The Soldier

ITS OVER

These two simple words kept running through my head.
Over and over again.

ITS OVER

I kept my eyes shut tight
Afraid of what I might see.
Afraid of the blood,
The dismembered body parts,
The bodies of my enemies,
The bodies of my friends.

Oh man,
How the hell did i get myself into this?

What if I was the only one left?
I began to shiver.
I held onto the long, lean weapon in my right hand.
What have I done with this powerful machine?
Why did I do it?
Why was I chosen?
Who would have thought that a small town,
Church going boy like myself could become a killer?

It made me sick.

I took a long drag on the air that surrounded me.
It was hot and thick,
Humid almost.
It was like after a long day of work in the middle of the summer
Back home in Georgia.
Then walking into the kitchen to the sweet smell of mama's apple pie.
Nothing smelled as sweet as mama's apple pie.

I took another deep breath in and forgot all about mama and her pie.
The fumes of gun smoke,
Mud,
And oil filled my lungs.
I began to cough,
A loud hacking cough.

I licked my lips.
They were dry,
Almost like licking sand paper.
I could taste my sweat,
My blood,
The blood of my enemy ...

ANYONE OUT THERE?

My thoughts were interrupted.
I sat up and opened my eyes.

A dense fog covered the battlefield.
In the distance I could just make out the oil well where we had set up camp.
Where the fighting had begun.

ANYONE OUT THERE?
The general called again.

I looked around me and saw a few of my fellow soldiers walking back toward the oil well.

ITS OVER
He called out

I stood up and began following the few of them who were left,
Past the bodies of my enemies,
Past the bodies of my friends.
Past the burnt shrubbery that had covered the field,
That had once made it look somewhat beautiful
And not like a barren wasteland.

I followed them,
Weapon in hand,
Digging my bare feet into the muddy ground that we fought for our lives on.

And the only two words that kept running through my head as i walked toward my sanctuary was

ITS OVER