Photos Abroad (Ireland and Sicily)

 

Sunset Photos Taken in Various Locations

 

Photos taken at the Grand Canyon and surrounding area

 

The Heart Swindlers: How Simon Leviev and Anna Delvey Romantic Comedy Film Could Work

 

Beginning around the early 90’s, the romantic comedy film genre (otherwise known as “rom-coms”) were all the rave. Feel good, lighthearted movies, they were guilty pleasures of many women, and, if we’re being honest, quite a few men. But somewhere around the mid to late 2000’s, the genre plummeted faster than a hang glider carrying a body positivity activist.  It’s too bad because there were quite a few solid rom-coms flicks.

 There were some classics, such as, When Harry Met Sally and Pretty Woman to My Best Friend’s Wedding and You’ve Got Mail. Though I suspect a number of people would characterize these as being “chick flicks,” I have to admit that I do enjoy the previously mentioned films. Hell, I’ll even admit that I still get a few chuckles whenever I watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Even the Adam Sandler varieties are quite enjoyable, as The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates are both humorous and tug at the heart strings.

Yet, eventually the genre became oversaturated with cinematic garbage. Despite having a big name cast, Failure To Launch…well…failed to launch, crashing harder at the box office than  the Hindenburg. Runaway Bride attempted to recapture the magic of Pretty Woman by essentially taking the main cast from the latter to recycle into the former. However, it’s so bad that I would guess that the gerbil Richard Gere shoved in his ass would rather remain in that anal crevice than be forced to watch that film. American audiences paid almost less attention to From Justin to Kelly than Disney and the NBA do to CPP's Uyghur genocide. And who can forget All About Steve, a movie more cringeworthy than a postmodern feminist’s TikTok page.

Nevertheless, romantic comedies have made a resurgence in recent years, as a new generation of actors have taken up the mantle. Thus, now is as good a time as any to pitch a new entry to the genre—something that is bound to entice audiences. My idea is to make a romantic comedy centered around the unique personas of Simon Liviev and Anna Delvey, two like minds recently catapulted into prominence by the Netflix programs The Tinder Swindler and Creating Anna, respectively.

 Simon Liviev, real name Shimon Yehuda Hayut, is an Israeli national and con artist who found women on Tinder, then preceded to scam the ever-living hell out of them.  He did this by introducing them to a life of luxury—flying them in private jets, taking them to lavish dinners, staying with them in fancy resorts, etc. However, it was all a façade, as Simon would pay for his extravagant lifestyle through what was essentially a Ponzi scheme. He would lure these women in, date them for a while, then start begging for cash to pay for other dates. Simon did this by claiming he was in some kind of fix, such as his life being in danger, and claiming he needed cash immediately.

Anna Delvey, real name Anna Sorokin, had a similar upbringing to her counterpart. Like him, she came from modest means, her parents emigrating from Russia to Germany immediately following the Soviet Union’s collapse. Yet, Anna possessed a remarkable ability to portray herself as something she wasn’t. Arriving in America, Anna quickly ingratiated herself within the New York City high society scene by claiming to be the heiress of a vast German family’s fortune. Her guise was so believable that Anna was not only able to rub shoulders with the city’s elite, but con them out of large sums of money. Similar to Simon, she funded her luxurious appetite by convincing her friends to “temporary” spot her cash.

So, the question is—how would a romantic comedy depicting these two charlatans work? Well, I have one idea for a film that if made, would explode at the box office more violently than Jeffery Toobin on a work call.

The Plot

The way I would set up this movie up is something akin to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. In that film, Matthew McConaughey is secretly trying to prove he can make any women fall in love with him in under two weeks in order to win an advertising pitch. The woman who is chosen is Kate Hudson, who is conversely writing an article on how to drive a man away in ten days or less, with McConaughey being her mark. Hence, both characters have secret agendas unbeknownst to one another until the movie’s climax. This blueprint works well here as you have two people attempting to con one another as a means to fund their respective lavish lifestyles, yet unaware of their partner’s true motives.  

