100 Years Project Anthology

door, Mary locking it behind them.
“Aye Linda, I know, it’s terrible. Terrible. Would fear that they’d
come anywhere near our houses. Lost sleep over it, even.” Danny
could barely hear himself think over the noise of his mother
gossiping with his neighbour, Linda Fitzgerald. Danny glanced at
his father, who must have been thinking the same thing because
the two smirked at each other. John leaned in to Danny’s ear and
whispered, “I wouldn’t mind but she probably only read about them
this morning.” The two barely contained their laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Mary turned around, a puzzled look on her face.
“Nothing, nothing,” chuckled John. He and Danny looked and smiled
at each other. “Come on, we need to hurry up.”
As they came closer to the church, more people were joining
them on their journey. “Danny, hands out of your pockets,” Mary
sniped, slapping Danny’s right arm. “British soldiers, over there.
Look well.” Danny sighed, taking his hands out of his pockets
reluctantly and letting his arms dangle loosely by his sides. He hated
the British soldiers. Nothing but trouble, as his mother would say.
Then suddenly, a loud bang ripped through the air. For a
second, the whole world went quiet. Danny’s head spun, white
flashing in his eyes. All he could hear was a high pitched ringing and
then …
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