Luke Duke snapped out of his trance. An older man with a graybeard, overalls and a red cap came up to him.
Jesse and Luke drove back to the Duke farm, which had been in the same place well before the U.S. was a country. Luke had taken his cap off. Jesse made fun of him half way to the farm because he was practically bald. Luke had had some hair back in 1968 when he left. After all it was the 1960s.
It was late when they got back to the farm. Daisy slept soundly on the couch. Bo sat the kitchen table drinking coffee as a means of desperately trying to stay awake.
It was hard on Bo when Luke left for Vietnam. Luke was like and older brother to him. Even though they were four years apart the boys had always been close.
They headed off toward the room they shared.
Luke put his bags at the foot of his bed. He would deal with them later.
The boys talked late into the rest of the night. Bo was very curious what Luke had been doing. Maybe now his cousin could tell him. Before everything was classified.
That summer night crickets chirped outside. Bo turned the fan on to high speed as the sweated in the humidity. Luke did not mind it that much. Being in the jungle had been much worse.
Bo and Luke lay on the sheets after having kicked all the covers off. His younger cousin drifted off soon after, but Luke lay there for a few minutes until his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He was never going to get over the paranoia of not knowing what was lurking in the darkness. He hoped coming home to his old life would give him peace. He hoped he would be able to just forget the War. Hazzard would always be the same.
Luke woke up rather early the next morning even though really he had not had that much sleep. He put on a pair of jeans and a green flannel shirt. He walked into the kitchen Jesse had make coffee.
Daisy hugged Luke when she finally saw him.
Bo meanwhile enthralled by Luke's military haircut placed his hand on Luke's head.
Everyone rolled their eyes. Daisy kept cooking. Jesse got up to go and check on the
backforty. Bo and Luke decided to drive into town in the other truck.
Luke let Bo drive even though it bothered him that his cousin was that old. Luke
was quiet on that way into town. He stared at the countryside lost in his thoughts.
Luke snapped out of his trance.
Luke walked in to Ruebottom's Store. Not that many people were in there. They did stop and talk to him as we walked around. He did not have to talk to everyone in town since they probably knew by now anyway. Luke felt tense though. He sighed and walked over to the garage. Cooter was not there but Bo was leaning against the car. They headed back to the farm.
Bo sighed.
Luke did not even bother to ask. Bo suddenly turned sharply onto Dakota Lane., really seemed to enjoy this. Rosco missed Bo and continued going right into Dry Creek. Luke just laughed. Bo then started the car and drove home.
That night Luke lay in bed listening to the mixed sounds of crickets, the fan and
Bo's light snoring. He started thinking about Nam again. So many things he wanted to forget but the horror of them all were embedded in his brain. The images stayed. Ten minutes later his eyes drifted shut with the rattling sound of the fan in the background.
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Luke opened his eyes. A helicopter loomed over head. The propellers rotated quickly making Luke dizzy as he watched it. His company spread out in the fields waiting for Charlie. He never did figure out why they called the North Vietnamese that.
Suddenly the helicopter shook crashing to the ground in a ball of fire fifty yards away. Luke froze. There was nowhere to run. Gunfire rapidly grew nearer and heavier.
Silence. It began again quickly and louder. Luke tried looking around, but he couldn’t see anything. He crawled over to his right. A bomb exploded where he had been. He moved faster. This time when he looked up after helicopter loomed over. The men were yelling. Their voices drowned out by the noise. Luke jumped up and ran. Grenades exploded all around him and bullets flew past his head. He jumped behind a rock trying to get his breath back but he left it back with his mind and heart back where he had been.
Slowly he looked over to his right. There was a man. Or rather what was left of him. Luke stared horrified. The young man had lost a leg and most of his face. Blood flowed in every direction.
Luke gasped for breath. He held his helmet and sunk down. Fear took over his body. He could not move. A whistle came through the air. It exploded next him. The man was gone.
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Luke awoke shaking with his heart was in his throat. He could feel a few warm tears tumble down his cheeks. The sheets were wet. He rose heading to the kitchen. He got a glass and tried to fill it with water.
His hands and now his legs shook uncontrollably. He tried again to grip the half-filled cup tightly so he would not drop it. It did not help him feel any better. He set the glass down on the table as he sat. It was 3am. He could not sleep now even if he wanted to. He returned to the room, careful not to wake Bo. He dressed in his usual outfit of jeans and a shirt. He returned to the kitchen make some coffee.
