text: “Gunther?.. My God we thought you were dead!” Thomas shouted as he saw his friend standing at the door of the dugout. “Well then.” Gunther began “I certainly don’t feel dead”. Just the other day Thomas swore he saw his friend Gunther die when a wave of Gatling gun fire came over them when they were out of the trenches he even saw him get hit and fall himself. But here he was standing before him in his dirty uniform and cap as if nothing had happened at all. Graf who was sitting at his cot stood up and approached Gunther and shook his hand “My God man you certainly look dead though. You’re as white as a ghost!” He said. Gunther smiled a little and nodded “well to be honest I feel light headed. Mind if I sit down?” Graf then nodded and he sat down in the draw filled cot and Thomas handed him a warm tin of coffee “I bet you’ll be need this more than me. It was real cold out there last night.” Gunther then stared at the cup for a moment but shook his head “I don’t really remember it being cold. Also no thank you honestly I’m not all that thirst right now.” Thomas then set the tin cup on a box and Graf spoke “I should probably tell Sergeant Martin about you then.. Sorry to say this but when we saw you go down we thought you were done for and told him you were gone. I’ll be right back”. With that Graf then put on his cap and slung his rifle over his shoulder and ran off to find Sergeant Martin while Thomas continued to talk. “What happened anyways? Were you just unconscious at that time? We tried to call out your name but you didn’t answer”. Gunther then sighed as he rubbed his forehead. “I was taking cover and I didn’t feel like I could move. To be honest I thought I was dead too. I think I was struck by something, but it certainly wasn’t a bullet. Those Bluebacks couldn’t hit a elephant with one of those crank guns”. Thomas then nodded. “Well when Sergeant Martin comes around you should pretend you got hit just so you can get sent back to the rear and take a vacation in one of those hospitals. Who knows, maybe if you bitch long enough they’ll give you some furlough time off”. Gunther then nodded again. “Well now that you mention it I have one serious headache actually. “ Thomas then smiled. “Yeah that’s the right idea. I can even go along with it and tell Sergeant Martin you hit your head when we were running back to the trench. I can make up a story about a concussion and everything”. Gunther’s smile finally reappeared “yeah.. Your right in finally going to get to go home again”. Sergeant Martin then stepped into the dugout with Graff and Gunther stood up to meet him along with Thomas. Thomas then spoke “Sergeant it seems we made an error last night. Turns out Gunther made it back after all. He just got hit his head when he landed in the dirt.” Sergeant Martin looked Gunther up and down. “Is that so private?” He asked him. Gunther then nodded “yes Sergeant it is. I have a terrible headache from it. When I woke up this morning I crawled my way across the field and made my way into the trenches here and made it back safe like you said.” Sergeant Martin seemed relieved “well I’m glad you made it back son.. We’ll send you to the rear to get a doctor to look at your head. In the meantime I’m going to bitch at whoever was on sentry duty. Pack your things and leave your rifle with Graff.” With that Sergeant Martin stepped out and the trio of soldiers were left alone. “Right” Graff said as he sat down on a crate. “You best get changed and shave, those nurses will be expecting a handsome young man to look after.” Gunther then smiled again and turned and collected what little belongings he had in a small sack and took off his coat and hat and sat them on the cot. While he was doing so Thomas’ face turned to horror and as did Graff’s when they saw dried blood on the back of his head. “Gunther, are you sure you’re feeling alright?” Thomas asked. Gunther then finished shaving rather quickly and turned around to reveal a massive bullet lodged within his forehead. “I’m better than ever gentlemen. Not only did I dodge a bullet yesterday but I managed to get out of the trenches for a time too. This is one of the best days of my life.. Now how do I look?” Graff and Thomas gave each other a look of absolute shock before Graff stood up and took Gunther’s hat and put it squarely on his head. “You look like one lucky soldier”. He said.