Winn Dixie

too." Miss Franny looked around the library and then she whispered, "Men and boys always want to fight. They are always looking for a reason to go to war. It is the saddest thing. They have this abiding notion that war is fun. And no history lesson will convince them differently. "Anyway, Littmus went and enlisted. He lied about his age. Yes ma'am. Like I said, he was a big boy. And the army took him, and Littmus went off to war, just like that. Left behind his mother and three sisters. He went off to be a hero. But he soon found out the truth." Miss Franny closed her eyes and shook her head. "What truth?" I asked her. "Why, that war is hell," Miss Franny said with her eyes still closed. "Pure hell." "Hell is a cuss word," said Amanda. I stole a look at her. Her face was pinched up even more than usual.

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