----.ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎.----
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
°･:*✧✧*:･ﾟ
:・ﾟ
･ﾟ✧
'

ㄥ|爪|ㄒㄥ乇丂丂

✧*:･ﾟ✧

ch¹ - meet him

---.ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎.---

Damp ashes and smoke. This is all what is left of the once green floors of the woods. The evergreen trees, which once bore juicy fruits and lush green leaves, are now just skeletons of what they were. All because of that one shell.

I don't know whether to say of life as crazy, or cruel.

One moment you could have everything, and the next, nothing.

All was calm, pretty, happy, before that one cursed day, which twisted our lives into such a messy ball of tangles, that it looks impossible to straighten it out. Not that we have it in our power to do so anyway.

The war broke out four years ago, yet hasn't shown us of its death. It seems endless, as it goes on and on. We've lost all hopes. We already did that day, when we'd lost them.

Now all I'm left with are my brothers and my sister-in-law. My elder brother is into his marriage since the past 5 years, while my younger one is merely 6 years old. My good fortune had allowed me to live through a childhood I can reminisce happily, but my younger brother's wasn't as kind, given, his parents being snatched away from him at such a tender age of 2. There's nothing I can do to bring them back, yet I try so hard to be a parent to my precious younger sibling.

The little child, which proves to be our ball of happiness, does not understand the graveness of the situation in hand, simply because we don't want him to. We don't want him to know of the truth of the war, and the sufferings following it. As we had the childhood every single kid deserves, it is only fair that he does too. Therefore, call it whatever, but we like to provide him with everything little thing, or big, which is possible, be it love, affection, or material.

And this time, it had to be an apple.

Of course, it wouldn't have been such a big deal if this wish was offered a few years back, where the trees which held the fruit were mere metres away from us. But that isn't the case now. The supply run carried out by the soldiers every week left the trees depleted of the fruit, and now none were left.

Sure, the soldiers had emptied our trees off the fruit, but they never knew of the apple orchard hidden behind the dense woods, merely a few hundred metres away. There, is where I'm headed to right now.

Our village, Shilsong, being situated at the borders of the warfield, had us perfectly under danger, but those woods which surrounded it acted as a protective wall for us. And our house being situated just on the edge of the woods, made it not too long to reach the orchard. Stretching my arms, standing on my tiptoes, I pluck the aromatic fruit and collect them into a small sack I'd brought along with me. The sun is high over the head, yet it fails to penetrate the canopy of the trees that were lucky enough to be out of the way of the damned shell.

I hurry up with my picking, realising the day had already begun ripening with the 4 hours which are already past noon. Once I'm finished with collecting enough apples for all of my dear family, I turn on my heels, to hurry up on the way back home.

I exit the peaceful, silent air of the orchards, once again stepping onto the ground made up of withering soil and dead grass. The green changes into a color not so pleasant to the eye of a soft hearted human, symbolising the atrocities of the war on life.

Feeling my energy drain inch by inch, as I take step after step, I finally pause on my path, stepping closer to yet another bark of a dead tree, to lean my weight against it. Dressed in a deep brown, I fear little of dirtying my clothes, and detach the water bottle from my belt, to open its cap and take a sip, then another.

Taking in the surrounding, my heart aches as I imagine the picture of the bomb hitting this area. The trees which once held the precious home to little beings, be it a bird, or a squirrel, now stood dead, lifeless, just like how their purpose of life was. The strong trunks, which witnessed the mother bird return back to her little chicks, as she fed them lovingly, now hung low in shame, being mere trays, which held the ashes of them.

Drowned deep in my thoughts, I fail to notice the body which appears from behind the trees, limping their way to wherever, and I still don't notice them until they're completely in my sight. A gasp leaves through my lips, my insides coming to fill up with anxiousness, both for the reason of him being here, and for what was to happen with me. My eyes trail his figure in horror, it seems as if he hasn't taken notice of me yet. He seems lost, not only in direction, but also with his sanity, as he idly and blankly forces his body to take step after step heavily.

And then comes the moment, when his legs finally give up under him, and his body collapses dead, face-first to the ground. Another gasp fills my breath, before I hurry towards him. I kneel beside his body, resting my bottle on the ground. Raising my shaky hands to his shoulders, I hold onto them gently, to shake him awake gently, only to yank them away as soon as I feel some liquid staining my hands. Blood. Then is when, I take notice of the angry wound of a bullet piercing his left shoulder, glaring right back at me.

Taking a deep breath, I start again, and finally succeed in turning his body over, so that he's laying on his back.

My eyes widen as they fall on his face. Scratches and dirt patches litter his face, tips of his hair falling messily over his closed eyes. Yet, he's beautiful. My hand moves on its own to move his hair, covered in soot, away from his eyes, but freezes, when the person under groans lowly, his eyes fluttering open, but barely. I can read the exhaustion written in his eyes.

My eyes trail down to the thick fabrics that cover his body.

A soldier indeed. Yet, the thing which makes me shudder in my place is the fact that he wears his uniform blue.

✧*:･ﾟ✧

1113 words.

----.ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎.----
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
°･:*✧✧*:･ﾟ
:・ﾟ
･ﾟ✧
'