War Dreams

• Mimi Mangan, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2017

Theo and Otto stepped on to the battlefield. It was 2:00am. Finally, it was peaceful. Green grass stretched out all over the field. There was a few patches of wet slippery mud here and there. The whole ground was embedded with poppies. They looked beautiful. Red, black, green. Otto could hear the ebb and flow of the sea, waves crashing down off the cliff edge, like great slumberous creatures. He looked at the poppies once more, they reminded him of home. Back in Queensland there were all different colourful flowers, all over the place, spread across almost every garden in the neighbourhood. Otto remembered lying on the soft warm sand under a great tall palm tree watching the humongous wavers crashing down and stretching across to the furthest sand it could reach. All the children with smiles on their faces splashing in the water. Getting dumped almost every minute but bouncing straight back up again. Everyone was happy back then. Of course, everything has changed now. He might not ever see the beach again.
From time to time Otto wondered if he had chosen the right path. Yet he kept pushing himself. He had chosen his path and wasn't turning back, wondering if he had misread the signs along the way. Otto had set his goal and was going to stick with it until the end.
Otto's thoughts didn't last very long. He heard a bang and leapt for cover. Luckily there was a trench nearby. Otto landed hard on the ground in the filthy trench. He stood up and his knees were covered in warm icky mud. He had not noticed that he could be seen. BANG! They had seen him. He ducked under at another shrieking noise. Panic rushed through Otto's Adam's apple and all the way down to his feet. Bullets were flying in every direction. Another day had started.
RUN!!! Otto sprinted as fast as he could. Being a slow runner he was at the back of the pack. BANG! BANG! A bullet flew straight past Otto's ear and only just missed his fellow soldiers. Otto was looking back at the Germans and didn't see where he was going. He tripped and fell. One of the Germans stopped and took out his gun. Otto could do nothing. He lay on the ground thinking about all the things he hadn't done in his life. He heard the trigger click. Bullets were flying at him in rapid speeds. He felt one hit his leg and he screamed silently as he was unable to talk. He didn't think he needed a shot in the heart. The pain was already killing him. He was losing a gallon of blood each second. He didn't know how much longer he had of his life. Suddenly he couldn't hear any more of the trigger clicking. The bullets had all missed where they were aiming. Otto knew this one was going to hit the right spot. The trigger clicked and Otto closed his eyes tightly. He would die in exactly 3,2, 1... He felt nothing. The bullet hadn't hit. He heard a thud on the ground followed by "Oy, get out of here." Otto opened his eyes. The Germans were running away.
To Be Continued...