H.E. Mantel

BARBARA, DEAR

Jena? Jena…? Je?…
BeBe?, wha’ is It? I was
aslee… Kin I come

in with you? I’m… Sure,
are you alright? Umm-hmm. I
was woked I didn’t

hear you, by what? A
noise…by my bed…my head hurts
Here, you can have my

pillow, & sshh, we
don’t want to wake mom, ‘k?
Jen, where’s daddy, how

come…? BeBe. But, I
miss him. We all…me too, he’s…
working, remember?

Umm, I think so. Jen?
Yeah? Dad flies in planes, right? Uh-
huh. Sometimes he drives

them Where? Oh, to some
places… Here? No. Jen? BeBe.
Does daddy shoot bombs?

©Copyright January 31, 2009 by H.E. Mantel

Author’s Note: Commissioned for “A Hero’s Journey”, an Anthology about the children of war and the interminable consequences that war has on their lives, compiled and edited by Erik Ekstrom.