Joined: 30 Aug 2011 Posts: 94 Location: North Africa
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:10 am Post subject: A Friendly Match
What did anyone know about the game anyways? All these "allies" of his saw was just a young kid wearing a uniform trying to be a man, not someone who used to have great potential. The only thing that mattered to his fellow comrades was escaping this POW camp and getting back to the German lines.
Thomas Hartmann was grateful to be out of the war. Never again did Thomas want to worry himself sick over the thought of being wounded in battle again. Still, Thomas worried that the British or Americans here would seize any opportunity to torture him, as the older soldiers insisted would happen to him because he was so young, therefore an easy target.
All Thomas wanted to concern himself with was this ball in his hands. This ball was home; a part of his former life that Thomas never wanted to abandon.
"Ich mag gerne Fußball," said Thomas with a smile. He bounced the ball off the top of his leg before tapping it higher with the side of his foot.
For a few joyful minutes, Thomas amused himself with juggling the ball but then the excitement got to be too much for him and on the dirt the ball went. Thomas gave it a sharp kick. Oh to feel that energy again! Thomas watched with delight as the ball sailed on its course.
Then his smile faltered. The ball was heading straight for an English sergeant!
~
Joined: 29 Aug 2011 Posts: 57 Location: North Africa
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:26 am Post subject:
He had been absentmindedly watching the activity around him. The goings on were pretty usual. The thing that surprised him was the ball coming at him.
Jack Moffitt stopped it with the toe of his boot and glanced around for its owner. It didn't take him long to spot the POW and after giving him a grin, he gave the ball a return kick.
He hoped that his aim was correct. Who cared if he was playing with him? Things were a bit boring right now anyway. _________________ "Shall we spread a little alarm and despondency?" ~S2:E9
Joined: 30 Aug 2011 Posts: 94 Location: North Africa
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:34 am Post subject:
The moment the ball came at the sergeant, Thomas held his breath. Though he had never personally crossed with one of the guards, the stories he kept hearing made him quite uneasy. After all, any German in uniform was seen as a Nazi and some sort of evil killer. But what were the British to them?
Thomas didn't rightly know what exactly Hitler would want him to think, but all he saw in the English was a future opponent to beat in the World Cup. That had always been his goal. But now, striking a physical goal against an Englander might end his career permantely if the soldier was as nasty as he had been warned.
When Moffitt kicked the ball back to him, Thomas's surprise was evident on his face. Was this just a one-time, free-pass? Or was this a friendly invitation?
With hope rising in him, Thomas risked brought the ball closer to the sergeant, then kicked it back at him. Though Thomas offered Moffitt a friendly, disalarming smile, it weakened in anxiety.
~
Joined: 29 Aug 2011 Posts: 57 Location: North Africa
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:50 am Post subject:
Jack had never been one for sports. Sure he knew how to play them and did it for the fun of it, but it had never been a big deal. If there was nothing to do then kicking around a ball was a good way to pass time.
The look from Thomas's face worried him at first. He certainly hadn't meant to surprise him, although he should have expected it. Jack didn't know anyone who would willingly play football against the other side. It wasn't considered proper.
Jack gave him a reassuring smile and again returned it. He then stood there waiting to see what would happen next. _________________ "Shall we spread a little alarm and despondency?" ~S2:E9
Joined: 30 Aug 2011 Posts: 94 Location: North Africa
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 12:20 pm Post subject:
When the ball came back to him accompanied with a friendly smile, Thomas felt himself relax. Eagerly he brought the ball closer to Moffitt, curious to know if the man was interested in an actual game. It had been too long since Thomas had been able to practice with anyone!
"Hallo..." Thomas greeted slowly as he came to a stop. "Herr Ser-geant..."
His English was quite shaky as though he had very little confidence in speaking it. Thomas was determined though and tried to recall everything that Hauptmann Dietrich had taught him whilst he was still part of that unit.