The other essential aspect of any rom-com is the character’s friends. Usually the female protagonist has one or two close friends, each with distinct personality quirks. If there are two friends, one is usually the hopeless romantic while the other is the designated slut. There also sometimes exists the unfiltered gay friend, who makes very poignant and often rude comments, yet whose brutal observations are many times correct.  

         On the other hand, the male character’s friends are usually a bit blander, as they usually serve merely as outlets for the protagonist to express his feelings, too. For the record, this is an issue I have with the rom-com franchise. No man I know of ever talks about their feelings or romantic relationships while playing basketball or poker. They may occasionally swap sex stories, but they won’t go deep into their long-term relationships, at least in those settings. But I digress.

         So, for the fun of it, I’ll just make it that Simon’s best friend is his bodyguard. For those of you who watched Tinder Swindler, he was that big, brooding, behemoth who Simon always claimed was attacked before conning his marks out of cash. Because it’s a rom-com, I’ll make him an ironic character—the large muscular man with a deep voice and Eastern European accent who is actually a clear-eyed romantic. I can’t think of any particular role for Avi, his business partner. He can just be like one McConaughey’s friends from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days-- just make the occasional comment and shocked expression every time some slightly significant event occurs.

         The movie would start out the same way all romantic comedies do—introducing the main characters. Begin with a segment of Simon out on a first date with some chick he just met on Tinder. It’s a luxurious restaurant with incredible food and magnificent décor. Throughout the date however, Simon consistently has to leave the table to take “business calls”. In reality, he is texting with another girl, a previous date he is trying to scam money out of in order to pay for this meal. The bill eventually arrives, and Simon is terrified he won’t be able to pay, thus unraveling this new scheme before it can get off the ground. But at the last second, he receives a notification that $50,000 has been wired to his account. Phew, that was a close call!

         We then meet Anna, who is on her way to some major New York financial institution. She has a meeting with several executives in order to try to acquire a line of credit. This scene would be important in demonstrating Anna’s intelligence and charisma, as she’s able to obtain a line of credit amounting to $2,000,000. She then joins her friends for a nice lunch at an exclusive country club outside the city, where she somehow convinces several boomer men who just finished a round of golf to pay for their meal.

         The next day, Simon decides to take a last minute trip to NYC with his friends. While traveling in Simon’s private jet, his bodyguard says to him,

         “Boss, have you ever thought that maybe it’s time to settle down?”

         “What do you mean settle down?” Simon replies.

         “You know, find a girl you actually like and start a family with her. Live happily ever after.”

         “Why would I ever do that? I’m in the prime of my life. I got the perfect thing going: girls, money, expensive vacations. I’m living the life.”

         His bodyguard sighs.

         “I don’t know, I just feel there is more to life than all this. I mean, what’s the point of money, cars, and fancy dinners if you can’t share it with someone special; someone you really care about, you know?”

         “To each his own,” Simon retorts, as he leans back, putting in his headphones and closing his eyes.

         Now we get to the next essential rom-com juncture and that is the meeting. Simon arrives in New York, and upon checking into his high roller suite at whatever obscenely lavish hotel he’s chosen, Simon scrolls through Tinder and eventually lands on Anna’s page. His eyes light up when he reads her profile, discovering she is from an affluent German family. At that same time, Anna is also perusing Tinder, hoping to find a rich man she can woo into investing in her. She gets excited when she finds Simon, whose pictures portray the uber-wealthy man she’s been searching for. The two immediately swipe right on each other and get to talking.

         The two then go on their first date. Though this should have been like any other date for Simon, he soon finds himself impressed by Anna. He’s never met a girl so confident, direct and charismatic. Likewise, Anna is intrigued by Simon’s mysteriousness. Simon then offers to take Anna on a trip to the Bahamas. They immediately go to his private jet, where they take off take off and stay at some swanky hotel for a few days.

         Anna arrives back home and meets up with her friends, recounting her experience.

         “Oh, my God!” exclaims her hopeless romantic friend, “That’s so sweet! Why can’t I find a man like that? Just for once I would like to fall for a guy who treats me like I’m his one and everything.”

