"Covenant"
by Crystal Arbogast: Summary
Covenant is about two childhood friends Vince and Eddie that are involved in the D-Day invasion of the beach of Normandy in France. While the two are traveling to the battlefield, they remember their promises that they made to Eddie's sister Tes. Vince, who is in love with Tes, promises to her that he would keep Eddie safe. While Eddie promised his sister that he would keep Vince safe. Upon arrival at the beach Vince and Eddie are just happy to be alive after they see two landing crafts sink a mile off of the shore. Right before Vince and Eddie land, Eddie is reminded of Coney Island where he and Vince frequently skipped classes and hitchhiked to. Just after the two American soldiers land, Eddie is shot below his shoulder and Vince picks him up, takes his gear, and tells him to move toward an opening at the bottom of a nearby cliff. As Eddie was crawling toward the cliff, a British soldier grabs him by the collar and pulls him to safety, where he is joined with other British soldiers. After Eddie is given cover by the British soldiers, he looks out to see a familiar figure whose entire left side was wounded by shrapnel. Even with the figure being badly wounded, Eddie could still tell that it was Vince. Later on after the attack was over, while Eddie's wound was being treated, he was lying in a row of bodies that were dead or wounded. As Eddie was trying to relax after the battle he could not help the fact that the beach looked exactly like Coney Island in the spring. After Eddie was sidetracked by the memory of Coney Island, a soldier carrying the body of his dead comrade reminded him of his promise to keep Vince safe. This was a promise that he could not keep.
Photo from: http://www.arrl.org/news/d-day-special-event-stations-to-be-active