Man at War – Excerpt No. 249

As expected, the Second Lieutenant ran into him hard, forcing him to take a few steps forward while narrowly avoiding Lavoie. The reaction was purposeful, but he made it look genuine.

“Apologies,” the Lieutenant said when Marc turned around.

“I was being careless,” Marc countered. “Do you have a name?”

“Name?” the Lieutenant asked.

“I’ll have Murphy add it to the program as a guest.”

While Marc smiled, hers faded. The idea of a nurse walking through the trenches of the Western Front would have been akin to a convict being escorted to the gallows. They’d eat her alive…

“Clara,” she said. “Clara Grey.”

“A beautiful name,” Marc said. “Very fitting considering those eyes.”

Highly detailed cinematic scene inside a dimly lit canvas ward tent at a British Casualty Clearing Station during the Great War in 1915. A distinguished British Colonel named Marc is backing away through a narrow aisle between cots and has just collided with the young Canadian Bluebird nurse Lieutenant Clara Grey. The purposeful collision forces him to take a few steps forward while narrowly avoiding the bandaged Private Lavoie in his cot. The Colonel turns slightly toward her with a charming, aristocratic smile as he apologizes and asks for her name. Clara Grey, a beautiful brunette with striking steel-grey eyes, looks momentarily startled, her previous mischievous grin fading into quiet surprise and subtle wariness. She still holds the stainless-steel pitcher in one hand. Soft moody lamplight casts dramatic shadows across the narrow aisle, highlighting the intimate proximity of the Colonel and the nurse. In the background, the sedated Private Lavoie lies heavily bandaged in his cot with a sedative vial nearby, other wounded soldiers resting in rows of cots, medical equipment, and the canvas tent walls. Historical accuracy for 1915 with subtle supernatural tension and tension in the accidental collision, realistic yet slightly stylized, strong emotional focus on the moment the Colonel backs into Clara Grey in the tight ward aisle.

Disclaimer: This novel is an work in progress and readers may encounter grammatical errors and inconsistencies. Please view this a draft and not a published work.