I Remember

• Bianca Wang, Grade 4, Ravenswood School for Girls -
• Short Story
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Horizon of Dreams 2018' competition

Then we charged into the valley of imminent death, Azure sky was copious with white clouds, drifting lazily across the blue sky. The vault of heaven glittered like sapphires that twinkled and shone, dazzling my eyes. The grass was sparkling with little diamonds that slid down and dropped heavily on the fertile soil. The soil was peppered with little dots of seeds that would grow into the Olga trees. The sunset was halcyon and shone upon us as we charged.
Emerging out of the gold light of the sunset the sound of hooves were heard as the lush chartreuse grass dampened them. Neighs echoed through the meadow as we charged.
My hair whipped against my head in the gentle zephyr. My hooves hit the ground and glided across the lawn. The vague shape of the opaque cannons appeared closer and closer. The man on my back felt more absolute. Desperation entwined me and beads of perspiration slowly trickled down my forehead. Down my cheek. Boom! The first cannon exploded. The drop of sweat slid off my cheek like a river and on my neck. Bang! The second cannon fired. The droplet fell on the tender grass below my feet. The rows of cannons became clearer and as clear as the imminent death.
Verdant trees that once surrounded the beautiful lawn became gravestones, surrounding a graveyard and marking the death of the Light Brigade. Lush green grass became black soil fertile with horse ashes. Twigs and branches that once stood before me, was replaced by the numerous piles of dead bodies, with blood instead of dew. Blood marked a route to certain death and it stretched toward the dark cannons, like a snake winding around looking for prey.
Neighs that once decorated the air turned into groans. Then the voice yelled
‘Forward!’
And forward went the Light Brigade. The groans turned into gasps and then as the third cannon fired, silence.
Silently the final cannon, glistening with black, the cold colour of death, and as the last cannon fired, it echoed like a signal to mark an end of a day. The ball of death hurtled towards me, unstoppable and invincible. The cacophony of the cannon reverberated in my ears. It was the last sound that I would hear. Still, the blast echoed again and again in my ear. It was the sound of the unstoppable death. The gentle breeze turned into a gale, and the clouds in the sky looked like infinite darkness. The glow of the sunset looked blood red.
Boom! It hit. As hard as death. Warm, wet blood trickled down my forehead. Down my cheek. Down my neck. Finally, dripping down, and before it touched the soft green grass, I closed my eyes and drifted into infinite sleep.