| Lyrics |
Nude's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Thepostman muttered something about wishing he could go tooand handed over a yellow envelope. It was a command long overdue that called for healthy,young men.
In reply to your request,please find...I hereby protest.
To the ways and means you useyou know...I cannot refuse.
So I'll take this vowof Loyalty.
Fight for the right,
You have said,
To be free.
When this time has run its course,I must...
Live without remorse.
For the deeds I'm bound to do,I know...it's all the same to you.
But I won't forgetthe memory...
Taking a life,for a life...to be free.
Nude's life revolved around orders. He found himself pushedand pulled onto a crowded deck of uniformed figures whoshared the same expressionless faces. Loved ones stoodanxiously on the pier as the transport faded into separating mist.
Water and night seemed one. Nude was going to war...
Thunder cracked. Ramps hit the beach and countless bootsassaulted the shore. His heart punding, Nude stumbledheadlong into the undergrowth in a desperate search forrefuge. Sheets of rain drenched the sunless forest as the skiesopened raging down on the tiny island. Panic-stricken, Nudestaggered forward and fell unconscious. Raindrops spattered from the trees onto Nude's face.
Startled and confused, Nude listened in the humid silence; hewas alone and had no idea where he was. Worst of all, he didn'tknow what had become of his Regiment. The setting sin left Nude with the growing darkness of hisfears. He made camp and slept with dreams of a dawn rescue,unaware that his Unit had already left the island. In wartime, oneless soldier is hardly noticeable.
Seasons turned with time. Nude had given up the search for his
Unit but continued to move through the jungle, bayonet poised,as if a thousand eyes were upon him. Home was a cave in ahidden lagoon with abundant vegetation and fresh springs. Thehighest point of the island provided shelter from annualmonsoon floods and sanctuary for his soul. His military duties consisted of a monthly visit to themountain top whereupon he ceremoniously croaked thenational anthem and fired one precious bullet into the air. In the loneliness he endured, Nude found an inner strengththat flowed with the rhythm of instinct.
|