Chapter 1
The moon was full and painted the planes in its ivory rays and illuminated the runway. All was quiet for now, a few pilots wandered back to their quarters but Juniper still hung out at the entrance to her quarters the last of her rationed cigarettes hanging from her mouth. She sighed and looked up at the white glowing orb in the sky they would be leaving here tomorrow and who knows how many would return. She ran a hand over her pixie hair, she wasn’t used to the length yet. “You not sleeping yet lad?” one of her fellow pilots asked making her jump, she turned on her heel and faced him.
“No my mind’s still racing,” she said and took another drag.
“Happens to the best of us, we were thrown into this war quite suddenly and most of us haven’t even started our lives yet,” he reminded her and sat down next to her.
“It’s the younger ones we’re losing,” she replied. He grunted in agreement.
“Too many,” he said, “what brought you to the war, why did you want to fight?” She sighed and looked at him.
“Just like many I wanted to defend my country and do my bit...” she paused, “I...I wanted to make my family proud since one son couldn’t fight, he is far too sick and well...” she paused again gathering her breath, “here I am.” The cigarette shook in her gloved hands and tried to steady herself.
“I can see you have a lot going on, I won’t ask you again,” he said and slapped her on the back. The temperature began to drop, both pilots shivered and they were driven back to their quarters. She made sure her door was locked before she got unchanged and settled down for the night she only had a few hours left before she had to be up. Before she knew it sunlight pooled into her quarters through the thin curtains, she whined as turned over and stretched. She threw her legs over the bed and got ready for the day, it was raining when she reached the taxiway.
Most of the planes had already been started up, the whirlwind of propellers and cacophonies of engines was deafening even with her helmet and goggles on. Her groundcrew eagerly awaited her presence. “Late today aren’t we lad,” one of them said.
“Long night,” she answered quickly and climbed into her familiar cockpit She began her checks being thorough making sure everything looked good and was prepared for the long journey ahead. She waited for her turn to taxi out onto the runway, she didn’t have to wait long after removing the break she rolled out, and she was on the runway in no time. She joined her comrades and their long journey to the front line began, the roar of the engines was enough to intimidate and scare the enemy. The rain tapped against the glass of her canopy it was soothing to her and often calmed her on long flights such as these.
