As I leaned by in my lazy boy watching TV, I glanced over to
my wall. Staring back at me were all my many achievements. The Olympic gold
medals, the two Medals of Honor, the Purple Hearts, the Bronze Stars, the Nobel
Peace prize, and my game trophies. I read the I achieved so much in such a
little time; I mean I am old 55 and I almost done everything. Most people would
die to just earn one my many achievements; however I was most certainly not
satisfied in my achievements. There was one thing I desired to do, and I would
give anything to do it. Just to taunt myself I had it hanging over my
achievements. That bloody, beautiful mountain just hung there laughing at me. I
could never deny how majestic Mt Everest truly was, and I only wanted to climb
it. I wanted to be on top of the world, look out over the clouds, and see God’s
amazing works. With a tear in my eye, I looked down at my right arm; well what
would have been my right arm. Climbing this mountain would never be possible
for me if I only had one arm, regardless of how fit and strong I am. Now I am
not the one to regret things, and especially not losing this arm. If I still
had my arm, then my fellow brother in arms, Ben, would not be in bed with his
wife, and his kids would not have their father. He and I would always joke
about how saving him from that chopper blade was the worst best decision I
made. He knew my longing to climb that mountain, and he still feels a little
bad about the accident. It wasn’t his fault, and he shouldn’t feel bad. I would
save him even if it meant my life and not just my arm. I reread the one of the
Purple Hearts, “This award is to recognize James Patterson and his courage and
compassion he shows on the field of battle protecting this great country.” The
last line was “God save the Queen”, and I managed to chuckle at that line. The Queen
was not all sunshine and roses like the media displays; if she was I would not
be on the couch for convincing our son to embarrass her at a distinguished
dinner party.
I was not about to fall asleep when I heard a pounding at
the door. When I opened it, it was ben standing there with a huge smile on his
face. He was holding what looked like a carbon fiber arm with an icepick
attached as the hand.
(Image from SummitPost)
Author’s Note: I
adopted this story from the Beowulf Unit. There isn’t really one story that I
focused on. I focused on Beowulf as the person. I tried to make someone in
today’s time equivalent to his achievements. I tried to create a modern day
Beowulf. The book itself is “The Story
of Beowulf” by Strafford Riggs. I wanted to have a man who has done so much, but is still never satisfied with his achievements, but unlike Beowulf the man didn't die in an adventure. I wanted my man to die of old age.
