Hand in Hand

Hand in Hand
   
Back in his prime, Lewis Oakley was one of the bravest and strongest soldiers in his squadron in the U.S. Army. His strategic smarts and never-say-die attitude were always an asset in times of need.

In his four years of high school, Lewis took an ROTC class, thus influencing his choice to be involved in military affairs. The day after he graduated, he enlisted in the army. Two months after that, he got drafted.

Lewis had to pass rigorous basic training in order to be be a part of the front lines. It was a long six weeks, but when he finished, he knew that it was all worth it.

A year after passing basic training, he was to fight in the Vietnam War. It had been going on for several years by that point. Despite his initial hesitation, Lewis reluctantly agreed.

Lewis tried his best not to descent into what his fellow soldiers had been reduced to. That is, cold, heartless monsters who killed anyone in their path.

While in Vietnam, he befriended an eleven-year-old child named Insumya. According to what Lewis had been told by the child (who had a knack for wearing ninja clothing), he was born in Japan, but his family had moved to Vietnam three years after he was born. As for his attire, Insumya insisted that he just wanted to hide from the Vietcong and the U.S. soldiers. Lewis is still unsure if Insumya was telling the truth.

A week after their last meeting, Lewis's right hand was blown off. This caused many of his comrades to send for help. Soon enough, a helicopter arrived to take Lewis back to the United States.

Because his hand was blown into bits, there was no reassembling it. The doctor, however, had a robotic one stored in one of his drawers. After a half hour of successfully binding the hand onto Lewis's wrist, Lewis had thanked the doctor for saving his life.

Lewis would go on to serve the army for six more years. The first year with the robotic hand would be difficult, as he was reluctant to accept this permanent attatchment at first. However, when he learned that it was able to transform into many weapons (such as a chainsaw, a machine gun, and a grappling hook), he embraced this newfound power.

During his last two years in the army, Lewis received regular postcards from Insumya, the ninja child he knew in Vietnam. Lewis always wrote back. Upon Lewis's retirement, the messages had stopped coming, and Lewis stopped responding. This made him wonder if Insumya was all right.

We now go to the present day. Lewis is now in his early sixties. As the rest of his body had aged, the robot hand remained brand-new looking and without a hint of rust.

Lewis was sitting in his easy chair one day reading his newspaper when he heard his doorbell ring. He got up to open the door. He saw Franklin, one of his old friends from the army, standing right in front of him.

"Hello, Lewis," Franklin greeted. "You're lookin' mighty swell today."

"Ah, Frankie," Lewis replied. "Always full o' compliments. Won't ya come in? Stay a while." Franklin followed Lewis into the living room. As Franklin sat down on the couch across from the easy chair, Lewis was making two cups of iced tea. He returned to the living room thirty seconds later holding two glasses of iced tea in his hands. He gave one cup to Franklin before sitting in his easy chair.

"So how's wife been, Lewis?" Franklin asked after taking a sip.

"She's the same old gal she always is," Lewis answered. "She's asleep in the bedroom. How have things been with you?"

"Grand. It's just been so hard to get a lot of my retirement pension money."

"Y'know, I haven't been having that kinda problem in years. Just wait a few years yourself and you'll be fine, Frankie."

"Thanks, Lewie. How's the hand?"

"It's doing good. Still looks brand new after wearin' it for a while."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say it wasn't gettin' any sun."

"Hey, as dark as I am, the hand wouldn't even come close to matchin' the rest of my skin anyway."

The two retired soldiers shared a laugh. After a short while, however, Franklin's demeanor turned serious, businesslike even.

"Anyway, I'm here because I have something important to tell ya," Franklin said.

"What is it?" Lewis queried.

"Well, I came here after talking to the general and..."

"I told you, Franklin, that I didn't want nothin' to do with the army after I retired."

"I know, but he told me about your little ninja friend from Vietnam."

Lewis looked both surprised and creeped out when he heard his friend say this. "You said what now?" Lewis asked.

"Apparently this Insumya guy wants to see you, ASAP. General told me to tell ya this," said Franklin.

