Victory

• Julian Harrison, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2016

I walk along the dim, dusty road. People are lying along the walls, dirty and starving. Years back the streets were filled with light, the tall, metal lampposts glowing brightly. The world was a promising place, new jobs were arising, and we were promised great things. Then we went to war.
Beforehand I was an engineer, one of the best. That’s why they sought me out. During the early days I helped build the great machines of war. We were promised that the war would be quick, and we would make the world better. How we were lied to…
I served for several years aboard the flagship, maintaining the guns and the engines. I wasn’t involved in the fighting, but I saw it first-hand. Flashes of light and fire, metal flying through the hull, nowhere was safe. I lost my arm to a piece of shrapnel. I was sent home, with not so much as a thank you.
Even the home front was terrible. Bombs fell during the night, and you would be thankful just to make it to the morning. I rarely found work, seeing as I lost my arm, and we could barely feed ourselves. My family was young, I had a daughter, just three, and during the nights she just cowered in terror. During the day the television flashed reports, telling us how well we were winning. The lies…
One night I returned late, after finding work for the first time in ages. I returned to find rubble, a smoking wreck of the house that once stood. They were gone. Gone forever to a war that was supposed to be quick, to a war which would supposedly save us, to a war that was supposedly right. Gone forever…
Years passed, and every night was one spent in terror. Every night there were still flashes of light. The dreaded bombers still flew over the city. There were children who had never seen a world at peace, all they knew was terror and war.
More years past, until finally the bombings ceased. A few days later we stopped seeing fighting off the coast. A few weeks later the enemy surrendered. We were told by the news that we had won, that we had vanquished the foes, but no one celebrated, no one cheered.
I was lucky that I lived in Australia, as we were the least damaged. Europe is still uninhabitable, and most countries lost their major cities. We still see them, the leaders, who pretend nothing is wrong and that this depression is a small one. They tell us it will be quick. More lies…
They began this war, and now we are the ones to be affected. They are not starving and weak, tired and tormented. They didn’t lose their homes or their families. They didn’t have their arms blown off. They’ve rarely even known discomfort of any kind. We are ruled by those who have no idea of our plight. How did the world come to this?