A short story about war and its consequences

I am a weeping willow, standing in the middle of this cemetery.

A serene, and a beautiful place, with a violent past.

It used to be a thriving village here, before war came along,

This place became the epicenter of a fierce battle.

Bright young boys from different countries stood on both sides of the battlefield.

Lads who had no animosity nor could fully comprehend the reason for this chaos,

Sacrificed their life at the mantle of power struggle and regional supremacy.

Those who survived carried scars on body and mind

And those who died, got a burial far away from home

Not many visit here today,

Once in a while, someone comes tracing their family tree,

Proud that their family served in the World War II

I stand and wonder, given a chance

Would the dead exchange this pride for life?

A life that could have been…

I am taking part in the #FridayFotoFiction – Weekly Flash Fiction Writing Challenge hosted byTina and Mayuri

 

It has been some time since I participated in Friday Foto Fiction or wrote a micro-story. Something kept happening and I couldn’t write a story, but this time when I saw the prompt a story popped, quiet suddenly! Even before my mind could decide, my heart was writing away this story.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. This is something that I truly believe in and hope that those holding power realize the worth of a human life, and put enough emphasis on it than power.

Do you ever wonder, are wars worth it in the end? We lose so much! Good men, families, resources and identity! Shouldn’t we be focusing on creating something that will better our lives than tear it down.

Do let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

23 Replies to “A life of possbilities #FridayFotoFiction”

  1. A lovely one — you say so much! I believe that no ‘pride’ is worth a life! And what many forget is, that with each life, so many lives are joined – the loss isnt just ONE, it is a family which suffers!
    The greed we see everyday, the tiny wars being fought on streets, inside offices and homes – is any of it worth it? The devil is winning! 🙁

    Keep writing Neha! your words have the power to disturb and force one to reflect.

  2. Interesting..
    Different People have different priorities.. who are we to decide for them ..
    As long as they don’t hurt others or themselves due to psychological reasons .. I feel it’s totally their call

  3. That’s so wonderfully penned Neha. This is a part is life. One side is filled with bravery and glory while the other side has too much emotions for a loss.

  4. A super like for this one! SO many countless lives are lost in a war and that too for differences among the old and rich. The poor and young have to lay down their lives. The sad thing is this is going to continue for the foreseeable future 🙁

  5. Awesome. Each word got shivers down my spine. It felt like you were actually the weeping willow narrating the story at the time of partition. Beautifully written

  6. This small story speaks a lot and touches deep. I never understood why there’s a need for a war, our soldiers don’t even know why the fight goes on. What is happening internally among the people in power never comes out in open. It’s the soldiers and the common countrymen who suffer in the chaos.

  7. These kind of deeply driven stories comes out instantly and intuitively, we cannot frame these words and plots, it just emerges from our imagination question the reality we keep facing day in day out and we have to stitch those words to weave a beautiful fabric. This story of yours exactly fits into that journey of thought that inspires the writer and also the reader. The moment we ask the question on what people fight for in such war and what do that get at the end, and many don’t stay alive to see what they are fighting for, life becomes subservient to the cause of might and fight.
    😀

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