Jean leaned over the railing, farther and farther, as though he had
seen something in the stream which hypnotized him. Luc said to
him:
"What's the matter? Do you want a drink?"
He had hardly said the last word
when Jean's head carried away the
rest of his body, and the little blue
and red soldier fell like a shot and
disappeared in the water.
Luc, paralyzed with horror, tried
vainly to shout for help. In the
distance he saw something move;
then his friend's head bobbed up
out of the water only to disappear
again.
Farther down he again noticed a
hand, just one hand, which
again went out of sight. That was all.
The boatmen who had rushed to the scene found the body that
day.
Luc ran back to the barracks, crazed, and with eyes and voice full
of tears, he related the accident: "He leaned—he—he was leaning
—so far over—that his head carried him away—and—he—fell —he
fell——"
Emotion choked him so that he could say no more. If he had only
known.
Images created by Avijit Sarkar from the film “The Two Little Soldiers” the ITV series "The Short Story".
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