My grandfather asked if I was going to put in my name. Your decision, he said.
It’s selective I said, so that poor people like us enter our names to be possibly killed in a war. Not many rich kids doing that.
He looked me hard in the face, which was unusual for him, being a soft-hearted and loving man.
What you are doing is selecting the service, he replied. That says more about you than any rich kid just sitting on his ass.
I shrugged.
But if you don’t, he continued, what does that make you.
Ron Burch‘s short stories have been published in Mississippi Review, Cheap Pop, Pank and others. He’s been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and his first novel, Bliss Inc., was published by BlazeVOX Books. Please visit www.ronburch.com.
A Quiet Courage 