Rain

• Liliana Struth, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2013

I am trying to get the last drops of water out of my drink bottle. I am not the only one the though. Many of my comrades are doing the same. It is rest time for the army I am in. Rest is vital as we ran out of all food and water supplies. Rain has not come and it is three days until we reach the nearest town. We were supposed to reach there yesterday but we are walking slowly.

We have been walking for two days since I last wrote in this diary. Other rest times, I have been sleeping. Not today. When I last wrote the army had seven hundred and fifty men. We have lost seven hundred of them in two days. They have been dropping off on the side of the road then they lay, breathing heavily before muttering their dying wish and going still. Others have gone to sleep and never woken up. Every time we lose someone, we stop and bury them. This also slows us down.

I am writing from the village we just reached. All hope was lost until we were five hundred metres from the village. Just as we caught sight of the village, the clouds gave way. A rumble filled the air and rain poured down. The thunder boomed and the lighting flashed. The village streets suddenly came alive with people. They were rejoicing, saying that the army was a good omen that brought rain. We were quickly taken inside and given a warm shower and a change of clothes. The kind inn keeper gave us beds for night. NO CHARGE! We were very lucky! They gave us turducken and vegetables for dinner. As turducken is chicken inside duck inside turkey, we soon got very full. Then we went to bed. When we woke up we had breakfast and did our own thing. I am going to go back to bed.