For Love of Country- Assignment

The assignment was to take one photo and write three stories from it  a narrative, a news story and a creative piece. The catch is, somehow it all has to revolve around the theme "Explosion" in some way.
Here is my photo

For Love of Country

Here is my narrative piece :) Its corney.. I know.

For Love of Country

I tried to remember what life was like before the war.

Was anyone really alive before this?

Before the war everyone minded their own lives, the only thing the neighborhood seemed to do together was tune into Hymen Brown’s “Radio Mystery Theatre” at seven o’clock. Dials turning over in sync, that was our idea of community. But now there’s this.

Every girl is everybody’s daughter, every boy is everyone’s son. Ma and Aunt Nessa work downtown at the seams factory for hours sowing uniforms. Ma tells me she prays over each stitch, praying safety over our boys. If Pa was still here he’d be so proud of how his wife is taken up after him. Joining in the fight. 

Ma didn’t want me to but I started working in the steel mill down on Dale Hollow. Mostly it’s just fixin in nuts and bolts in the factory line, but I know the boys need me to help piece together the arms that will fight for our freedom. I wanna be like Mama and pray over each bolt and screw, but halfway through my shift my hands are aching so badly it’s easy to forget. Don’t think I’m complaining neither, I love the dull ache I get from a full days work. It might not be blood, but I know I’m giving something of myself for this land.

We all are.

Flags hang from every window sill like the houses were designed that way. When those bombs went off in Pearl Harbor an explosion shook our entire country. Red shot out like fire, blue like sparks and dust, and white like smoke. 

We were bombed as well. We fell victim with our brothers, with our fathers, with our sons. When the smoke cleared we simply stood.

United by stars.

Bound together by stripes.