic in the air, and a voice cry out over to them.

‘Traitors to the Crown will die!’

Tamson fell on his backside, hearing the crunch of snow under him. Men on all sides ducked for cover, like birds in a flock gasping for the heavens. Tamson saw his friend Geeves take it in the throat. He fell down in his own muck and choked where he lay.

A bullet snapped in the snow by Will’s side and he quickly jumped to his feet, tumbling through the thick white blanket wrapped around him. He ran toward a crater lying in the middle of the field and rolled into the muddy depression as a bullet hissed past his ear. Hugging the mud, he squeezed his eyes closed and quietly began to sob. The rifle fire came to an eerie silence. His fingers were numbing from the coldness, and snow fell around him as a small bird skirted into the haven of the darkening sky above him.

Christmas was only a day away.