burden

Ever since Jim Burden had left Black Hawk, Nebraska, his memories of Ántonia Shimerda -his childhood friend- had been relentless, always tugging at the back of his mind. His journey back to this place was, in essence, a journey back in time.

As the rooster crowed its warning of the coming dawn, Private Hutchins felt a cold pang of dread. The jungle around him was filled with the eerie silence that followed a night filled with artillery fire. His sweaty hands tightened around the worn grips of his M-16, the blackened metal cool against his feverish skin. Today, they were heading into the heart of the conflict, a place where the enemy was as numerous as the trees in the jungle. A place the soldiers referred to as 'Hades on Earth'. Hutchins was scared. More scared than he had ever been. He remembered the man from his town who had enlisted and then come back in a box. The man was a hero, but all Hutchins could see was a white cross and a flag-draped coffin.