         “Girl, you got to lock that shit down,” counsels her token gay friend. “Men like that have short attention spans and quickly like to move on. My advice— get yourself pregnant, so then he has to stick with you. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.”

         “Who cares about all that?!”

Her slutty friend chimes in, “What’s important is did you get any? How big was his penis? Is he one of those rich guys who compensates for small genitals with fancy stuff or is he packing a magnum under those Gucci pants?”

         Anna and her friends stare at their slutty comrade.

         “What?!” She defends herself, “Can’t a girl have a little fun?”

         Simon and Anna go on several more dates. And though they don’t want to admit it, they start falling for one another. Simon’s observant bodyguard begins to notice this.

         “Simon, if you don’t mind me asking, why haven’t you pulled the scam on her yet? Normally, you would have done that by now.”

         “I’m just waiting for the right time. This is a tough girl to crack.”

         “Ahh, I see. So, you are starting to like this girl, aren’t you?”

         “What?! Me?! No….this is all strictly business. I have no personal attachment whatsoever.”

         The bodyguard gives off a slight smile, knowing full well what’s really going on.

         We’ve now arrived to the next rom-com stage—the breakup. Torn between his feelings for Anna and that fact that he desperately needs cash, Simon decides to enact the next phase of his scam. He texts Anna one night saying that he is trouble. Men want to hurt him and he needs money immediately. To his surprise, Simon doesn’t receive the typical concerned text. Rather, Anna asks him for money and says she will wire payment for his problems once he gives her cash. Simon is confused.

         The two keep going back and forth, trying to gain money and account information from one another. Eventually, a stalemate ensures. This is when both characters decide to look into each other’s backgrounds and M.O.’s, and realize that they are both con artists.

         They then confront each other at some high-end, New York public function. (These fights always MUST take place in front of large crowds). They accuse each other of being frauds. Eventually, a tearful Anna runs out and takes a cab home, as a distraught Simon watches her drive off.

         A month later, a dejected Simon is sitting on his hotel couch watching TV. His bodyguard picks up the remote and shuts it off.

         “Boss, you need to get out. You’ve been moping in here for weeks. This isn’t healthy.”

         Simon ignores him, still staring at the black screen.

         “Sir,” the bodyguard says, “I’ve been with you for many years through numerous scams. I know you well and I can tell you, I know you aren’t sad because this scheme went array. It is because you realized, for the first time in your life, you found something more important than hotels, cars, private planes and fancy meals. You found love.”

         Tears start to run down Simon’s cheeks.

         “And let me tell you,” he continues, “no amount of money can ever fill that gaping hole inside you. The only thing that can is that special someone.”

         Simon shoots up.

         “You’re right,” he says. “Get the car!”

         “Where are we going, sir?”

         Simon turns to his friend.

         “We’re going to get the girl.”

         The bodyguard excitedly pumps his first.

         “I get the car.”

         Now, we’re at the final climatic scene—the rekindling. Simon calls up Anna’s friend and discovers she’s about to flee the United States. Simon and his bodyguard swerve through NYC traffic, eventually spotting her cab and forcing it off the road.  Anna then gets out of the car, and begins screaming.

         “What the hell are you doing?! Are you trying to get me killed?!”

         “Anna, listen. All my life, I’ve been pretending to be something I’ve not. I thought that if I could be something else, I could have the life I never had. I believe that I could make myself happy with expensive clothes and vacations. And for a while, I did. But I soon realized that this gaping void remained inside of me, and it was only until I met you that I realized what I needed—it was you.”

         Tears begin falls down Anna’s cheeks.

         “So, you run me off the road just to tell me that?”

         “No, I came here to tell you that you swindled me. Not out of my money or my possessions. You swindled my heart.”

         The cab driver honks.

         “Hey, lady! You comin’ or what?!”

         A tearful Anna stares at Simon for a few seconds, then rushes up to him. The two embrace while everyone in the preceding traffic jam begins to clap.

