Story Time Contest 2!

The time was early morning; around 6 o’clock. It is the 25th of December. Christmas. I’ve been out on the front lines fighting this damn war for 5 months now, and now I’m missing the holidays with my family. I truly miss stuffing stockings, decorating the Christmas tree, and talking to family, no matter how much shit has gone on between us before I left. But I made a choice, a decision to protect my homeland, my birth land.

Something was off today. I couldn’t hear any shooting, no screaming, nothing. I was unsure whether to be scared, nervous, or glad. I thought something bad happened, or maybe something good, but I had no idea HOW good the day was going to be. I got myself cleaned up and walked outside the dirt bunker we made a few nights previous. I felt the chilling air slide across my face, and it was unnerving and reminding of where I was. I noticed something strange. Very different. There were soldiers in No-Man’s Land. I was flabbergasted.

“What in the BLOODY HELL are you doing up there?!” I screamed at Pvt.Watson, unsure of what was going on.

“It’s a miracle, a Christmas miracle!” he yelled. “You may not believe it, but there’s a damn truce!” he continued.

“What the bollocks? What do you mean “truce”? That’s impossible! It’s gotta be a trap!” I shouted back, worried for his and others’ lives.

“I’m not too sure about that,” he stated. “cause’ they got men up ‘er too, having a good time!” He exclaimed, with a big grin on his face.

I suddenly understood. A lot of things started connecting now. I now realized why I heard a radio, why I heard laughter, why I wasn’t hearing the gruesome sound of bullets flying by the trenches. I thought it was all in my head at first, that it was just me getting used to it. But now I understood. I didn’t believe it at first, but I came to terms and embraced it.

I climbed up the trenches, and saw it all for myself. You would have to be there to believe it, that’s how magical and amazing it was. When I got to the top, there were soldiers from their side and my side – They were TALKING. I never thought I would see something like this, ever in my life. I never fathomed it. The men were split up- some mourning and burying their comrades, crying with the knowledge that their friends were dead and they can’t change it, and others in a more merry mood playing sports. I walked over to the football game, and decided to join in. We played for quite the time, and I enjoyed every second of it, because I knew I wouldn’t get this chance, this opportunity again in this war.

Everyone was so friendly, so kind, as if we haven’t been fighting since July, as if we were best friends. It was uncanny how all the soldiers got along so easily, how none of them cared that they lost comrades in battle.

We finished the football game after about 3 hours of playing. It came to the wire, with them winning by 1 goal. We joked about how it meant that since they won the soccer game, they’d win the war. I had never felt so happy, so elated, so cheerful since I was home with my family. This was something needed in everyone’s life.

The sun began to dawn, and so did everyone’s energy. We all settled down after heaps of fun and entertainment, and had dinner. Some fresh rations and MRE were all we had to eat. But something was different when I ate it today than the other days. I actually tasted the food. In the first time in 5 months I actually tasted it. I saw Watson walk by, chatting it up with some Soldier I knew would die at some point in the war. I had never felt this type of sorrow since I joined the war, but now I was about to burst into tears, knowing that this “truce” won’t last forever.

“Watson,” I said, holding in the tears. “Can you come here for a sec?”

“Yea, one moment.” He said. He told the soldier, to wait, and that he’ll be right back. “What’s up?” he asked, a bit confused.

“I’m scared,” I started. “Scared… to go back to war. I don’t want to, I just can’t… not after today, not after having this Christmas…”

“I know, I know, but it’s not our decision. I don’t want to either, but that’s life. We don’t choose… I wish we could… but we can’t, and we need to forget and move on.” He began saying, starting to tear up.

“How, just HOW could you say that… I can’t believe you would just betray someone like that. Jesus is looking down at us, looking at this war and he’s shaking his head in disappointment in us.” I started rambling, becoming angrier in every word that I say.

“Listen to yourself. You talk about what Jesus would think, while you’re forgetting that YOU SIGNED UP FOR THIS WAR. YOU CHOSE TO KILL. Can’t you see the hypocrisy?” He continued. Watson began to walk away, back to the soldier.

I thought about what he said. He was right. Even though it was Christmas, there was still a War being fought. And I chose to join it. I have no one to blame besides myself, and quite frankly, I am blaming myself.

Something amazing happened, however. I saw military leaders, generals, from my side, and theirs, yelling at their men. I could faintly hear them, but what I could make out was something along the lines of “What are you doing?? This is outrageous! We are at war!” But that wasn’t the Christmas miracle, the miracle was that the soldiers didn’t listen. They didn’t care what the orders were, they were not gonna listen, no matter how much the generals threatened them. It was a one-in-a-kind moment, one that I’ll never forget for the rest of this battle.

I finished my meal and went back to the bunker, unsure of tomorrow. I went to bed, wrapped myself in my blanket and used a sack of sand as my pillow, and closed my eyes. I couldn’t go to sleep, too much on my mind, too much about what tomorrow will be.

I woke up, saddened, as I heard the unforgiving sound of gunshots flying over the trenches. I knew that a miracle only works once…