Snippet #1460536

Frederick Witterburg squinted his eyes as the sun poured into his bedroom. With a loud yawn and a long strectch he was out of bed and in the shower. Everything seemed normal as he continued through his morning routine of eating breakfast, brushing his teeth, getting dressed and tending to his daily activities.

He sat down on the leather chair in his living and turned on the television just in time to catch the last ten minutes of Just For Laughs Gags*. He enjoyed French humour. One of the few things that made him smile these days. After the last practical joke, Frederick made his way to the door, slipped on his shoes and headed out the front door. Frederick bent over to pick up his newspaper when he realized it was not in its usual spot. "Jason must have forgotten me again," he chuckled. Jason Doroucher was the local paperboy who delivered newspaper in his neighbourhood. Since he was usually in a hurry to get his paper route done so he could get to school on time, he sometimes forgot people.

His neighbours were not outside and none of their cars were parked in the driveways. Odd but his neighbours tended to avoid him anyway. There were many families of Second World War veterans living here who still held some resentment for the German people. Frederick never heard them say so but he could see it in their eyes. Shaking off the thoughts of his neighbours' hatred for him, he focused on his tasks today.

The recruitment center isn't too far from here, I think I'll walk. His thoughts of rejoining the Canadian Forces had finally overwhelmed him. He needed purpose and a reason to live. Without any family to love, the military was his only choice. The military was his family. Frederick began a light walk to the center, enjoying the fresh air as well as he could.




* Just For Laughs Gags is a French-Canadian show from the province of Québec in which they play practical jokes on random pedestrians, usually in which they place the "victim" in an outrageous scenario and they film the entire event as it unfolds. There is no dialog since the people mostly speak French so silly music usually accompanies each "gag". It's very funny.