         And that’s it. That’s the movie. There could even be a sequel in which Anna and Simon go on a double date with Billy McFarland and Elizabeth. But that’s a story for another time. Hope you enjoyed.

© Copyright 2022 by R. M. S. Thornton

I Updated My Book!

 

Last year, I published my third poetry work titled Poet Without a Cause. I'm happy to announce that I have recently release a new edition containing a dozen or so more poems. Be sure to link it out in the link!

Poet Without a Cause : A Collection of Poems from America’s Favorite Basic Bro - Kindle edition by Thornton, R. M. S. . Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Gump 2020: How a Forrest Gump Sequel Set in 2020 Could Work

 

Forrest Gump is a movie about a mentally deficient man who experiences first-hand many of the most turbulent and significant events of the 1950’s through the 1980’s. Despite his cognitive handicap, he achieves remarkable success in a wide range of vocations, including, among other things, becoming an all-American college football player, war hero, ping pong champion, shrimp boat captain, millionaire business owner, and wandering runner. Gump does all this while maintaining an unhealthy obsession with a girl named Jenny, a hippie who grew up next door to him and later bears his spawn.

Considering how tumultuous 2020 was—feeling almost as if it was a single decade rolled into 366 days—I thought it would be interesting to conceptualize how a Forrest Gump set in 2020 would play out. How would the protagonist experience, interreact with, and interpret last year’s events? The following is how I think such a hypothetical sequel could transpire.                                    

The film would begin several decades past where the last movie left off. For those of you who need a reminder, after years of aimless, drug induced, hippie excursions, Jenny returned home to stay with Forrest. She repays his hospitality by sneaking into his room late one night, taking his virginity, then heartlessly ditching him. It’s only when she’s about to die that she decides to reach out to Forrest, inform him that they have a son, then marry him, thereby leaving the poor man to raise their child as single parent.  

Back to the current premise, the first scene would transpire in Iraq. As a shrimping tycoon, Forrest is visiting the country under the auspices of a special U. S. visa in order to help the struggling nation develop its seafood industry. While waiting outside the U. S. Embassy, Forrest notices several men sitting in a parked car, panicking. One of them seemingly throws or drops his phone out the window. Forrest, being the Good Samaritan he is, runs over and picks it up. He then chases after the car yelling, “Excuse me! You dropped your phone!”

Forrest chases the men for several blocks. Because he’s still really fast, Forrest eventually catches up with the car. He hands the driver the phone and quickly strides away. Realizing what has happened, the men began panicking, until suddenly, a drone’s missile strikes their automobile, instantly vaporizing them. As it turns out, the car held Qasem Soleimani and his entourage. They ditched the phone because they figured out they were being tracked on it. Forrest had thus unwittingly alerted the U. S. military to his location.

Due to his inadvertent heroic actions, Forrest is invited to the White House to meet with President Trump. I can only imagine how great a conversation between Gump and Trump would be. A fly on that wall would certainly get its money’s worth. Trump would then ask Gump to go on a secret mission with Rudy Giuliani to investigate Ukrainian corruption and find any missing computer servers. Gump, knowing as much about computers as he does about astrophysics, would assume that “servers” means the President is looking for cocktail waitresses.

   Upon landing in Ukraine, Gump gets separated from Rudy and just wanders around, not knowing what the hell he is doing. He eventually ends up at a fancy building to which he is ushered inside to a meeting room by several large men clad in suits and ties. It turns out that he has ended up at the headquarters of Burisma Holdings, where he was mistaken for an American investor. Forrest stays after another American there named Hunter takes a liking to him.

When the conference concludes, Hunter invites Gump back to his hotel room. They end up having a drink before eventually ending up at a Ukrainian brothel. Forrest would then make the observation, “That Hunter sure was strange. He kept snorting sugar up his nose, which is weird because I always thought sugar was supposed to enter through your mouth.”

I think it would actually be funny here if Hunter ended up convincing Forrest to snort the “sugar”, which would then lead to a scene in which super hyper, coked-out Forrest and Hunter Biden run naked throughout Kiev at 3:00 in the morning. All the while, the Forrest Gump running theme would be playing.

