continuation

Years passed, John and Ellen grew up, Jethro became quite an old man, but still worked in the garden with Sam, whilst the big brown non breathing thing stood watching and silently listening to all that went on around it, It continued to protect all it’s dependents inside.

When John was seventeen and Ellen fifteen, it overheard Sam and Jethro talking, about the war, both were to old to be called up for active service, but Sam was worried for John. He had always believed that John would be the first in the family to go to college, and better himself, it was not for him to be a gardener on a large estate. Sam wanted far better than that for his son.  Sam knew he had been lucky, both with the master and the work load, and he was doing something he enjoyed. He took immense pride in all he did, and it was both appreciated and noticed by the master, who took time each week to spend time talking to Sam.

A few months passed by, and there had been some very strange events, that it did not understand, huge loud explosions, that caused it’s windows to shake and even disturbed the runners it sat on. Then there were all the lights in the skies at night, they disturbed it’s rest, light beams crossing over from side to side, as huge bellied aircraft flew up there, dropping large bombs on cities and rural communities, where they caused such damage, where they missed they left huge craters.  It knew all this from listening to Sam and Jethro. So it stood and listened, taking everything in.

It was a Monday morning, it knew that because no one had come the day before, it knew this was called Sunday and it enjoyed hearing the Church bells ringing. Sam and Jethro arrived, they were both quiet, took out their tools and went about their work. Halfway through the morning John strolled into the garden, there was something very different about the young man, he was dressed very differently and his hair had been cut short and very tidy. He called out to his father, who came down the path thinking John brought a message for him from his mother. When he saw John standing there, he stopped and stared, part of him was very proud of his son, now in uniform and ready to go and fight for his King and Country, the other part of him was terrified for his son. War he knew was such an ugly thing.