Morale: A Story of the War of 1941-43

In a quiet New Jersey summer bungalow, Sergeant Walpole spends his days perched on the Eastern Coast Observation Force, a thinly spread chain of lookout posts tasked with keeping civilian morale steady while the war rages far offshore. The routine of stale radio chatter, lazy afternoons in a hammock, and the distant hum of coal‑burning ships is suddenly shattered when an otherworldly, screeching sound erupts from the sea, announcing the arrival of a monstrous war machine the press has dubbed a “Wabbly.”

The unexpected invasion forces Walpole and his comrades to confront a threat that defies conventional strategy, turning their idle watch into a desperate struggle for survival. As panic spreads along the shoreline, the sergeant must grapple with his own doubts and the weight of a nation’s confidence, all while trying to find a way to strike at the heart of an enemy that seems invincible. The story captures the uneasy blend of ordinary life and sudden catastrophe that defines the early days of this strange conflict.