The next morning, Forrest receives a phone call from an unknown number. A shrill female voice demands to know what he’s doing there. When he replies that he doesn’t really know, the anonymous woman demands to meet with him upon his return, to which Gump agrees. But before leaving, Hunter gives Grump a laptop computer and implores him to keep it safe.

 Forrest makes it back safely and meets the woman who called him. It’s Nancy Pelosi. He tells the Speaker that Trump sent him to the Ukraine on a mission to find “servers” and that he made friends with Hunter. She demands he hand over every document related to the trip. Forrest complies by handing over his visa documents and other papers which include information he’s clueless about. However, he’s so uneasy that he doesn’t relinquish the computer. When the exchange ends, Forrest sees a store with multiple computers, so decides to just leave the laptop there.

Thus, Forrest has unknowingly set off the impeachment proceedings. However, to his dismay, he realizes that he accidently gave Pelosi the newest recipe to Bubba Gump’s latest shrimp concoction. Forrest tries to retrieve it from her at the State of the Union address, but is too late, as Pelosi unwittingly shreds it.

Depressed and demoralized, Gump does what he does best—pointlessly runs across the nation. While jogging through Oklahoma, Forrest becomes fascinated by a big cat sanctuary which is run by a unique character named Joe Exotic. Joe asks Forrest if he likes animals to which Forrest replies, “Very much so.” He tells Gump that he can stick around and work for the animal sanctuary if he wished. Forrest being Forrest agrees and begins doing low-paying, menial labor at the zoo. Just picturing Gump’s daily interactions with Joe and his staff alone would make this film worth the watch.

During one day, Cardi B visits the big cat refuge hoping it will help inspire her to write a new hit single for some odd reason. She meets Forrest, who is so enamored with her that he accidently spills a tub of water on one of the tigers. “Whoops!” Forrest says, “Well, that there is a wet pussy cat.” He then tries to dry off the animal with a nearby bucket and a mop.

Meanwhile, Joe starts to become infatuated with Forrest. I can imagine this scene now.

Joe: “You know, I like you, Forrest.”

Forrest: “Well, I like you too, Joe.”

Joe: “No, but I really, really like you, Forrest.”        

Forrest: “I really, really like you too, Joe.”

[Forrest is so innocent that he has no idea what’s going on]

Joe: “Forrest, would you want to join me and my husbands to form a quadruple?”

Forrest: “You want me to help you make a shape?”

But before things could be taken to an even more uncomfortable level, Joe Exotic is arrested. This couldn’t have occurred at a more perfect juncture, as Forrest has received an invitation to celebrate the anniversary of the ping pong diplomacy. Once again, Gump is off to the land of China.

Gump traverses the country, playing in numerous ping pong matches, his final game being in Wuhan. While there, a well-dressed Chinese man politely asks Forrest if he could discretely take a few cylinders holding an unknown substance back with him to America. Being the nice guy he is, Forrest agrees. But upon receiving them, he breaks the canisters. The mysterious man freaks out, shouting, “Do you know what you’ve done?!” Gump profusely apologizes. He then returns home, thinking little of the incident.

Upon arriving in the United States, all hell breaks loose. Gump handles the COVID-19 pandemic well. His positive outlook on life, along with the fact he doesn’t really need to do anything, means he remains relatively sheltered from the outside world. That is until Forrest is informed that Bubba Gump’s is experiencing supply chain issues, particularly in its Pacific Northwest region.

Forrest travels to Seattle. While there, he gets lost and wonders into the newly formed nation of CHAZ. He quickly falls in love with the place, as its debris filled streets, awful stench, drug use, sexual promiscuity, and delusional, radical left-wing residents all remind him of Jenny. He then somehow ends up becoming its warlord. At this point, I really don’t know what he would do other than just rename every single building and statue within the zone after Jenny.

The now FGAZ (Forrest Gump Autonomous Zone) wouldn’t last long. However, it would once again propel Gump to celebrity status. This would primary be because his younger followers would create a TikTok for him. Forrest begins making videos, which for those above the age of 15, seems ridiculous. But his odd demeanor and antics become a hit with the younger audiences.

