Killed In Action

• Kaitlyn Balfour, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2014

The ground was strewn with blood, the grass no longer its luscious green, but smothered with the remains of the fallen. We hadn't won, but the battle was yet to conclude. We would fight till death, till no man remained, and only then would we return home, to our families, to our newborns, to our forgotten life. We had been walking for hours on end, trudging through the thick mud, the mud that seemed to suck us into the depths of hell itself. Then it sounded, and the never-ending silence was replaced with the cracking of an explosive. The impact sent myself and many other soldiers flying, slamming viciously into the sloppy mud.

I struggled to stand, my head pounding and my ears violently ringing, I felt nauseous; my hands grasped my skull in an attempt to ease the pain. I managed to balance, lifting my rifle and firing at the oncoming enemy. Before now the trees looked comforting, reminding me of the woods I would always go to when my parents would fight. It became a second home. I remember the nights there, looking up, letting the moon cast its mysterious shadows that would soon dance across my face and the minty scent of the fresh pines, and the crunching of the stiff twigs that would crunch under my weight. But as I look ahead, those happy memories fade as I begin to feel fear, the darkness behind the trees overwhelming.

Over 100 Afghans swarmed from behind those once-comforting woods, now it’s just war, no time for memories, time to kill, or be killed. My ears began to ease along with my fear, and my eyes were clear on the objective. Everything seemed so unreal - the noise just so powerful it became a constant sound. I could see men dropping, like puppets with no strings. All these men, volunteered to die, how you could live knowing you let your own child travel half way across the world, to never return. I didn't know how or why I did, but I felt nothing but regret as I watch my son, fall lifelessly to the floor, I stood, tears threatened to fall. My son was just another pale dead body amongst the rest. And it was that which put me off guard.
I heard it before I felt it, the searing pain of being shot. The muscles surrounding the wound cramped and I collapsed.

What is death? Is it the mere thought of no longer being with those most dear to you? Or is it simply disappearing? Those were the questions I always asked myself until now. This very moment I truly understand as I lay silent, slowly entering the afterlife. I struggled but eventually got up. My body restricted me from standing so I curled into a seated position. My mouth now flavoured by the sickening taste of my own blood. This is truly it, no escaping the silent jaws of death now, it's over,Game Over.