Johnny bit his lip and concentrated. It wasn’t easy to hold your breath for long periods of time, lying underneath a blanket. But, the effect Johnny had aimed for was there; he was dizzy and very woozily in the head and was red as a tomato. By a quick glance in the mirror he knew he would be able to convince his mother. The drops of sweat on his face where a stunning bonus to his already very successful performance. Sharp cracks on the flight outside his bedroom told him his mother was approaching. With a quick, little sniff of pepper, which he always kept in a tiny candy box underneath his bed for just an occasion like this, Johnny managed to produce a fairly convincing cough followed a second and a third. The doorknob was twisted, a small ray of light was caught on it through the open curtains and deflected on the monitor of the boy’s computer.
”Morning Jo, why haven’t you come down for breakfast?” Johnny’s mother asked in her sweet ‘hurry up I have to go to the office too’ voice. He hated it when his mother called him Jo, it reminded him of his grandmother every time she used the horrible nickname. And remembering his grandmother was one thing Johnny did not want. But, arguing about a nickname he didn’t like wouldn’t convince his case and damage his performance severely. Thus he remained silent, except for a grunt as deep as he could produce, and waited till his mother was besides him and pulled the blanket from the bed.
”Now come out, get clothed and of to school with you. It is twenty past seven already.”
Johnny quickly analyzed her voice. Sometimes she was having a very bad morning and on these days she dragged him out of his bed regardless of his condition, he thought she would even cloth him and put him on his bike towards school if he would remain dead in it. On another occasion, when she had just watched the news on the television warn all mothers of young children to get a flue shot for their loved ones she ha dragged him to the doctor. He could remain home for the remainder of that day but was it worth the pain and fear of the flue-shot?
This morning, however, she had enough patience. And so he set in motion his excellent show of subterfuge. In fact, he sometimes wondered if he would be able to make a proper living out of it once he had finished his high-school.
”Mum, I don’t feel so well today. I am all hot and such, and my throat is awfully painful.” Johnny’s mother sat herself on the side of his bed and although she wasn’t heavy or anything the mattress did ‘cave in’ at her end. Johnny had to grab on to the blanket and his own side of the mattress in order not to glide of and slide against his mom. She laid one of her cold hands on his forehead and Johnny knew everything was going as planned.
”You are all sweaty. I think you have caught a cold yesterday. I told you so young man...” (It wasn’t nice to be called young man but everything was better then Jo) “
..wear a the new red jumper I bought for you. It is October and getting colder.” Then she smiled at him.
”You'd better keep in bed today I will make you a nice cup of tea.” Victory! he had the urge to shout it out loud but could keep himself in check for the moment. And instead, he uttered a few words of thanks at his compassionate mother.
Once again Johnny had managed to avoid a day at school. He would be alone within half an hour when his mother would go to office (
”I will call you later little Jo and I shall be home in time to make you a nice dinner if you could eat any.” This time the Jo was ok, at least he had a day to look forward to and thus he smiled faintly at her.
”Thanks mum”). And a day at home alone was a day of joy, a day of games behind his computer. And he had dreamed of them all night and thought of them before he slept, which he only did very, very late. The game had grabbed hold of him yesterday. He had pushed the Germans back, broken out of the Normandy beachhead and finally knew D-Day had been a success. No more fear of being shoved back into the sea. No,
‘Onwards to Berlin.’
But, as he thought about the game he had played yesterday and waited till his mother closed the door behind her he recounted the strange event of yesterday. He had ordered his strategic bombers to bomb the factories in the Berlin region and then, all of a sudden he got this weird pop-up message. It read something like
’please don’t bomb us, we didn’t want this war. We don’t want to suffer anymore’.
Johnny had been dumbstruck. Why would they have programmed anything like this into the game. Why on earth would the population of Germany send a message to him, commander in chief of the American (and Allied, he had taken control of them) forces? Johnny had not understood the message and clicked ‘OK’. It had been late at night, actually early in the morning. And thus he had saved the game and shut down the computer, it was probably just the tiredness, nothing more.
As his mother closed the door, started her car and drove of to work, Johnny jumped out of bed, put his hot cup of tea on the desk and turned of the computer. The message was forgotten, he would push the Germans right back to Berlin.
