They dropped At Dawn

Morning

The setting moon shines through my eyelids, slowly awakening me for the gloomy day ahead. As I sluggishly come to my senses, I expect to be back in England, the beautiful plains, birds singing, flowers lightening the air with their sweet aroma. Then I remember the frightening truth.

I am a soldier, whose life is the burning battlefield, whose only priority is to protect my comrades, and bring victory. This is what keeps me going. The thought that someday, I will be home, and a hero.

A sudden shake gets me started.. I become alert, thinking the Germans are attacking. In truth, Arthur is shaking my bed to get me awake.

"Get up! You need to see this!" he says, continuing to shake me.

"Everyone else is asleep..." I argue with a yawn.

"Hurry, you'll miss it!" he tells me.

Slowly, I get up and he drags me through dark trenches. When we reach our destination, I see the spectacle.

"Looks the same as it does back home." He whispers in awe.

The sunrise. Streaks of orange illuminating the sky with a purple haze. Smoke in the sky makes a swirly dark pattern around it. I close my eyes and believe I'm home. I feel my hands to the ground, pretending I'm touching fields of flowers. In reality, I'm touching the bullets fired from the last German attack

A loud whistle disturbs my daydream. I hear other soldiers shouting for Charles to stop, so they can sleep. Charles says its not him, so who could it-

"Get down!" someone yells.

I get confused. In a split second I think, What is happening? Are they bombs? Is one going to hit me? I snap back to reality, and begin to drop.

Before my knees even graze the ground, an object falls on the west side of the trenches, sending up a fireball. Screams, with fire crackling fill my ears. A symphony of gunshots plays right after, whizzing by. The second the explosion goes away, the next one drops. This time, closer to me.

I can't get out of the shock, even though I know that if I don't move, I will die. Arthur tugs and tugs on me, yelling. I muster up the strength in my legs, every step sending a message to my brain saying: Run or die, choose.

I can hear more and more explosions, each deafening me for a moment. Then gunfire. I see nobody is huddled up with their guns against the trench walls. The Germans are attacking. The opposite of what we planned.

Every soldier realizes this at once, as if our minds are connected. I grab my rifle, positioned against my bed, and find a place along the edges that provides good cover. I look through my iron sight, and I feel my finger find the trigger.

We can't see them, so none of us knows where to aim. All we know is to shoot. I hear a loud rain of bullets, followed by more and more bodies hitting the ground.

Suddenly, I see a German armed with a machine gun peeking his head above their trench. My body works before my mind. It points in their direction. This is when my mind kicks in. I line up the iron sight with his forehead. Without giving it any thought, I feel my index finger pull back, firing the weapon.

Blood splatters behind him, his body falling back into the German trench. The shock kicks in. I killed someone. The enemy, yes, but still a person. I come down and crouch at the floor of the trench, holding back the urge to scream.

Suddenly, I hear a thud right next to me. I look to the side, thinking it's another soldier I don't know.

Every other thought drops out of me. Now, I don't hold back the urge to scream, thinking whatever God there is will hear me. Arthur. One of my best friends now lies in a blood puddle, the glistening red liquid flowing out of his head.

I yell as loud as possible, "Medic!" though I know there's nothing anyone can do.

I kneel by his body, brushing his dirty blonde hair back from his eyes. He's dead. Nothing could stop it. Another whistle comes, the noise bearing ever closer. I look into my friend's eyes, one last time. I salute my friend's body.

The whistle grows, almost deafening.

Goodbye, Arthur.