*beep* *beep* *beep*

The alarm caused a boy of no more than 14 to wake up. Groaning, he lazily turned off the alarm and stayed in bed for another 10 minute until a voice came "OI BOY, BRING YOUR LAZY ASS DOWN HERE I GOT SOMETHING TO TELL YOU". The voice of his father brought him out of bed he quickly did his morning hygiene and hand combed his black hair which got even more messy.

After arriving in the kitchen he saw his a women with silky black hair and black eyes, who was his mother, cooking breakfast as she always did in the morning and his father, a tall muscular man with short black hair and brown eyes in his military suit drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. Both of them were good looking and naturally as their child the boy had inherited their genes. His mother black hair and eyes and his father's body frame which made him physically better than others his age as he was nearing 170cm in his height and a lean muscular figure.

The boy looked at his father and announced his presence.

"You called for me , father?"

"Yes sit down, Simon."

The boy now identified as Simon didn't waste a second to do as he was told because he knew better than to make his military father repeat something twice. He had seen how his father had trained the military recruits when he was forcibly taken to a camp by his father and the punishments were thoroughly imprinted in his brain. Which according to his father would help him get into the military in the future and serve his country for the greater good.

The boy sitting in front of his father was visibly tensed as his father read about the ongoing civil war and the President Abraham Lincoln's take on it. The awkward silence was broken by his mother.

"Let's eat out breakfast boys" his mother after cooking breakfast brought it to them.

The family ate their breakfast as his mother asked his father some questions about the war.

The boy was very curious as to why he had to be called especially by his father in the morning but still waited for his father to tell him as his father didn't like to be asked of his intentions. Some military habit his father mist probably picked up was what Simon thought of it.

Finally after finishing breakfast his father turned to him and said."The war has been going on for almost a year now. We were getting short of people so I put your name in the volunteer list to help the soldiers in minimal tasks." His father finally dropped the truth on him like it was the most normal thing to register his only son in military with a war going on.

Simon shocked that his father was taking him close to the battlefield looked at his mother only to see her quiet and not questioning his father's decision.

The American Civil War which started in 1861 and had been going on for almost a year was a well known topic for a military family. And one thing that Simon was sure of was that he wanted to stay away as far as possible from it due to his father telling him about how those savages killed the good brave soldiers who only wanted peace.

"You can't do that, plus I am only 14 and you're sending me to a battlefield." Simon retaliated forgetting about all the reasons why he should keep quiet and only agree to his father he saw when a private in training decided to question Simon's presence in the training camp. The poor guy was sent to run 10 laps of the 5 mile track and was ordered to sleep outside his cabin for a week for questioning his superior.

His father's eyes narrowed on him dangerously but before he could say anything his mother grabbed his father's hand and spoke, " do as your father says and he's not sending you to the battlefield you'll be away from all the fighting at worst you would be at the army camp to help soldiers."

"That's right. You'll be fine it's not much of problem seeing how you always laze around." his father said leaving little to no room for argument.

Feeling betrayed at his mother, even though he knew she just saved him a punishment, and anger at his father he helplessly mumbled "fine." After all what else could he do his only ticket out, his mother, wasn't supporting him and he knew there was no way to change his father's mind.

"Be ready tomorrow morning we will leaving early ." came his father's voice as he was retreating back into his room.