Last month was a 5-Saturday month. If you have been a reader of this little blog for more than a minute, then you are aware that on 5-Saturday months I attempt to write a 5-part short story. The intent is to practice my writing skills. Lately, I’ve been a bit lazy. So, my effort in this endeavor is waning. a little bit. But last month, I followed through even though May – as you know – is as busy as December. It tends to fill itself up with activities. Still, I managed to give it a go.

Three things came together and provided the spark of the story.

One, in April, I started prepping for my annual Veteran Cemetery Tour. Every summer, I conduct historical walking tours in our local cemetery. In them, I share stories of our town’s early pioneers and founding fathers and mothers that helped shape our community. Since 2021, in May I do a special veteran tour. All of the stories on this tour are about our community’s soldiers that fought in various wars. I do this tour in May for Military Appreciation Month.

While reviewing my tour and looking over the stories, I decided since May was a 5-Saturday month, why not do a story inspired by Military Appreciation Month?

Two, while putting together a promo video for the tour, I decided to use the Chicks’ (née Dixie Chicks) song Traveling Soldier. I didn’t do it intentionally, but after listening to that song over and over again to edit my little promo video, the story stuck. It became the basis of my short story.

Three, years ago while out on one of my work walk breaks, I found a half of a dollar bill. That night, I wrote a post on Facebook similar but much shorter than this story. Except in that one, the fate of the soldier is left to the imagination of the reader. So yes, that is a real half of a dollar I found. No, the year certainly is not from the ‘40’s. C’mon, I am not that old. But I decided to revisit that dollar and add to the story.

I originally wanted to use World War I. But in the first chapter the bar was going to be a USO so I changed it to World War II. I thought the bar was going to play a much bigger role in the story but we never went back. Poor Sid was never heard of again, was he?

I also liked that the audience knew more than the characters about what was coming. The fact that Hawaii was considered ‘safe’ before December 7 was a bit exaggerated just to aggravate you dear readers. Sorry about that. While it was considered somewhat safe, I’m not sure how many stateside people would have been aware of it at all. Certainly not a 16 year old girl on the eastern side of the United States.

Just a side note, my dad was in the Navy during the Korean War. He was stationed in Hawaii – just in case. It actually was safer during that war because they were more cautious and on alert.

Hopefully, you enjoyed the story. Thanks for stopping by for a read. The next 5-part short story will be in August but I have no idea what that will be. I mean, let’s get through June and July first.

If you want to read or reread the story, click on the link.

Two Halves