At Gettysburg, Ralph lost a piece of himself. The only place he’ll look for it is at the bottom of a bottle. Just as the traumatized soldier sinks to his lowest, Ralph is faced with a choice – rejoin the fight or watch his cousin be gunned down.
Download this short story by Ryan Gray – Ralph’s War
Published in Frontier Tales Magazine & Winner of the Month’s Favorite Short Story – August 2019 – Issue #119
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Ryan’s inspiration for storytelling is to inspire men to live life with honor and fight for what’s right – to become better men, fathers, and husbands; his life’s passion is mentoring men and training others to do the same.
Story Excerpt:
Ralph stared. The words stung worse than a bullwhip on a wet back. “Why are you saying this, Bill?” Ralph managed. Bill exhaled and looked down at his feet, “Cause, I just want my friend back. But, don’t rightly think he ever come back from the war.” Like a youngster avoiding a whoopin, Ralph avoided eye contact by looking the opposite way, but was open enough to hear what his cuz had to say, “What do you mean by that?”
“Don’t know, really, ‘cept maybe you never left the war, cause you’re afraid to fight the next one. Fact is, we all gotta fight one war after another. You might think your problems come from failing at the “Charge” or maybe you think your battles with the bottle. Fact is, the greatest war there is, is in here.” Bill thumbed his chest with his fist and looked his pal in the eyes…”.