"Sorry I kick you ball," said Thomas. He knew those words didn't sound right, but an apology was needed. Thomas didn't want to lose the one chance he had at possibly finding common ground with someone. He didn't care if the man was English or not. A footballer was a footballer! Taking a deep breath, Thomas continued bravely, "I not play football in long time but I always keep ball here with me, not kick it far. I am sorry. Tut mir so leid."
Then he inhaled and said with the uttmost of confidence and a smile to match, "I love football. Do you like football?"
~
Joined: 29 Aug 2011 Posts: 57 Location: North Africa
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 5:26 pm Post subject:
Jack was relieved that everything seemed to be alright. He returned the hello with one of his own.
The English threw him off for a moment, since he wasn't expecting the man to know so much. Or from the sound of it, be so nervous.
"No need to be sorry. It was an accident" Jack said.
When Thomas asked if he liked the game, he smiled again. This man sounded like he needed to do something with somebody just as much as he did. Jack's German was a bit rusty, but he decided to try it out anyway. "Ich mag Fußball einige." _________________ "Shall we spread a little alarm and despondency?" ~S2:E9
Joined: 30 Aug 2011 Posts: 94 Location: North Africa
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 6:15 am Post subject:
Relieved at the English sergeant's kindness, Thomas felt confident to try and speak more to him. When he heard the German his smile grew.
"Wirklich? Spitze!" He continued in German, "I haven't been able to play a proper match since the war started. Our coach was called into service and my home club just simply vanished."
Thomas frowned sadly as he remembered the Bayern matches that he would attend whilst in Munich. He hadn't even realised that a majority of the players and even the owners were Jewish. The thought hadn't even occured to him that religion should matter. Any true football fan knew that the only thing worth caring about was how well the home team performed.
"Mutti always said that I would one day play for our club and I really want to. If only this hadn't happened..." Thomas sighed and kicked the ball lightly towards Moffitt. His eyes and voice were hopeful as he asked, "Would you like to have a go? Nobody here wants to kick the ball around but it's the only thing that's keeping me from missing my mum and well, everything that made life fun."
~ _________________ Characters: Hauptmann Dietrich, Pvt Thomas Hartmann, Hauptsturmführer Erich Wiesenland, Hauptmann Arnulf Rosenthal, and Rudy the lizard.
Sam Troy leaned nonchalantly against the partially crumbing wall of the burnt out building, as he watched his second command chat with a young POW, who held a soccer ball in his hands. He took a drag on the cigarette he held between his fingers and then dropped the butt on the ground that had been hard packed by uncounted tires, crushing it beneath the heel of his boot. He chuckled to himself, he never would understand the fascination with the game commonly known to Americans as soccer, but Europeans called football. He far more enjoyed the down and dirty rough and tumble American style football. He sighed and scanned the area for the two other men under his command and saw neither Tully or Hitch in the general area. More than likely Hitch was scoping out the local beauty, while Tully busied himself with one of the Jeeps that had been giving them problems. He rubbed his eyes tiredly god knew they needed the down time.
Joined: 29 Aug 2011 Posts: 57 Location: North Africa
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 1:24 am Post subject:
Jack's face showed a look of confusion when the other man said the team had vanished. He shook it off and said thoughtfully "Maybe when this is all over you still can. Think of this war as a detour."
When Thomas said that he missed his mother, he could understand. He missed his own family more than anything and often had homesickness, although he'd never admit it aloud.
He stopped the ball and looked at it thoughtfully. "Why not?" Jack replied, gently passing the ball from foot to foot a few times. That was about as fancy as he got. "Shall we just pass or have a short match?" _________________ "Shall we spread a little alarm and despondency?" ~S2:E9
Troy watched the two men for a moment as they passed the ball back and forth the young German soldier moving easily to intercept Moffett's passes to him. The two of the seeming oblivious to the barbed wire, watch towers and armed guards, for a moment caught up in a world of simplicity where there was no war or death, and they were not soldiers meant to be enemies, but merely opponents in a friendly game. Sighing Troy shifted his back against the warm stone, he desperately wanted those peaceful times back again, when he and his younger brother would play ball in the back lot long after dark, much to the frustration of their morther. He tried not to think of home too much anymore, it almost seemed to be simply a memory of another life where wondering what was for dinner was the most important thing a boy had to worry about
Joined: 30 Aug 2011 Posts: 94 Location: North Africa
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 10:40 am Post subject:
"I don't know," replied Thomas in German still as he stopped the ball and made a quick move around Moffitt before kicking it back at him. "Who knows how long this war is going to go on. Mother tried to keep me from going into the military, but it was doomed to fail. She..."
