The Flowers Of War

• Mukho Saw, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2018

Boom! Boom! Boom! The shots rang out loud like thunder.

“Papa, they’re getting closer!”

“Don’t look back Lily, just keep running.”

Lily felt the sweat from her papa’s palm as he gripped her small, delicate hands. His hands were rough against hers. They felt like stone, cold and calloused. She recalled the countless times they had engulfed her tiny hands as he prayed with her before bedtime. Tears clouded her vision as thoughts of her bedroom and her home entered her mind. She longed to run around the garden while playing tag with Mama then laughing when they caught each other. They would lie in the soft grass appreciating each other's presence.

“I want to go home Papa. I miss the roses.”

“Yes, me too, my little flower.”

“Then let’s go home.”

“Lily, darling, we cannot.”

“But why Papa?”

Lily’s father glanced around the debris of wood and brick surrounding them as they continued to run. His gentle eyes, the colour of grass after it rains, became melancholic. Lily had inherited her papa’s eyes. If you looked closely enough, you could see the tiny flecks of gold sprinkled around the iris.

“We can’t Lily, we can’t.” His voice cracked.

Lily sighed as she looked up to her papa’s face, confused about why they couldn’t just go home. Now his eyes appeared like deep forest pools, as if tears would start running down his chiseled face at any moment. Lily noticed that the bags under his eyes had become darker over the last six months. When she had questioned him on that matter, he told her it was just because of the planes. Now the planes were as ubiquitous as the clouds in the sky to Lily. She got used to it.

“Are you okay Papa?”

“Yes my little flower.”

“Papa my legs are getting tired.”

They came to a stop.

“Lily quickly climb onto my back. Hold on tight and don’t let go. Okay?”

“Yes, Papa. Thank you.”

Boom! Boom! Lily felt the cold metal sting of the bullet rush past her left ear.

Before Lily could scream, her papa was sprinting with her on his back. Lily’s clasped her Papa’s neck, her nails digging into his skin. Eyes shut, she buried her face into her papa’s back. She blocked out everything except for the smell of her papa.

Lily’s body went up and down as her papa bolted. His speed began to decrease. His breath came in small spurts, tense and strained.

Boom! Lily’s fragile body departed from her papa’s body.

“Aaugh!”

“NO! Lily!”

Lily’s papa bent over her, picking her up, he caressed her body in his arms. He disregarded the Japanese soldiers encircling them. Blood soaked Lily’s rose-patterned dress. Staring into Papa’s eyes, Lily smiled. Her vision darkened as patches of black and grey clouded her sight. Happiness was all she could feel as she thought of the fact that she would see Rose again.

“Bye Papa. I’m going to see Mama.”