Newcomer: Day 5

Word Count: 30,011

Summary of Events:

During his early morning prayer time, which he did in an unoccupied tent so he could light a candle and not fear he was disturbing anyone's sleep, Miķelis heard a noise he determined to be coming from his tent, and saw a figure in the shadows. He and the person got into a scuffle, which was joined by Kristiāns — who was roused by his cot getting bumped as Miķelis and the person struggled — before a night guard arrived and broke it up, revealing the person Miķelis had been struggling with was Genādijs, who had been trying to stain Kristiāns' uniform with ink. All three of them were accused of being childish and immature, and were punished separately, with Miķelis' punishment being to clean and shine all of the boots belonging to the officers of the camp, which he managed to get through before curfew, despite being able to tell that some of the officers had deliberately made their boots extra dirty, which impressed the officer supervising him…

Excerpt of the Day:

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man get through this many boots in a full evening,” the officer said. “Or even less. And especially considering how filthy these all were. You’d never know it now.”

“Shall I clean yours now, sir?” Miķelis asked.

“Mine?” the officer asked.

“Yes sir,” Miķelis replied. “I was instructed to clean the boots of the officers, and you are, in fact, an officer, sir, thus I ought to, in order for the task to be completed. Oughtn’t I?”

“Well, I mean, I guess, it isn’t as if you have to rush back to your tent for curfew, but… well… it isn’t required,” the officer replied, seeming quite bemused.

Kneeling down before the officer, Miķelis set to work, quickly cleaning what little there was on the boots to be cleaned off before polishing them and shining them so they looked as fresh and new as every other pair in the tent.

“You know,” the officer said. “I really don’t know why they punished you in the first place. You have one of the most pleasant dispositions I’ve encountered in supervising punishments. Surely you can’t have done anything egregiously wrong.”

“Well, I behaved childishly and unbecomingly of a soldier,” Miķelis replied, citing the reason which had been stated several times throughout the day.

“However in the world did they come up with that?” the officer asked. “As much as I don’t recall having seen you around here much, you certainly have seemed nothing short of mature and an excellent example of the soldierly ideal.”

“Thank you, sir,” Miķelis said. “I appreciate your favourable review.”

“How long have you been here?” the officer asked.

“Only just over a fortnight, sir,” Miķelis replied.

“Seriously?” the officer asked.

“Yes sir,” Miķelis replied.

“And how directly did you come?” the officer asked.

“My birthday is the seventeenth of the tenth, sir,” Miķelis replied.

“Then you came directly,” the officer said. “Usually the recruits we’re punishing are the ones who have to be sent a letter of order, or even dragged here practically kicking and screaming. The volunteers almost never cause trouble, and certainly never something so petty as childishness. Those who volunteer to the service of their country are almost always the brightest and most shining examples of all that embodies this realm, and, to be honest with you, I think you are one of the best I’ve seen in my years.”

“You’re too kind, sir,” Miķelis said, lowering his head.

“I really am at a loss as to why they would’ve punished you,” the officer said. “But I can say without a doubt that you have served your punishment, and you have served it far and away better than any other soldier whose punishment I, at least, have supervised.”

Miķelis didn’t know what to say, so he just nodded, keeping his head down deferentially.

“You are dismissed, soldier,” the officer said. “A good night to you, and thank you.”

“Good night to you, sir,” Miķelis said, leaning forward in a small bow before saluting the officer and heading back to his tent.