“Hello Chalky ‘me old china’.” Tomas never tired of his Polish granddad’s attempt at a Cockney accent, even after all the years he’d lived in London, he’d never quite mastered it. Granddad’s voice wavered as he spoke to the headstone, “I’ve come to say it won’t be long now, I’m nearly done here.” Tomas saw a tear in his grey eyes. “It’s all changed Chalky, you were lucky to leave when you did. You wouldn’t like it now.” He looked up at Tomas. “Life can be cruel lad.” He prodded his stick into the long grass growing on the grave. “Here lies a great man.” Granddad steadied himself, lifted his stick and shook it at the sky. “He could do things with a Spitfire you wouldn’t believe.” He chuckled, “The Luftwaffe couldn’t get him, it was the smokes that did him in the end.” He placed a hand on the stone. “I miss our evenings down The Crown Chalky,” and then to himself, “there’s only me left, I’m the last.” Tomas reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a handkerchief and placed it in his shaking hand.

“Were you scared, you know, in the war?”

The old man looked up and straightened. “Most of the time lad. Oh, we made jokes about it, but we were all scared.” He paused and looked into the distance as if seeing the airfield once more. “We weren’t afraid of dying… no, we were afraid of spending the rest of our lives crippled, or badly burnt.” He grimaced. “Those 20mm shells could do horrible things to a young man’s body.” He looked up into the clouds and then laughed. “But do you know what we feared most?” Tomas shook his head. “Losing the man in the middle, you know, the old chuj… down there.” Tomas flinched as the stick nearly found its target and laughed with him. Granddad continued, “We were just eighteen, nineteen back then, most of us virgins.” He exaggerated a wink, “Then I met your Grandma.” He stopped and whispered, “God bless her.”

Tomas shivered as a sudden gust blew through the churchyard. He suddenly remembered his mother’s words and glanced down at his watch. “Oh shit! Come on, we’ll be in trouble if we don’t get back to help mum.”

The sun broke through as Tomas turned, and out of the corner of his eye, saw a face. It was gone in a second. “Are you alright?” Tomas felt Granddad’s hand on his arm.

“Err, I think so… just felt a bit faint.”