The Pendant
490Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuuLxo2tpkW
Jeffrey touched the locket around his neck, which was resting on his furious heart. He grabbed and opened it, looking at the wedding picture of his wife inside of it. He pressed the little photo to his lips and closed his eyes for a bit. The memory of that beautiful woman, whose picture was always resting on his heart lately, motivated and inspired him.
The desire to go back home and kiss her senseless was so much that it almost made his tears escape. But Jeffrey remembered why he was actually doing this. The enemy was only meters away, and he would do everything to beat them and make his woman proud. After all she had said: “Bravery is to fight for your nation, and my man is brave”
How can he dare disappoint her? Not just her, but his entire nation. He would make all of them proud. The weather was freezing cold, little snow flakes were falling down from the gray sky, onto Jeffrey’s face. He looked around him and took a deep breath, for he couldn’t stop admiring the beauty of this foreign country. He was so used to seeing brown land, that all those flowers and colorful leaves of the trees were marvelous to his eyes. He had never witnessed snowing, while the land is still green, he had never actually witnessed a green land, nor colorful flowers and trees of every shade.
Jeffrey was hiding behind a tree, which was covered with orange and red leaves, while his friend, Tom, was hiding behind another one which was covered with yellow leaves, and the leaves were actually a bit larger than his tree. Jeffrey looked at his friend who was smiling from ear to ear, then he nodded. Tom nodded back at him and winked. This has always been a tradition for them, to encourage each other. Just like every true friendship, theirs started with hatred. Never did Jeffrey imagine that Tom would be his closest friend in the army, but here they were.
They have been informed earlier that the enemy was only meters away, and that made Jeffrey’s pulse quicken. He wanted to get rid of them, the excitement was so much to bear. He thought to himself, that those motherfuckers don’t deserve to live in such a beautiful land, and he was happy to know that their country was strong enough to take it from them. Finally, they have been given the sign to move forward, so both Jeffrey and Tom started walking slowly and silently, hiding behind the trees now and then. So far they couldn’t see any enemy, or any other foreigners.
It was when Jeffrey was holding the locket tight in his hand that he heard gunshots, fortunately he found shelter soon enough, So the bullet hit the tree’s strong trunk. He pointed his rifle at where he thought the shooter was and looked closely at his target. There behind a large rock a man was hiding, he could see his blue uniform, and he was ready to take him down. He didn’t have time to worry about Tom or his other friends, or to listen to the roaring and shouting. He would only focus on his target for now.
Just when the man with the blue clothes moved, Jeffrey shot him and hit his shoulder. One was down, now he had to look for more. He looked around with his rifle’s lenses and saw three men all shooting at a tree where Tom was hiding behind. He pointed the rifle the rifle at the one closest to him and hit him right at his forehead. Just when he was about to shoot another one, He grunted as he fell as a very sharp pain on his arm, he stared at the angry man who was still holding the knife, which was piercing his arm flesh. Then he kicked the angry man on his stomach, making him fall to his knees. He hit his head with the rifle, making the enemy spit out blood and kept punching him several times, making him grunt. Jeffrey cursed himself for letting his guard down, and getting this small but deep wound, since the man before him was actually very weak, he wondered as he kicked him again, whether all of the enemy’s men were weak as this one, and if so, why is a war needed anyways? They could easily take them down.
The angry man was walking on his knees, as his hands were plugging the yellow and red flowers, in search for a stone, to hurt Jeffrey with it. But Jeffrey was smarter, and stronger at this point. He kicked the man again in the stomach, making him roll over.
The angry man didn’t look angry anymore, his brows were furrowed and he looked terrified. Jeffrey reached behind his back and pulled his gun out, pointing it at him.
“This is how you fight” He said, and smiled. Feeling proud that he was serving a country who knew what they were doing.
“Please…” The angry man pleaded, staring deep into Jeffrey’s eyes, ”Please… don’t kill me…”
Jeffrey on the other hand was too excited the adrenaline rush was so much. He couldn’t actually remember the number of the enemy’s soldiers whom he has killed, but he knew that this weird looking guy would be one of them. Too bad for him.
“Please…” The man kept begging as a drop of tear rolled down his cheek, “I have children and a wife to feed, they’ll die of hunger”
“Do you think I care?!” Jeffrey barked and spat on the ground in front of the man, he didn’t know why he hasn’t killed him yet, usually it doesn’t take much time for him to finish someone off. He knew he had to do it, so what if his family dies of hunger? It was the enemy’s family after all. Not his people, not his family. They were different people of different country. They spoke another language, plus, they were the enemy, and bad people should be punished everywhere. Therefore he pulled the trigger, the bullet went right through the man’s chest and he was dead in milliseconds.
Jeffrey checked the man’s pulse just in case, and sure enough he was finished. He stared at the man’s face for a moment, recalling what he has said and couldn’t help but feel sorry for his family now. But he did what had to be done, if he hadn’t killed the man, he might have been in his shoes now. he heard running footsteps and pointed his gun at the comer.
“It’s me?” Tom said, raising both of his hands and grinning wildly, “We won, the enemy ran away”
Jeffrey put his gun down and smiled at his friend, “That’s great news” He said, as more of their soldier friends appeared and walked towards them, all of them wearing the same expression of Tom on their faces. They hugged and fist bumped each other, roaring with laughter from happiness. As Tom was recalling how he has killed so many men of the enemy, their captain arrived at their place too and ordered them to go back to the camp. He was radiating from happiness too, but he wasn’t showing it in fear of dignity. At the camp they were told it’s safe to go back home and rest for now, until they’re being called. Fortunately his wound was not that deep and it has stopped bleeding so he couldn’t contain himself with the thought of his wife and his baby.
The journey home was uneventful, Jeffrey was living in a small town, where he had met his wife and had fallen in love with her from the first time he saw her. He had bought her favorite biscuits and was walking the streets of his town, towards the small house on the far end of the road. As he walked he was humming the anthem of his country to himself. The green land and colorful trees and flowers of the enemy’s land was gorgeous, but the brown ground of his land felt like home to him. He suddenly strange, he stopped humming, slowed his walking, and looked around. There was absolutely no one outside. Jeffrey looked closer and noticed that in fact some of the windows were broken, some walls have become black and actually a few doors were wide open. The cats which used to play with the children were no where to be seen. He felt uneasy, he didn’t want to assume bad things instantly, he was scared to move on, having seeing all those houses which didn’t look familiar anymore, but then he also died to see his family. So he ran as fast as he could, even faster than those military exercises . He didn’t dare look at the other remaining houses, he wanted to see for himself.
As he reached the house, he took a moment to breathe and stared at it. The door was wide open, but none of the windows were broken nor has the wall colors changed. He walked inside slowly, his heart beating furiously against his rib cage, and gasped at what he saw. Every single furniture in that house was broken, torn, or burnt. Jeffrey’s knees were shaking and he fisted his palms as he was searching the entire house for his family.
He almost stumbled on something due to his carelessness and fear. He looked down at the floor to find his wife, with their child right in her arms, laying on the cold hard ground, dead. And the pendant he had bought for her birthday in her hands. Jeffrey’s shout and blubbering could be heard throughout the town, if there were still other people left, which he doubted. For he has not only lost his family because of war, he also lost and entire town’s people and his pride and dignity. Now he was all alone, with no one to love and trust, and he was wondering if the angry man’s family feel the same way now.
The end...
490Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4b7iz7IF3f