Thomas shook his head and snatched the ball from Moffitt. "I just don't know what the world will be like after the world. If we win, I don't think football will ever be the same. If we lose, will anyone ever want to be friends with us again?"
When Moffitt offered to continue playing, whether it be just passing or a friendly match, the despair in Thomas's eyes lifted. For a moment he would find himself engaged in the sport he loved, uncaring about anything in the world but that match.
"How about a friendly match? It doesn't have to be anything big. We could have a few players, two on two maybe?" He looked over at Sergeant Troy and asked, "Can he play?"
For Thomas, this was more like a school yard match than anything and naturally Thomas wanted to assume that everyone not only knew how to play football but also loved it. His nationality and the war did not matter. Football was what he lived and breathed. Smirking, Thomas kicked the ball over to Troy, eager for a response.
~ _________________ Characters: Hauptmann Dietrich, Pvt Thomas Hartmann, Hauptsturmführer Erich Wiesenland, Hauptmann Arnulf Rosenthal, and Rudy the lizard.
Troy quirked an eyebrow in the duo's direction as the ball rolled toward him, not a man to back down from any challenge he stepped forward and awkwardly struck the ball with the instep of his right foot. It was not the best shot but at least he made contact with the sphere and sent it back in the direction of its origin.
Trotting after the ball he wondered what the hell he was getting himself into, after all unlike Moffett and the young German he had never played the game and had a bare working knowledge of the game only through observation, and Moffett's attempts to enlighten him, one of these days he would have to involve the tall Englishman in a game of American football.
Joined: 29 Aug 2011 Posts: 57 Location: North Africa
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 4:44 pm Post subject:
"Nobody knows what it'll be like after the war. I highly doubt it will be exactly the same" Jack pointed out with a sigh. "Though, we can dream" he thought and then kicked the ball around a few times before Thomas got a hold of it again.
"Two on two sounds good, but who else would play?" Jack blinked when he asked if Troy knew football. "Him? Not at all. He just barely knows the game" he chuckled. "I've tried explaining it."
He watched the ball rolled over to Troy and then back over to them. Jack flashed him a grin and was curious as to how this would go. _________________ "Shall we spread a little alarm and despondency?" ~S2:E9
Troy swiped a sleeved forearm across his forehead, mopping up rivlets of sweat that ran down his face, he was beginning to understand the saying about maddogs and Englishmen coming out in the noon day sun, signaling for a time out he stripped the khaki colored shirt off drapping over a low stone wall, and then nodded that he was once again ready.
Joined: 30 Aug 2011 Posts: 94 Location: North Africa
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 10:16 pm Post subject:
Thomas easily stopped the ball that Troy had passed to him and dribbled it around Moffitt a little, his eyes becoming more alert with each step. When Moffitt agreed to the two-on-two, his joy was complete. His youth had returned and he kicked the ball once more at Troy, who may or may not have been expecting it.
"Spitze!" Thomas exclaimed happily. "I know of someone who can play with us. He's friendly but can't really play. That should level the field, no?"
He looked over at Troy and greeted in English, "Hallo. Thank you for playing football with us. It honours me." He then looked to Moffitt and shook his head in shame, "Where are my politeness? I am Thomas."
After the greetings, Thomas hurried away to go find the other person he had mentioned, leaving the two sergeants to talk for a moment.
~ _________________ Characters: Hauptmann Dietrich, Pvt Thomas Hartmann, Hauptsturmführer Erich Wiesenland, Hauptmann Arnulf Rosenthal, and Rudy the lizard.
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