Now we reach the election, and there are one of two ways I could see this could unfold. First, the election could go the same way it does in our timeline i. e. Joe Biden being elected President. Forrest does not really care about politics, so this would have zero effect on him. Nonetheless, I could imagine an incident in which he is visiting D. C. during the day of the Capitol Hill Riots and inadvertently wanders into Congress (see image below). Forrest would then be arrested, but soon the White House staff realizes that he is the only person who can understand Biden. Hence, he is pardoned and kept on as the President’s personal translator, to the ire of Kamala Harris, who now can’t easily toss him aside like a used-up Willie Brown.

The second way, and the one I personally like better, involves Forrest meeting Kanye West, who is so impressed with the man, that Kanye insists Forrest sign on as his VP for his presidential campaign. Gump agrees, but through a registration fluke, the shrimping mogul ends up on at the top of the ticket. Forrest turns out to be an excellent campaigner, as voters resonate to his simple, yet untestable style. For instance, when asked how he would reunite the country, he responds, “We are all just like peas and carrots.” His team also comes up with the memorable campaign slogan “Run, Forrest! Run!” Get it? Because he’s “running” for office. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s a Medal of Honor recipient, even though he no longer possesses the actual medal itself, since we all know that Jenny definitely pawned it for heroin almost immediately after Forrest gifted it to her.

Forrest rises high enough in the polls that he is invited to a three-way debate between him, Trump, and Biden. Following the event, the public becomes overwhelmingly convinced that Gump is easily the smartest person running for the office. He ends being the first candidate from neither the Democrats nor GOP to win the presidency since 1850. Millard Fillmore, who was a Whig, was the last one, just in case you were curious.

Anyways, like every other task Gump has attempted, he ends up somehow being an incredible president. He appoints Lt. Dan as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Forrest’s old war buddy does a solid job, since he’s personally experienced the system’s pitfalls. I could envision a White House scene in which Lt. Dan remarks, “It’s time to walk all over these Washington Bureaucrats”, to which Forrest responds, “But, Lt. Dan, how you gonna step on them when you ain’t got no legs?”, earning the President a look of distrain from his cabinet member.

And yet, the Gump Administration is successful, ushering in a Second American Century. Forrest goes down in history as the best president the United States has ever had. Oh, and he renames the Washington Monument, “The Jenny”.

The End

  

Where are you, Marcus Aurelius?

He thought it would be glorious—an audition of his courage, patriotism and strength. For isn’t this what every man desires—to test one’s might or resolve through the crucible to struggle? To prove he is capable and resilient enough to endure life’s hardships? To not cower in the face of danger, but to meet it head-on, and eventually triumph in spite of all odds? To sacrifice his life and limbs, yet emerge triumphant for the noble cause of King and Country?

He could still feel it, the shiver that went up his spine when he saw that image of Lord Kitchener. It was as if the general was pointing directly at him, singling him out with call to defend the homeland from the barbarians who wished to decimate it. It was as if for the first time in his short life, he felt needed. He would no longer just be a working-class boy from the north, but a savior of a people, called to arms when the enemy stood at the gates. The course of history had finally presented him with a purpose, something worth fighting for and enduring all suffering. How could he let such an opportunity pass him by, a chance to prove his worth to his friends, family, and all those naysayers who saw him as nothing more than the son of mere coal miner.

But as his frail body endured the agony of the night air, stiff and throbbing as it was harassed by the winter breeze, the young Britton could not help but question his decision. That nationalistic fever which had once so splendidly infected his entire being, had now morphed into an anguished longing for nothing more than mere survival.

He was told it would be a short war, intense, yet quick and decisive. And like all other of the nation’s conflicts, it would serve as a reaffirmation of the steadfast determination and rigor of the British people. But here he still was. It had been well over a year, yet they were still where they had started. It was as if they were trapped in some filth ridden purgatory, enhanced by the scent of bodily waste and rotting corpses.

