When the boy had first received the soldiers as a present, he noticed
that one of them had been made, by mistake, with just one arm. Despite the
missing limb, the boy placed the mutilated soldier, whose name was Alex, at
the front lines, encouraging him to be the most valorous of all the little
soldiers.
The child did not know that at night, the toys became animated and
talked between themselves.
It often happened that when lining up the soldiers after playing with
them, the little boy would forget about the little tin soldier without an
arm and leave him out with all the other toys. It was thus, that the little
metal soldier had a chance to talk to Fox, a handsome ballet dancer who was
made of tin too. Fox danced alongside a pretty redheaded ballerina named
Dana; atop of the boy's sister's music box.
A great friendship was born between the two men, and pretty soon the
little soldier fell in love with the masculine dancer. But the nights went
by quickly and Alex could not find the courage to declare his love to Fox.
When the child played with the soldiers and positioned him in the front
lines, Alex hoped that Fox would notice his courage in battle.
And in the evening, when the beautiful ballet dancer asked the soldier
if he had been afraid, Alex would proudly answer, "No."
The loving stares and sighs of the good-looking, green-eyed soldier did
not go un-noticed by Walter, The jack-in-the-box.
One night, Walter yelled at Alex, "Hey you! Don't you look at Fox
like that!"
Poor Alex was confused and he blushed because he thought that he had
kept his true feelings for Fox hidden.
But the kind and gentle Fox tried to reassure his brave friend.
"Don't listen to him Alex." He said, blushing too. "Walter is ugly and
jealous. I am very happy when I talk with you."
The two little tin figurines were both too shy to speak of their love
for each other.
One day they were separated when the boy picked up Alex and placed him
on the window-sill.
"You stay here and watch for the enemy, " He said to him.
The boy played inside with the other soldiers. It was summer and in
the days that followed, the soldier remained on the window-sill. But one
afternoon there was a sudden storm and a strong wind shook the windows.
Alex fell head first off the window-sill and his bayonet stuck into the
ground.
It kept raining and storming and pretty soon the rain formed big puddles
and the gutters were full. A group of boys in the nearby school waited for
the storm to end and when it stopped raining hard, they ran outdoors.
Joking and laughing, the boys hopped over the bigger puddles while two
of them cautiously walked next to the wall so that the sprinkling rain
wouldn't wet them. It was there that the two boys noticed Alex stuck in the
sodden earth.
"Too bad he has just one arm. Otherwise, I'd take him home with me."
One of the boys said.
The other boy picked him up and put him in his pocket. "Let's take
him anyway." He said. "We could use him for something."
On the other side of the street, the gutter was overflowing and the
current carried a little paper boat.
"Let's put the little soldier in the boat and make him a sailor." Said
the boy who had picked up Alex.
And so, Alex had no choice but to became a sailor.
The whirling gutter flowed into a sewer and the little boat was carried
down the drain. The water in the underground sewage was deep and muddy.
Big rats gnashed their teeth as the vessel and its unusual passenger flowed
by.
Eventually, the boat became so soaked that it was about to sink. But
Alex, who had faced far greater dangers in battle, was not afraid.
The water of the sewer flowed into the river and the little boat, now
overturned, was swept by the high waves.
The brave, one armed soldier realized that his end was near. And after
the paper boat was completely wrecked, he sank down into the deep waters.
A thousand thoughts went through Alex's mind, but only one in
particular anguished him, "I will never see my sweet, handsome Fox again!"
He thought with regret.
Suddenly, a huge mouth swallowed him and once again his destiny took
an unexpected turn.
Alex found himself in the stomach of a large fish who had been lured by
the glittering colours of his uniform.
The fish however, did not even have time to digest his meal because
right afer having swallowed the soldier, he was caught up in the net of a
fisherman. Shortly after the gasping fish ended up in a big basket and was
brought to the market.
Meanwhile, a cook was on her way to the market. She worked in the
very same house where Alex used to live.
"This fish will be perfect for tonight's guests." The cook said when
she saw a big fish on the seafood market's counter. The fish ended up in
the kitchen and when the cook slit its belly to clean it she found Alex.
"This looks like one of our boy's toy soldiers. . . " she thought and ran to
the boy to show him her discovery.
"That's right, he's mine!" The little boy cheered when he recognised
the soldier with the missing arm.
"I wonder how you got into the fish's belly? Poor soldier, you must
have gone through lot's of trouble since you fell off the window-sill!" The
little boy placed Alex on the mantle, right next to the music box where Fox
piroetted with Dana.
The amazing ways of desitny had once again reunited the two lovers.
The little tin soldier and the dancer were very happy to be so near to
each other. All that night they talked about what had happened after their
separation. But the ill dispositon of fate had yet another surprise in
store for them.
The next day a sudden gust of wind lifted the heavy drape off the
window and hit Fox, knocking him into the fireplace. Alex saw his lover
fall and he was frightened. He knew a fire was lit because he could feel
its warmth, Alex was desperate, knowing very well that there was nothing he
could do to save Fox.
In fact, fire was the greatest enemy to the tin figurines because it
would melt their metal.
Rocking back and forth on his legs, using his lone arm for momentum,
Alex tried to move the tin base under his feet that held him in place. He
on kept trying to move until he finally fell into the fire as well.
The two men were reunited in their misfortune.
They were so close to each other now, that their metal bases began to
liquefy together. Alex put his arms around Fox and kissed the beautiful
dancer deeply. "I was so afraid of loosing you again." Alex breathed into
Fox's mouth.
"Oh Alex. I love you. When you were gone, I was so sad. Walter, the
nasty jack-in-the-box that he is kept telling me that you were gone forever.
He said that you were dead." Fox kissed Alex again, giving his beautiful
soldier a taste of his tongue. "I'm glad I didn't listen to him."
"I love you too Fox. You're so beautiful. When I was sinking in the
water, it wasn't the dying part that I was afraid of, but that I would
never see you again. That's what scared me." Alex nibbled gently at the
muscular curve of Fox's neck.
Then, in the privacy of the hot flames, the two men made sweet, gentle
love to each other. And as they did so, the tin of their liquid bases
mingled together and formed a perfectly symmetrical heart- shape.
Just before their bodies were about to be lost to the fire, the little
boy happened to walk by the fireplace where he saw that the two little
figurines being enveloped by the flames. So he thrust in his foot and toed
them away from the blaze, leaving them at the edge of the hearth to cool
down.
Ever since then, the brave green-eyed soldier and the beautiful,
ballet dancer have been fused right next to each other.
Sharing their destiny and a common heart-shaped base, displaying to all
of the other toys their eternal love for one another.
Alex and Fox, would forever, be together. Always able to put their
arms around each other and to make love all through the night; when the toys
become animated.
The Tin Soldier
by Demi-X
Once upon a time... There lived a boy who had a lot of toys. The
child kept his toys in his room and spent many happy hours everyday playing
with them. One of his favorite games was to play war with the tin soldiers.
He arranged the little toy soldiers in their respective ranks and fought
imaginary battles with them.
