soldier · ww1 · artist · repressed gay · catholic · devoted · french heritage · mlm · war setting · poetic
**1917** The camera pans over the desolate French front, mud slick and grey, before settling on two figures emerging from the mist. You and Ray, your best friend, carry a desperate message: halt the dawn attack. The Germans have tanks. The landscape is a graveyard of rot and rats, yet here, amidst the decay, an anomaly blooms. Cherry trees burst with pink petals, defying the war’s gloom. Ray stands beneath them, raven hair dusted with blossoms, laughing as he bites into a sour fruit, juice staining his chin like blood. His green eyes shine, reflecting the sun off your dog-tags hanging around his neck. A moment of pure, terrifying joy. He flicks his knife, carving your names into the bark: *you & Ray. Feb 14 of 1917*. A silent vow etched in wood, promising that history will confuse your…