The young Britton could not remember the last time he’d had a shower. His uniform was ragged, it’s olive coloring now polluted with dried mud and blood, both of which gave his outfit a harsh, bristling feel. His hands were filthy and rugged, his fingernails entrenched with thick, dry dirt parcels. His face did not fare much better, as it was actually grubbier than his father’s was when he’d return from the mines.

He hadn’t had a warm meal in months, and he forced to subsist off the meager, rancid rations of a foot solider. Even the tea was putrid, which tasted like water infested with the crumbs of decayed leaves. He was exhausted, as if he hadn’t slept in years. The last time the young man had actually felt the smoothness of a mattress was just before he was shipped off to France.

But here he was, a mere pawn thrust into a dystopian nightmare, a place of indescribable horrors, a region where the chimes of nature were drowned out  by the concussive and earth-shattering blasts of artillery, not to mention the numerous friends he’d lost, witnessing them cutdown like weeds by machine gun fire or fulminated by explosions, their fragmented remains decorating the battlefield like butchered ornaments. And for those lucky enough to escape such fortuity, they were often greeted with the affliction of illnesses that spread across the trenches like ink through a glass of water.

And amongst all this discomfort and anguish, his only current source of joy was the cigarette nestled between his lips, it’s spark being one of the few objects discernable within his vicinity. The young solider could feel the smoke rise into the air, offering his forehead only a temporary relief from the frost, as it gently curled up against the brim of his steel helmet.

He sat, leaning back into the wood and dirt embankment of the trench, his rifle close by his side as if he was a small child and it was his comfort toy. And as the young Britton remained perched there, wary yet vigilant, he thought back to all the things in life he had not experienced that he wished to accomplish.

There was a time, he remembered, when he believed himself invincible, impervious to the dangers that plagued weaker men. But after seeing his comrades ravished and maimed before his very eyes, many of whom were his age or younger, he knew now with certainty that death did not play favorites. Everyone in these trenches, friend and foe alike, were all the Grim Reaper’s potential prey. For he was a malicious presence which stalked these youths, as this war offered him the prime occasion to gratify his unquenchable appetite.

And so he sat, the young warrior, a boy who existed on this Earth only nineteen years, whose chances of departing this world too soon grew substantially greater with each passing second. For he knew now that every breath he took could very well be his last; and with that final gasp, all his hopes and ambitions would dissipate into oblivion.

            For there was so much he desired: to move out of Manchester, to earn a decent living, to purchase a home rather than being forced to rent a rundown apartment. He wanted to explore, to grow old, experience all the fruits this world had to offer. Moreover, he wished to achieve some notoriety, to be recognized for some great achievement. But most of all, he wanted to settle down, to find someone special and to start a family. Yet, here was, nothing more than a raw and unexperienced lad, unremarkable and unaccomplished in terms of career, distinction, love and self-fulfillment. Fighting a man’s war, yet ironically still a child. But would he ever live to full maturity? Would he survive long enough to reach life’s milestones: to move out, to achieve professional success, to lose his virginity, to get married?

            And as he contemplated this, sadness overcame him, because he knew this was his fate and there was nothing he could do about it, except to hope and pray. It was a harsh realization, one that viciously besieged his morale and faith. And as continued to puff on his cigarette, a tear stealthily descended down his cheek, dragging along the small tracts of muck as it did.

            And as he moved his head to wipe the tear away, he saw it. It was lying there, slightly hidden by a cover of dried mud. The young Brit picked it up and dusted away the grime. The book had a dark maroon leather cover, which felt rough as he slid his fingers down its jacket. He picked up his lamp and placed it near the manuscript. Meditations by Marcus Aurelias, the faded gold lettering read.

            The soldier opened the book, dusty residue escaping it as he did. The pages were an off-white color, old and tarnished. Yet, its words were still decipherable. And as he held the lamp on his knee with one hand, he began to read. In what felt like a mere instance, the young man was immersed, digesting each and every word, pausing to fully assimilate the text’s themes and messages.

