Philadelphia Saints

Two college-buds journey into the Hell of war to return home to seek a 'rebirth' in Philadelphia magic...or echelons!

A Philadelphia war-spirits vignette inspired by the excellent American film Born on the Fourth of July (Oliver Stone). Enjoy, 

----

====

Timmy and Amlan were Penn State roommates before they'd been drafted into the Afghan-War in the post-9/11 age and were returned home as manic-depressives trying to reassimilate into the modern era of social-media (e.g., Facebook-chess).

TIMMY: Let's get a baby-girl doll and adopt her and think she's our post-war angel of mercy, my fellow patriot.

AMLAN: I'm down too; I'll make/get us some cool Vietnamese pho-noodle soup, and you go hunting for that 'angel' doll, friend.

The Afghan-War scarred them both, but sure, American force(s) were strong like thunder and plundered the ruins of the track(s) of Osama bin Laden and then returned home in channels/waves to recount the after-measures of 9/11, and two Philly-resident soldiers, Penn-State students and best-friends (Amlan/Satan) would always recount the 'duality' between the spirited-life of the City of Brotherly Life and the 'sandy' brain-vertigo of armed warfare (or entanglements!).

TIMMY: I got the doll right here, Amlan; it's a perfect replica of a horror-media/cinema figurine, and we'll named her Talia.

AMLAN: Like Talia Shire from you know what (I like that!); we'll make her our special Golem-nurse of great medicine, Timmy.

When it dawned on the two that they'd been mentally 'down' by the Afghan-War experience, they decided to heal their soul with cool visits to Penn-State/Notre-Dame games (in arena or watching on TV in Philly!) and started to 'unwind' what made their war-memoir a thing of Hell --- it was the loss of the social-space(s) of human activity or the 'peace-chess' of Earth's more egalitarian faces.

TIMMY: I'm going to invest in a toy-store enterprise, and I think Amlan should seek a girl to marry; we'll return to form (prior).

AMLAN: I've met a Philly-diner honey-bee (heartbreaker!), and I'm returning to my Philadelphia love of pure romance/heart.

TALIA (Doll -- "Dream-Speak"): War is hell, boys, and you've outgrown my need(s); go-on your way(s) and find solace in story.

This has been a Philadelphia saints-story. It's one of war-endurance/transcendence/effervescence. The two Penn-State buddies returned home, alive and not kicking but 'Talia' helped them kick-start their heartbeats. This was how Timmy returned to his imagination-arts, and it's how Amlan returned to his real human love of love-stories. That's the 'true' magic of Philadelphia --- the evolved/inherited sense(s) of 'sporting' dreams, the dreams of the US-city envelope. Thanks, Talia.

====

"Money is everything" (Ecclesiastes)