The Fighting Ground
Edward Irving Wortis
 The story takes place in New Jersey on April 3 and 4 in 1778. The Revolutionary War has begun, and the American colonists are fighting for their independence from Britain. As he works the fields with his father on a warm April day in 1778, thirteen-year-old Jonathan daydreams of being a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Against his parents' wishes, he rushes to the village when the warning bell tolls, to meet the British forces. Jonathan expects to find excitement and glory on the battlefield. Instead, Jonathan and the other local patriots battle and retreat from a group of Hessians, feared German mercenaries that have been hired by the British. Due to a lack of understanding of the German language, Jonathan, in hiding, believes he has been discovered by the Hessians and rather than wait for death, surrenders himself to them (although, ironically, they would never have noticed him if he hadn't revealed himself). Three Hessians capture Jonathan and hold him hostage in an abandoned house. Jonathan now experiences fear, exhaustion, confusion, and eventually, Stockholm syndrome, forming an unusual and almost warm relationship with his enemies. Hardly more than twenty-four long hours later, however, the house is suddenly raided by some of Jonathan's fellow patriots from the previous day. Abruptly, the Hessians are all three killed, something Jonathan is not sure whether to be thankful or upset about. In the end, Jonathan returns home, his understanding of war and life forever changed.