            It was like nothing he’d ever read. He was never a big reader growing up, only reading a few books when forced to by his teachers, which he never enjoyed. But this was different. It was as if it was written for him, as if an author, a man had who existed two-thousand years earlier, was somehow conversing directly with him through the confines of space and time.

            For as he as scanned the text, the young Brit could imagine it: the grizzled Emperor, sitting at his at his desk penning his thoughts, all the while trapped by the cruel, cold confines of a Northern European military camp. Here was a sickly, fatigued military officer, cloaked in the armor and imperial garb of the princeps, contemplating his life, his mind always focused on his inevitable demise. It may have been a different time, different people, a different war, yet so much about them were alike. It was as if they had been fighting the same conflict, only centuries removed.

            This is how he imagined the great Marcus. A man, who like him, was fighting hordes of enemies from the Germanic frontier, at a time when many of the nations now embroiled in this war were under the united rule of one governing order. The young Brit pictured the battles he engaged in, the turmoil he suffered, the chaos he endured. And though things had changed since that time, the solider realized that man’s nature had not. For though technology had developed, the human mind was still just as prone to the sins and animalistic behavior of its ancestors.

            And so he continued his journey, reading day and night, whenever he had the chance. His stiff, frost ridden fingers jostling through the tatty pages, absorbing each word with swift and efficient deliberation. It became more than just a distraction for him, it was a way to put himself at ease, to find comfort in the most horrible of circumstances.

 His fear of death, of never knowing what else life had to offer, began to dissipate. For the young Britton came to accept that death was not the end, but as Marcus put it, the changing of matter from one form to another. Although we die, we are transformed into something else: the earth, the soil, the grass. And though the young Brit knew his fate may be sealed early, he adopted the view that all life is short. We are but a mere speck in time, our lifespans existing only for a quick instant. In the grand scheme of life, the universe’s perception of our existence was significantly less than what we perceive the lifespan of a housefly is.

And so he realized that with one’s demise came something else—freedom, liberation from impulse, pain, and sensation. For when one ceased to exist, so would the memories, along with urges, that control us like they’re puppeteers. Thereupon all would become a blank slate, our bodies no longer in existence, yet our matter forever whole and undamaged. And regardless of who we were in life, our class, career, fame, monetary status, we would all eventually suffer the same outcome. For death played the role of the great equalizer, it’s inevitable visit a consistent reminder that no organism standards of a god; that no man, no matter their status or self-aggrandizement, ever truly stands above his peers. 

            And though the young man wished to achieve much, to gain praise and acclaim, he realized that such things were trivial. As the sagacious Emperor told him, fame is only temporary. For, like the sands that constantly drift over other sand, so too does prominence over time. Though you may be remembered for a moment, others will appear; and no matter how renown you may become, all will eventually enter obscurity. For if all of humanity were to be exterminated in this war, the memory of everyone would be extinguished, and there would be no minds left to reminisce. Even the great empires of their days, The Roman, the German, the French, the British; if humanity ceased, so too would the chronicles of their rise and glorious achievements.

            And just when the young Brit finished the work, the order was given. The generals had ordered a new assault. They were going to try once again to break through the lines, to cross “No Man’s Land” and shatter the enemy defenses. Such attacks had failed so many times before, resulting in such needless carnage. Yet, it had become all too routine. For this was the reality of The Great War. If disease or malnourishment didn’t finish you off, then surely bombs, bullets, or bayonets would.

            Despite this awful truth, the soldier was ready. He was still scared, yet something about him had changed. For in consuming the philosopher’s work, he was now ready to accept his fate, no matter what it may be. And as he remained crouched near the ladder, the ground rumbling beneath as the shells blasted off, accompanied by the sound of the bullets as they zipped through the smoke infested air, he remained poised, ready to go over the top and charge straight towards the hostile barrage. For he now felt something he hadn’t experienced in a while—calmness. The young Britton was at peace, fully prepared to accept the whatever fait awaited him. And when the whistle finally blew, he flung himself up the ladder, as if it was the last thing he’d ever do.

© Copyright 2019 by R. M. S. Thornton