Jason had had enough of waking up each
morning in the cold and damp caravan that he lived in with his
mother. He wondered how many more days would start this way. It had
been fifteen months already.
They lived there not through choice but
through necessity. They had no where else to live now. Things had
been so very different when Andy, his older brother, was alive.
He was tired of their 18 feet by 10
feet home that consisted of a lounge-diner, kitchen area and his
mother's bedroom. He slept in the lounge on a bed made up of the
dining table top wedged between the bench seats on either side of it.
Unlike his mother he didn't have sheets and blankets for his bedding
but had to make do with a sleeping bag. This had to be stored in the
bench seat when his bed space became the lounge again. If the weather
was good he would put the bag outside to air, if not it was hidden
straight away.
After using the chemical toilet in the
shed, that was behind the caravan, the next important morning task
was to collect water, for washing and breakfast, from the single
stand pipe at the edge of the field. In
the winter 'Jack Frost' would often block the pipework with ice.
Although they
didn't have running water in the van there was a meagre electricity
supply that allowed them to use two heaters, one for each end of the
space, but only on a medium setting if both were in use. They had to
be careful as the supply was via a 30-feet long 13 amp extension lead
that started in the garage of the cottage; the owner of the cottage
also owned the field; travelled through the air via two poles, over
the toilet shed roof, entering the van through the sky light. If the
heaters weren't switched on then the electric kettle could be used
for hot water for washing, otherwise the kettle on the two ring
bottled-gas stove sufficed. That is unless the temperature was too
low outside and the gas couldn't flow fast enough.
Jason thought that
it was wrong that he should have to live like this. It wasn't his
fault, or his dead brother's, that he and his mother had no other
home to live in. It wasn't his or Andy's choice to move to the
isolated village, four and a half years previous, so their mother
could live with the current man in her life. It wasn't their fault
that that episode was short lived.
Although the view
of the countryside from the caravan, perched in the top corner of the
south-west facing field on the side of the valley, and the walks
through the valley and the nearby woods were fantastic, he did not
believe they outweighed the poverty of his living conditions. He
didn't think that an 18-year-old, who had gained reasonable grades in
his secondary education qualifications, started work in his first
job, should accept his life as it was. It was the swinging 60s for
the world apparently, but not for him.
He had often asked
himself why he had stayed there with his mother for so long after
Andy left. There was no life in the village for a teenager and one of
his only two local friends was moving on soon. He had reached the
conclusion it stemmed from family loyalty. But, it seemed to him that
this had been a one-way commitment from him over the last few years.
That was the
deciding factor which lead to his decision to take the change in his
life into his own hands to give himself a better future: Better
living conditions: better career prospects: better social life:
better chance of finding a partner for a future happy family life.
Not too much to ask.
When Jason awoke
that fateful morning he knew that it would start in the usual way,
but as the day progressed it would become the life-changing turning
point he had been looking forward to. It was a decision he had taken
on his own. A move of his choice that his mother would have to
accept.
He kept to his
normal workday routine, although a little slower because of the cold
weather, as if he was going to his job for the usual start time. But
he wasn't. He had a very important appointment at 10:00 am. He
arrived ten minutes early: he couldn't afford to be late. The
previous interviews he had attended, and the education tests taken,
had gone well. Nevertheless he was nervous about what would happen as
he didn't want to say the wrong thing and embarrass himself.
Thirty minutes
later his life had changed. The attestation ceremony had been
completed. Her Majesty's Forces now had a new member. Jason was now
Private Jason Freeman.
He went to his
civilian job for the rest of the day, and the last three days of the
week to finish his notice period that he gave the week before.
When he returned to
the caravan that night he told his mother he had joined the Army and
would be reporting for duty at the training camp at 11:00 hrs. the
following Monday. There was no need for discussion: his decision had
been made. There was no altruism of allegiance to Queen or Country in
his decision, but self preservation. There was no need for
justification on his part.
Only six more
nights and five more days living in the cold and damp caravan. He was
moving into barracks with a bed space of his own, hot and cold
running water, and flush toilets. A new career lay ahead, new friends
and new opportunities. His life moved on for the better in many
ways.
He never returned
to a life in the caravan.
