Invitation Cards

Restrictions in some countries are as laughable as they are foolish. Pray that things will change.

 

It had taken him forever to write all the invitation cards but he had finally finished. He clenched the cards tight in his hand - afraid he would drop and dirty them - and hurried down along the street towards the mailbox. When he was about to post them he heard a voice from behind, halting him.

“What are you sending there?” The soldier approaching had a long black beard and was armed with an automatic rifle – a Soviet model.

“Just invitation cards, sir”, he answered and lifted the lid to the mailbox.

“Stop it right there”, the soldier said and raised his rifle.

“It’s just invitation cards…” he said, shaken by the hostility of the soldier.

“Are there any women attending this party of yours?” the soldier said in a harsh voice.

“Well yes of course, everyone’s welcome.”

“There shouldn’t be women there; it is highly inappropriate, least of all around young brats as you!” Even though the soldier couldn’t be more than a few years older than him, he still spoke to him as if he was an ignorant child. “Will you be consuming alcohol?”

He knew that the soldier was testing him since alcohol was forbidden, but he didn’t need to lie, he hadn’t thought of serving alcohol on his party anyway.

“No, sir. Just music and home cooking.”

“Didn’t you know that music is forbidden, twerp? If you want to listen to something, listen to our national radio, you might learn something!”

“I listen to our radio all the time, just yesterday I was at a teashop together with my friend…”

“Was this a female friend?” the soldier interrupted.

“No it was a male classmate…” he answered, somewhat puzzled by the question.

“Good, because it is against the law to go out with a female”, the soldier said with a more calm to his voice.

He began to feel frustrated by the different restrictions presented by the soldier. “Okay, fine! Then I’ll only invite males then”, he said in a sharp tone, ignoring the rifle pointed at him.

“Are you more than five?” The soldier asked, now not as confident as before.

“YES, I’ve written at least forty invitation cards and I guess half of them are addressed to males”, the questions from the soldier began to annoy him; he just wanted to have a calm party in his own house.

“Well… that’s against the law too”, the soldier said quietly and lowered his rifle, as if he began to consider something.

“Well great, then I guess the party is off!” he said and started to walk back to his house.

“What were you celebrating anyway?” the soldier called from behind.

“Liberty day!” he called back as he left the soldier by the mailbox.

Reviews

[Elvina CZq]

lol. No offense to some, but I do hate some stories that involve with military. I'm not saying they are bad, just that to me, they are merely smart a*s (I'm talking about them in stories and movies though, no offense, I don't wanna get shot for this, lol) And I just realised this story is simply entertaining and sarcastic and somewhat entertaining-ly offensive. lol. Good one on this :)

[Akina]

this was funny and really great written, lol
awsome job! :)

Akina

[jen -- JG]

So frustrating to spend so much time getting the invitations done right then having the "rug pulled up from under your feet" by the dictatorial attitude of the soldier.

The man was cool and courteous throughout the verbal exchange and in some strange way seemed to calm the soldier as well, yet as the soldier calmed down and became thoughtful, the man seemed slightly less courteous and calm, he allowed his frustration to show.

The soldier seemed to be thinking about the fact that EVERYTHING the man wanted to do was against the law.
The last line was a gem....

a perfect end to a darn good story.

Your beginning was calm and great, giving the promise of something exciting to come.

The next part was unexpected - well done there.

The dialogue was spot on and told the story extremely well . Nothing else was needed.

Very Well Done

jen-JG

[joshua rainbird]

A nice build up of tension, a clever switch over of power as the soldier tries to calm down the man, and then the irony of the final line.

I love it when humour is used to deliver serious messages.
An entertaining and thought-provoking story
Josh

[Elise O'Haire]

This is a funny, short write. I like it a lot. It's something to think about...if we couldn't throw parties with males and females....

I really liked it!

Elise O'Haire

[Jamie Fantasy]

Lol! That was so funny! I love stories like this where someone gets what's coming to them. Fantastic job on a new and interesting topic! Very well written! :)