The Stone of Idris: Consequences accepted.

Dreaming, I became aware that I was moving purposefully and stealthily through the night. It was the dark of the moon. I was following a trail laid down earlier in the week when there had been enough moonlight to see. I eased towards enemy lines with the taut string held in my right hand.

There was a whistle and a crack. Lying flat, not moving, my squad and I waited for the flare to die on the ground.

We were seven. If we lived long enough to retreat, the other three left in our squad had stayed to cover us. Our mission was to take out two machine gun nests and an artillery emplacement that had been cutting our battalion to pieces for days and had stalled our advance.

In the flare’s light, I saw the uniforms we were wearing. They were World War 1 issue.

‘That would make this Flanders,’ I thought. My great-grandfather fought here towards the end of World War 1.

I could sense Eldrick was worried, terrified even. He wasn’t sure his son was going to survive this mission. He stepped in and took control.

I was there. I was Eldrick. I became my great-grandfather, Andrew.

Creeping slowly and quietly, we closed in on the machine gun nest. We had to take that out first. We were already too close for the cannon to affect us.

Another flare burst.

“Halt! Wer geht dahin? (Halt! Who goes there?).” A soldier shouted.

“Nothing, just a rabbit. Shhh, you’re very sleepy,” we, Eldrick, Andrew and I, muttered through the stone.

“Was ist es? Hast du etwas gesehen? (What is it? Have you seen something?)” Another voice demanded.

“Gar nichts. Nur ein verdammtes Kaninchen. Hat mich höllisch erschreckt. (Nothing. Just a damn rabbit. Scared me to hell.)”

The squad and I were so close we could almost have reached out and touched the first German soldier.

Eldrick/Andrew/we whispered to the stone, “You’re all very sleepy. You can’t keep your eyes open. You will fall over into a deep sleep now.”

This close, even whispered, German heads began to turn our way. Then, one by one, they keeled over and slept. Some began to snore.

The squad crept through the nest, knifing each German soldier in the throat. Unnecessary, I thought. The stone could have made them sleep like sleeping beauty, never to awaken until ‘true love’s kiss’.

“Neat trick,” the sergeant said. “You’ll have to show me how to do that one day.”

Working carefully, we turned the machine gun to approximately where we knew the second nest to be. At first light, we’d take that out and then the cannon.

What seemed like an eternity later, the light grew around us. We only needed to adjust the machine gun a few inches. Opening fire, we took out the second nest. Howling like banshees, we attacked the artillery emplacement.

The Germans tried to surrender, but Eldrick delighted in killing. He/Andrew/I slaughtered them all.

Turning the guns and cannon around, we fired into the German ranks. They broke under the combined assault of their two machine guns and artillery and fled in full retreat.

The sergeant turned to us, Eldrick/Andrew/me, “Those men were surrendering, corporal Smithson! You should have given quarter! Consider yourself under arrest. We will discuss this further when we get back to HQ.”

My great-grandfather was awarded the Medal of Honour for his ‘bravery in the face of enemy fire and his actions in taking out the emplacements.’ He was then quietly discharged and sent home in disgrace.

‘At least I didn’t rape anybody this time,’ I thought.