An Unknown Hero

A teardrop falls on the letter
Stains the familiar handwriting- lovely and slender
Of his wife, oh, how he had missed her
Telling him the good news, the birth of their daughter
Someone places a comforting hand on his shoulder
It was his dear comrade; like him an army soldier
Who knew that his friend's tears were not of happiness
But rather, he was drowning in sadness
Like they would tomorrow, in blood
Never to return.
He leaves the grieving man by the camp fire
Who was ruing how he had left the heavenly life behind
He would have been so happy
Together with his family
But war had snatched that away
What good had it done anyways?
Aching for his wife and daughter- who he would never see again
He gets up in despair
And alongside his sleeping squad, lays down
Who were strewn like corpses on the ground.
He closes his eyes, his body writhing as he fights the nightmares
Incomparable to the bloodshed he would soon face.

The world around him was slowly destroyed
As blood and earth rained
The shrieks of horror, as brutal as the deaths itself
The war, the closest thing to hell.
A mortar blast at their squad
Sends him tumbling to the ground.
With terrible ringing in his ears, he painfully sits up
And sees a steady stream of blood gushing in the mud
Coming from a grotesque, gaping hole
Where a soldier's leg had been before...
As the ringing subsides
He hears the soldier's piercing, agonizing cries
Alongside his brother's screams, who desperately tries to help
His tears flowing like the blood itself
Holding him against his heart
Like a baby in its mother's arms
But his efforts were hopeless
His brother was now forever silenced...
He had had enough
This life had given him nothing but pain and hurt.
Without thinking or regret
He places a pistol on the side of his head
And in that brief moment, his reddened eyes meet those of the sitting soldier
And glares at him as if he's some monster
Criticizing him for mercilessly killing others
For being part of the death and gore
For being a slave of the government who for no reason at all
Were foolishly waging this war
Before he pulls the trigger
And his lifeless body falls onto his dead brother
The sound echoing in the dazed soldier's head
As he falls down unconscious, everything black.

He wakes up as cold water stings his face
In a dark room, tied to a chair
From a lamp, blinding light
Was piercing his eyes
He was in the bunker they were tasked to bomb
But, apparently, they had lost the war.
A firm punch to the face
Sends blood spattering down, his head throbbing with pain
From a disgusting chubby man
Sneering at him from under his mustache
Who shouts out angry questions
But he stays strong against the demanding words.
After a painful beating, the soldier still wouldn't answer
And, frustrated, a gun is aimed at him by his interrogator
The gun glaring at him, at his forehead
He closes his eyes, welcoming death
And hears the sound of the fired bullet
Silence... was he dead?
He opens his eyes
His friend from the campfire smiling at him, behind him a dreamy light
Was he really in heaven?
And then he spots the interrogator on the floor, dead
He feels his comrade cutting the ropes with a knife
And hears muffled sounds of battle outside
Escaped hostages, the last of the resistance
Who would be wiped out soon, in an instant.
Suddenly, the dead interrogator sits up
In his shaking hand, a gun
On his face, an evil smile
Wild ferocity in his eyes
With all the life he has left
Before he falls dead
He pulls the trigger, the bullet roars past
And penetrates deep into his friend's heart
His startled cry
Sends shivers down his spine
Who drops down, the heavy thud
Shatters his already damaged world
He bursts free from the ropes with inhuman strength
And rushes towards his dying friend.

''Think of all the women we would impress
The medals we would get
We'd be feared by our enemy
And welcomed back as heroes of the country!''

There was nothing better in the world
For the little boy than to watch the lake change colour
Black.. orange... yellow... blue
And along with the birds that flew
Above the horizon, in the distance
It would brighten his hard life in an instant
And he had the whole place to himself.
Mesmerised by the beautiful sounds of the forest
He steps inside
The warm, soothing water and closes his eyes
Gently drifting away with the breeze
Humming a song, daydreaming peacefully
But the little boy did not know how to swim
And before he realized the trouble he was in
He begins to drown
His arms thrashing wildly, screaming out loud
But it was no use
By the lake, he was consumed
And as he breathes his last breath, he feels his soul depart
Torn away from his body by an angel's arms.
When he looks into the angel's eyes
It smiles
But it wasn't an angel, it was a boy just like him
And when he stares at his wet skin that glistened
The sand between his fingers
He knew he was his saviour.
The boy offers him a hand saying, ''Are you okay?''
He holds it and smiles as they walk away.

He stares into his lifeless eyes
Ruing how he couldn't repay him for saving his life.
He spots on his dead comrade's back
The bomb inside a bag
There was little time left
The hostages outside would soon be dead.
He sets the bomb to detonate
His damaged soul would soon be out of here.
He sits beside his fallen friend
Takes out the letter from deep inside his pocket
And reads it for the last time
The final remembrance of his wife
With his blood-stained hands he traces a heart
Before he's reduced to ashes in the blast
Deep in the land of the country that is now free
Where war is merely a memory
But one thing still remains
What was his name? ...

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