Friday, January 08, 2010

Entry #65

War- What Is It Good For
by Sury Narayanan


I lay there on the ground for what seemed like an eternity. Do I still have my legs or are they just paralyzed. I had just landed on a mine and I was thrown 30 feet away. Few would call me lucky for surviving this, but I need more than just luck to get back home and see my wife and my son. I do hope it’s a son. I really cannot remember the last time we both had a pleasant conversation.

God, my whole body hurts like hell. I badly wanted to smoke. Heck, I cannot reach for my backpack to get it. I knew I had to go through all this when I signed up for the Army, but today I would just give ANYTHING to get back home... ALIVE... What a sight it would be to see my wife again, play with my son, teach him baseball and see him become a star just like his father. Please God, please please please take me back to my family.

Every please of mine was punctuated with the sound of a bomb blast some place distant. I was sure I would have some company when I enter hell. Just then I realized something warm near my chest. I could see my shirt slowly drenching with blood.

In a distance above I saw the silhouette of an eagle eagerly waiting to prey on me. I laughed and I said for the last time aloud “WENDY I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED YOU”

23 comments:

Sarah Laurenson said...

Your title reminds me of the song. And this brings up all the 'why are we dying' thoughts. Thank you for this entry.

Anthony Rapino said...

Yeah, i also started singing the song in my head. Nice story.

PJD said...

For some reason I love the paradox of the narrator describing his last words to the reader. There are one or two others that end with final words like this does. I am not sure if you intended to leave off the punctuation at the very end, but actually I like it better without a period.

Bernita said...

I sense a certain transference here.

Rachel Green said...

A sad end to a life

lena said...

what a sad tale!

Aniket Thakkar said...

Such profound sadness...

JaneyV said...

I believe that the next line in that song is

"Absolutely nothing!"

Each person killed is a tragedy. Each story is profound.

AM-C said...

Nice story. Even nicer title. However, there appears to be some confusion in the interchange from the past to present tenses within the story.

Aimee Laine said...

Oh so sad. :(

Craig said...

Strong emotional piece.

Kartik said...

Will wars never cease?!

catvibe said...

:-( Nothin. Ain't that the truth. Very sad.

laughingwolf said...

too sad, but true...

Meghan said...

War is so horrible. Great job capturing the stron emotions.

kashers said...

War - what is it good for? Arms manufacturers and... not much else.

Interesting you should use Wendy as the name of the mc's wife. Perhaps the horror/reality of war has finally made man to banish the 'Peter Pan' within him.

Laurel said...

Vivid and tragic. I hate thinking he never meets his child.

AngelConradie said...

A very sad story.

SzélsőFa said...

this simple and sad story makes the cruelty and senseless of war palpable.

Anonymous said...

good combo of sad and wonderful. Good piece

Chris Eldin said...

Very sad, and like Pete, I'm also glad it didn't end with a period. Perhaps that was a typo, but I think it's a nice touch.

james r tomlinson said...

The narrator is obviously going into shock. Nice setting.

Anonymous said...

Dear Entrants #1-105,

I have read your pieces so that I can fairly participate in the Readers' Choice vote. (I read all of them through last week, before I started commenting.) I will be coming back around to offer my keep/tweak comment, but I didn't want anyone to snark.

Cheers,
Aerin (#236)

BTW, it's perfectly fine if you still want to snark, but this way you can choose a more appropriate subject, like Sarah Palin's hair or the enigmatic career of Justin Timberlake.