Categories > Original > Historical > Dove il lupo ha fatto tappa (Where the wolf did step)
December 1, 1915
The snow has started to fall, and we are prepared for it, thankfully. The shells have started to fall as well, and we are prepared for it. They came, they saw, they died. We scavenged, exchanged, and talked. But today, we also silently wept. Everyone is growing aware of the lives we are ruining for the Austrians. Alonzo found a letter on one of the men. It was from the poor man’s mother, talking about how she couldn’t wait for him to be home. That was his last month serving, and his last day on this world. We pray for him and the others. Riposi in pace, we had said to each man we found lying in their ultima dimora. We sorrow at it, but we rejoice in us still living. No one has died in the battalion, yet. It is one of the few who have seen action, and have not had a single death. That is why some are being replaced, taken to the frontlines. If they survive, they say, they’ll be back in under two months. I believe few will be back. But the arrivals have brought many new faces. All are dark and grim, with stories of the horrors they have witnessed on the frontlines. One man says he saw a man get torn apart by an exploding shell, and that the man did not stop crying until he eventually died. One man has shell shock. He is normal for a time, then he just stares off, as if he saw something horrifying. But one man, none of us are sure about. He is quiet, preferring to keep to himself. He will chime in here and there, but only about the weapons. Something in his eye scares me. I do not know what it is.
The snow has started to fall, and we are prepared for it, thankfully. The shells have started to fall as well, and we are prepared for it. They came, they saw, they died. We scavenged, exchanged, and talked. But today, we also silently wept. Everyone is growing aware of the lives we are ruining for the Austrians. Alonzo found a letter on one of the men. It was from the poor man’s mother, talking about how she couldn’t wait for him to be home. That was his last month serving, and his last day on this world. We pray for him and the others. Riposi in pace, we had said to each man we found lying in their ultima dimora. We sorrow at it, but we rejoice in us still living. No one has died in the battalion, yet. It is one of the few who have seen action, and have not had a single death. That is why some are being replaced, taken to the frontlines. If they survive, they say, they’ll be back in under two months. I believe few will be back. But the arrivals have brought many new faces. All are dark and grim, with stories of the horrors they have witnessed on the frontlines. One man says he saw a man get torn apart by an exploding shell, and that the man did not stop crying until he eventually died. One man has shell shock. He is normal for a time, then he just stares off, as if he saw something horrifying. But one man, none of us are sure about. He is quiet, preferring to keep to himself. He will chime in here and there, but only about the weapons. Something in his eye scares me. I do not know what it is.
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