But the initial glow faded quickly. Now that the war was over, the mood of the country was changing. All the newscasters were talking about it. Moves were afoot to cut the military budget once more, to reduce the size of the standing army. The service could no longer afford to take in anyone just because he was a warm body; a man had to prove himself to be of longtime worth before the army would accept him on a career basis. He’d already heard of men opting to re-enlist and being told the army had no place for them. What if that happened to him? It would be the ultimate rejection, his newly adopted family booting him out of the house. What would he do then? Where would he go?
Of course, the army had already made its preference known. They did want him—but in a way that scared him, for rea
