The writer gives life to a story, the reader keeps it alive.
Colonel Katherine De Somme has been honoured with a full military funeral. Her parents, although invited, are absent, but her wife, Alexand, stands next to Field Marshal Panak, dressed in her uniform, as Field Marshal Panak presents her with Katherine’s medals. It is an open casket.
The survivors bury their dead, deep in the dirt of the Red Sand Hills of Kekexili. They lost four people, including a very young, Farokh Merek.
Farokh is thirteen and has just lost his father, Eric, to a heart attack. He is angry with his father for dying and longs for a different life, somewhere better than his homeland. He wants to be like his older sister, Alexand. Nothing will convince him that life in the army isn’t the great adventure he dreams about. The mandarin in the second drawing reads, “Beloved Father.” It was placed there by Heyem in his honour. This story is set a few weeks after issue # 9: The Guild Master’s General. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
