My third effort is from a writing blog contest. The requirement, in this case, was the piece had to be no more than 300 words. The irony was optional.
No Matter
Erich Pohl stared with revulsion at the scene before him. Scattered heaps of bodies torn and mangled in ways beyond imagination. A harvest of the Great War gathered by the enemy's machine guns during last night's battle.
A sergeant stood three meters behind him.
“Sergeant Schmidt! Come at once, please!”
The Sergeant hastened to Erich's side. “Yes, Lieutenant?”
“The British will attack again in the night, Sergeant, cowards that they are.”
“Yes, Lieutenant.”
“I cannot stand to see our comrades left like this. A burial detail, on the double, Sergeant.”
“Yes, sir.” The Sergeant turned on his heel and hurried toward his unit's camp one hundred meters away.
Erich reached into the pocket of his greatcoat and retrieved a solid silver card case. His face relaxed into a contented smile as he opened it and beheld his fiancée's picture. Margarethe, who waited for him at home, was his love and joy. His spirits soared for tomorrow he would begin a week's leave. He sighed with delight.
Bobby McCullough was the best sniper in his regiment of Lovat Scouts. He kissed the photo of his fiancée, Fiona, and slipped it into his pocket. Then he returned to the task at hand. He rested his .303 Pattern 1914 Enfield rifle on the pack roll in front of him and steadied the crosshairs of his sniper scope on the head of the German officer 300 meters away. The German seemed preoccupied with something in his hand. No matter. Bobby applied pressure to the rifle's trigger...
Well done. Human's keep forgetting this lesson and need to be reminded over, and over, and over.
ReplyDeleteYes. Sad but true. And it's up to us writers to do the reminders.
DeleteWe forget there were lonely scared boys trying to be men on both sides.A good post thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading.
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