Poppies

• India Richards, Grade 5, John Butler Primary College
• Short Story
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Horizon of Dreams 2018' competition

Battle begins. Death lingering around anyone who fears it. Songs of sweet sorrow turn to screams. Clouds run, desperate not to be polluted. Cries of people pierce the air. Canons shoot with rage. Lungs take last breaths. Trenches fill with souls of loyalty.
Children forced to work; muscles deflate becoming weaker until they collapse. The smell of smoke bombing my nose. Blood is raining. Nothing but dust travelling on the wind.
Poppies now grow; they stand alone.
As the sky clears everything becomes silent. With the poppies, grows grass- new life. The souls of loyalty rise, float to the waiting clouds.