Jesse awoke around 6:30 and surprised to see his nephew up.
They laughed as Bo and Daisy came in the room.
Bo made a face. He sat down at the table across from Luke.
The boys decided to go to the Boar's Nest after they fixed the fence. Daisy decided to make several pies before work. Jesse went into town to get some oats for the horses.
On the way to the Boar's Nest the images started coming back. Luke tried to shake them off but it was easier when he was making himself busy. Bo noticed something different about Luke. He was not as outgoing and talkative, as he was when he left. Bo just shook it off. Inside his cousin was still there. After six years it did not matter to him. He was 14 went Luke left. He expected change, but not this. The boys walked into the bar and greeted everyone. Cooter sat with them.
As they talked, Luke heard the distant sound of machine gun fired. Bo waved his hand in front of his cousin. Luke had gone into a trance. Luke waved it off saying it was cause of lack of sleep. But the sounds kept coming. Luke felt like he was losing his mind
He prayed that his younger cousin would remain as innocent as he was right now. He slowly rubbed his forehead. He barely noticed the stale beer and peanuts.
On the way home the images returned. Bo sat in the car in silence. He wished he knew what was wrong, but was afraid to ask. He spotted Jesse feeding the chickens and went to talk to him.
Bo was quiet. What his uncle meant was to let it ride. Luke would be fine. Bo could
not wait, patience never came easy for him. He did not want to think of what Luke saw over there.
That night Luke fell asleep right away. He went to bed earlier figuring he could
catch up on the last few nights. He dreamed the horror again.
************************************************************************************************************************************************************ They lay behind the top of a slight hill. Guns and grenades exploded everywhere. Dawn broke as the fighting continued. Luke lay silent. He could hear the screams of wounded men. He could not hear himself think over all the noise. His friend beside him reloaded his gun. As he looked to say something to him a grenade exploded. Luke stared in horror. Blood flowed where his left leg had been. He could make out him calling for him. Luke slowly inched over pulling his friend out of fire. Bombs continued exploding as men screamed in pain. ***************************************************************************************************************************
Luke fought back the tears. He couldn’t be bare and fearless anymore. It hurt too much having friends die and you can’t help them.
Luke became more and more withdrawn over the next few weeks. Daisy and Jesse noticed it now. The fear got the best of him and Jesse finally urged him to go to the doctor. Fortunately, Doc. Matthews still made house calls. He passed on the Jesse what that he figured Luke was suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder.
The Dukes sat around talking. The wanted to take care of Luke without being a burden to him. Luke felt more miserable then ever though he fought ever image and every sound with determination. He blasted music as he chopped wood giving Jesse the headache.
The boys were sitting on chairs out on the front porch. Bo drank lemonade. He looked over at his cousin. Luke passed out from the day’s trials. The only he lost control was in his dreams. Luke muttered to himself as sweat ran down his face. Bo slowly turned his attention to his cousin. He slowly set the drink down and approached him.
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Luke stood in the jungle alone. Silence filled his mind and the area around him. Sometimes off in the distance he could hear a faint booming. Luke continued forward in his search for snipers. He felts eyes watching him. Luke heard the bullet as sound as it was fired. Slowly he turned as it slowly headed toward him. He leaped to his right as the bullet raced by followed by more.
He tried to gasp for air as a grenade went off beside him. The explosions started getting louder and louder. Luke ran. He felt the bullets fly by his neck but he couldn’t move his legs any faster. He ran into a trap. Ahead of him was a young man his own age with a gun. Luke's head throbbed. He was wheezing. The man aimed but Luke fired first.......
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Luke looked pale and scared.
Luke pushed him away.
Daisy appeared at the screen door. She came out to see her panicked cousin. She Tried to wiped Luke's horror stricken face with the cloth she was holding. Luke fought them both.
Daisy looked at Bo through growing tears.
He grabbed his cousin and held him down though Luke did his best to make this difficult.
She tried to touch his face, but he managed to slap her across the face. She only stood there holding her face stunned. He struggled some more as Bo continued wrestling him to the ground. Finally he looked up at Daisy with tears forming her eyes.
Bo looked at his cousin. Daisy bowed her head.
A snob came up through his throat. He could barely breathe. Daisy wiped the tears off his face. Everything Luke held back rushed out. His cousins held him reassuring him he wasn’t alone.
Daisy wiped the last tears out of his eyes. It was over. Luke was free.