Lewis got up from his chair and paced around the room. "But... it's been years," Lewis muttered. "Why this sudden reconcilment now?"

"I dunno," said Franklin, "but the general gave me this to give to you so you can find him." He gave Lewis a piece of paper that had Insumya's current residence on it. Lewis read it instantly. "I'm goin' tonight," Lewis confirmed. "If I don't make it, tell Jessie I love her." He then walked towards Franklin and gave him a hug. "Thanks, Frankie." With that, both Lewis and Franklin walked out the front door.


According to the paper, Insumya lives in a mansion in Japan as of currently. Lewis paid for a coach plane ticket in order to get there. Five days later, the plane finally arrived in Japan.

Having learned Japanese years ago, Lewis had little to no difficulty asking citizens for directions to Insumya's house. With a rental car, he drove over to a huge building. When he knocked on the front door, it creaked open from the force of the knock. Determined to meet Insumya after many years, Lewis simply walked in.

When he entered a dojo-like room, he walked towards the center.

"Insumya!" Lewis shouted as he did so. "Insumya! You wanted to see me? Well, here I am!"

At that moment, a man in a black ninja outfit had appeared behind Lewis via a puff of smoke. Lewis looked behind him in shock. As the ninja did a downward hand chop, Lewis caught it. He started to headbutt his foe, but at that moment, the ninja disappeared. He reappeared behind Lewis to deliver a hard right kick. After reeling from the hit, Lewis turned around and transformed hit robot hand into an energy cannon and shot the ninja through the face. He fell to the ground, dead within an instant.

This was when another ninja behind Lewis ran towards him with a sword. Lewis heard this ninja yell, so he turned his robot hand into a chainsaw and the two melee weapons clashed. Ultimately, Lewis would be the victor, as the chainsaw eventually split the sword's blade in half and the chainsaw dug into the ninja's neck, causing him to rapidly bleed out.

Just then, a swarm of ninjas appeared to surround Lewis, who cursed silently at this.

Before any of the ninjas could make any movement, a thick voice had sounded. "Cease!" the voice yelled. The ninjas immediately discarded their weapons and were at attention.

When Lewis looked up, he saw a man in his early fifties wearing an orange mask, a vest with Japanese characters on each panel, and black leggings on a balcony just above the dojo floor. This man then leaped to the floor and walked towards Lewis. "I was wondering when you would arrive, Lewis Oakley," the man said to Lewis.

Even with the mask on, Lewis recognized this man almost immediately. "Insumya," he said. "It's been a long time, old friend."

Insumya took off his mask, revealing his slicked back jet black hair, a small mustache, and a scar on his lower lip. "Yes. I believe it has been," replied Insumya before he politely bowed.

"S'been almost forty years, and I just now get an invitation to come over your house. What's up with that?"

"I've been dealing with struggles you would not understand." Insumya went over to a bench and sat. "In the two years we have kept in contact via writing, my mother lay sick in bed, dying of radiation."

Lewis seemed confused by this. "Radiation?" he asked. "Didn't your country get bombed years before?"

"Yes," Insumya answered. "However, it took a long time for the effects to kick in on her. I stopped writing to you the day she died." Insumya's eyes began to generate tears. "My father committed sepukku a month after her death, leaving me alone to deal with the rotten world I was living in.

"Trying to survive was tough. So I put my childhood obsession of wearing ninja costumes to good use and became the Robin Hood of my country. Wherever evil men went, I followed."

Lewis listened to Insumya's story with complete sympathy; but there was still one thing that bugged him. "So why am I here?" he queried.

"Ah, yes," Insumya said as he got up to walk towards Lewis. "I wish to give you something. From in his vest, he got out a necklace with a tiger talisman charm. He put it around Lewis's neck. "This necklace belonged to my father. It symbolizes bravery in darkest times."

"Wow. Thanks, Insumya," Lewis said as he admired the gift.

"Wear it with pride." Insumya then bowed. "I hope we may see each other again soon."

"Farewell, Insumya." Lewis shook Insumya's hand before going on his way.

On the plane back to America, Lewis took the talisman on his necklace and stared at it for quite a long time. Every time he looked at that charm, he thought of Insumya.