I was in the shower this afternoon(sorry for the mental picture) and the idea for this story popped into my head. I had to get it out. If you like it, the people to blame for inspiring it are Henry Rollins and my late great great uncle, William Henry Porter. I think it’s too long to be flash, and too short for anything else. I hope you like it.

Disposable Heroes

Todd was staring at the fence posts when the elderly man collided with him. Collided was too strong a word, he just bumped the guy. They both stepped back, taking each other in. Rail thin and weathered, the elder man narrowed his eyes for a second, then nodded. Todd muttered a brief “sorry”, then kept perusing the materials. He was looking for the cheapest, fastest way out of this task. He’d had his fill of outdoor work in the Army, and just wanted to get back to the couch and the Bears game.

“You putting in split rail or wire fencing?” Todd turned around, expecting to brush off some pushy salesman. To his surprise, it was the old man. He was smiling now, exposing teeth yellow with age.

“Repairing, actually. Have two posts that have rotted away.” As he looked the posts over, the man just stood there. Todd wondered if the guy was delusional or lonely. He’d encountered both on trips to the store.

“Make sure there’s creosote on the bottom, that’ll help with the rot. Don’t cement them either, holds the water in and makes them rot faster.” Todd pondered this for a second.

“Never thought about it. Thanks for the tip.” Todd found said posts, put three in his cart. When he was done, the man looked over his lumber approvingly.

“That looks like some good lumber.” Todd noticed the man was wearing an American Legion pin on his shirt.

“Thanks for the help, and for your service.” Todd liked acknowledging other veterans, sometimes all some people needed was that little moment. Surprisingly, the man reached out, grabbed Todd’s hand, and shook it.

“No son, thank you for yours.” With that, he turned around and shuffled down the aisle. Todd watched him go, wondering how he knew. An older woman was waiting at the end, and they both went around the corner.

Todd drove home, and the man faded from his mind. He went home, installed his posts, then slept through most of the Bears game. His life went on, work and home, nothing unusual.

A few weeks later, he arrived home to find a visitor. A woman in her 60’s or so, dressed in an overcoat, with a hint of a suit underneath. She was staring at his door like it was going to bite her.

Todd pulled into his driveway, and still the woman stood staring at his door. He opened his car door, got out and stood next to her. She was still staring.

“Can I help you?”

Todd never figured an older woman could jump like that, let alone scream like that.

“Holy shit, lady! I didn’t mean to startle you.”

She looked at Todd, her eyes so wide Todd thought they’d pop out. Her voice was an awed whisper.

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, no wonder he talked to you.”

“He who? What are you talking about?” It’d been a pretty bad day at work, and crazy was not something he wanted to deal with.

The woman reached in her purse, and Todd tensed, not sure what was happening. Her hand came out with a piece of newspaper, which she handed to Todd. It was an obituary for one Ernie Schledorn. The picture was of a man in Army dress blues, much younger than the sixty-seven years posted in the obituaries. He was familiar looking, but Todd couldn’t place him.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. What does this have to do with me?” Tears were already on the woman’s cheeks, and she spoke very softly, trying to hold back the tears.

“You were so nice to him in the store. You didn’t ignore him. You were polite, not condescending, and kind. It was only a minute, but it was the world to me.”

It clicked for Todd at once. “He was the guy in the lumber yard. Gave me good advice on my fence posts.” She nodded, tears still flowing out of her eyes. Todd looked confused. “I just did what anyone should do, is all.”

“But it was something more, Todd.” She wiped her eyes. “It was so much more.”

Todd felt his irritation growing. “How do you know my name? And why is this such a big deal?”

She smiled. “I looked you up, and how I found you will be clear in a minute. But you must understand. Those were the first words he’d spoken in twenty years.”

Todd’s mouth fell open, then he shut it. “You have to be joking with me. Who set you up for this? Did one of my old army buddies put you up to this?” He looked around. “Where’s the camera?”

“That day was one of the best of my life. I’d missed his voice so much. Twenty years of silence, no one to talk to at night. I was living with a man who was dead in so many ways.”

She pulled out a hanky, wiping down her face. “It was so good. We talked, we laughed, and then just when I had him back, the world took him away. “

Todd didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry for your loss. He seemed nice. I still don’t know what it has to do with me.”

Her laugh was bitter. “This life has taken the two men I loved more anything else in the world from me. I sometimes wonder why, if it was something I did, or if life is just random and cruel.” She smiled for a second. “But then, I had those last few weeks, and think this life is stranger than we ever knew.

“So how did you find me? I still don’t know how your husband knew my name.”

She reached into her purse again, pulling out a manila folder. “I wondered that too, until I found this.”

Todd opened the folder. Inside was some old photocopies of records, and printouts so old they were on dot matrix. To his shock, the photocopies were of his military record. He glanced at the printout, which was of an email from a Private Schledorn to his father, Ernest. All it said was “look what I found!”

Todd was really confused now, and angry at the violation of privacy. “Why did your son have a copy of my military file? Who was he?”

She trembled, forcing her words out. “He was in the records department. It wasn’t what he wanted from the Army, but he wanted money for college. The boy figured he’d spend two years pushing paper. He was on his way home when his transport crashed. When the men came to our door, Ernie greeted them. It was the last words he spoke for two decades.”

“I tried everything. The doctors said there was nothing they could do. The psychiatrists gave up after the first decade. Nothing until you.”

She reached in her purse again, pulled out her wallet and flipped it open. “And this is why he talked to you.”

A photo was there, sealed under plastic. Todd paled, disbelieving. He had to check the details to make sure it wasn’t his old photo from basic graduation. It was like looking into a mirror of his past. He looked up at Mrs. Schledorn, words failing him.

“What the… I can’t even…”

“I wish I had an explanation, sir. I don’t. All I know is that one random chance gave me one last burst of happiness. And for that, I thank you. “She removed the picture from her wallet and handed it to Todd.

“Keep it” she said. “I’ve got so many more in my head. “

With that, she walked to a car across the street, opened the door, and sat down in it. As she started the car, she looked at Todd again, then shook her head at all. All Todd could do was sit down on his stoop with the picture. After a while, he stood and went inside, and went about his life.