Letter to an unknown solider
The date is 2999, and your remains have been found in a field in the Kingdom of the Soviet Union (though it would have been called France back then). Your clothes are still intact which surprises us, and your skin has only half decayed. We did tests on your body, and found no explanation for the survival of your remains. A minor miracle perhaps? You are kept in the museum of Stalin in Moscow, as a symbol of greatness, courage and perseverance.
You wear a rough brown shirt, torn by the mortar shell which, inevitably, ripped you apart. Your jacket is specked with dried blood and your scarf is battered and worn. Your helmet is split in two pieces and dirt and blood has stained the strap which has been eroded by the maggots which infest your clothes. The rough trousers, patched by leather, are crippled and used. The boots have lost their hardness, their toughness and their meaning. Now they lie on your feet like old dogs, unmoved by their masters passing. They are soft and worn, with their black polish flaked away and shoelaces snapped.
I wonder why on your face, as sad and hollow it is, a faint smile remains. Is it a sign of pride and bravery? Or, a parting sign from the living world and fading to death? Or, maybe it’s a faint laugh ‘Why me!’ Or, maybe it’s you thinking of you family or looking forward to the war ending; whatever your last thought may be, we are sure of one thing: your death was for a cause that was greater than any needs back then. It was a decisive war which swayed human history and beat out evil from the grasps of the world.
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Letter To An Unknown Soldier
Short StoryThis story is a collection of short letters that have been submitted to the Unknown Soldier project. The project is inspired by a statue that stands on Platform 1 of Paddington Station in London, representing all the millions of soldiers who died –...
