The Reunion

A noise from the cave entrance made him look up. An old man he recognized from Princesa. He walked up to the colonel and held out a cup.

“Coffee for you, Colonel,” said the old man.

The colonel met the old man’s eyes. They seemed to twinkle. The officer took the cup taking a sip.

“You’ve done this before?” asked the colonel.

“Yes, Sir,” answered the old man. “Fifty years ago when I was a boy I hid in these mountains from the Japanese. I guided for the Americans when they landed.”

The colonel waved at the map in front of him. The oil lamp he was using illuminated the map enough so the old man could see.

“Do you have any recommendations for other places we can hide people for a short period?”

The old man moved closer to the map. “I assume more of our people are doing what we did?”

The army officer looked at the map. “Call it an unplanned strategy, but yes, more than I expected. It looks like we have enough soldiers in hiding to create our own army.”

“Don’t forget the people,” said the old man. “We’re hiding, too, and want to go back to our homes. We’ll fight as well, until help arrives.”

The colonel smiled, nodding. There was another sound from the mouth of the cave and a boy appeared. He was carrying a plate of food which he handed to the old man. The old man in turn gave the plate to the soldier. The colonel looked at the food shaking his head.

“I can’t take your food. There’s so little to go around.”

“Nonsense, Colonel,” replied the old man. “There is nothing on this plate we didn’t scavenge from the jungle. Eat well, and then get some rest. The one thing you’ll be short of is sleep. Get some while you can.”

The soldier looked at the old man and the boy. He smiled eating some of the food.