The promise of a Soldier

The promise of a Soldier

Two friends. One promise made.
To return and continue their friendship.
To return so they can have families.
To return with glory and victory.

Alas, war called too soon.
War would separate them.
He would put them into divisions.
One on horseback.
The other in the trenches.

It was cold when they said goodbye.
They made the promise to return.
Once they looked back to each other.
And then the horns blowed...

The horseman.
It was so damned cold. Cold without happyness. For there was no snow. But your limbs would freeze off if you didn't wear gloves.
The horses were tired, and so were the men. Food was on ration, and the drinks were cold.
Damn the war, damn the enemy. Damn them for luring us into this wasteland.
Then a messenger arrived at the camp. Looks like we'll be on our way again. The general spoke to us. That the enemy wasn't far away. That we'd crush them,
and that we'd trample them with our horses. Nobody listened. We'd die, that's the only thing we knew. We'd die for peace.
So we mounted our horses and continued. After half an hour we saw them. The bastards. The legion we had been hunting. The horn blowed and
we charged. A 2 kilometer charge. Long enough to let the enemy know we were here, ready to die.
They noticed us after 500 meters. They got their guns.They made a front. A wall of fire. A wall of bullets. A wall of death.
1000 meter to go. They aimed their guns, waited for us to get into their line of fire.
900 meters. I thought about my home, about my parents.
800 meters to go. I thought about Vera, my love. I'd marry her when I got home.
700 meters. I thought about my friend. What's he doing right now?
600 meter to go. No time anymore to think, they fire their guns. Screams of pain as my comrades fall. Damn, one round of firing and already
that much casualties?
500 meters to go. Again they load their guns.
400 meters. Bullets fly whistling past my head, killing countless of people.
300 meters. So many have already fallen. We don't get near, they're so far away!
200 meters. A bullet hits my saber. Lucky me.
100 meters. Heavily breathing I draw my saber. Battle starts. I hit a man in his neck. A scream of pain confirms it. But as I look up,
trying to find the next victim, I look into his eyes. I hear gunfire and my horse screams. Last thing I remember is my horse falling onto me. Then
all went black.
I wake up. I try to get up. I scream from pain and look down. My horse fell onto me. Probably crushed all my bones under hers. It's all silent
around me. I'm all alone, and thirsty. But nothing to drink at hand, just blood. Blood everywhere. I'm lying in a pool of blood. I think about my
friend. How's he faring? I'm afraid I'll have to break my promise. I won't be coming home...


The footsoldier.
Not able to sleep I lie in the mud. Around me the restless sounds of soldiers facing the same insomnia. A few miles away I hear the sound of battle.
Others are dying there. Paying lives for a few mile. Just like we have done done today. 6 miles of ground we have won, half a million men are gone.
What is this for madness? Why am I even here? I try to think of something else. I turn on my other side, thinking of Rianne.
She is the one and only girl I'll ever love. Once I return I'll marry her and have a family. I'll see my friend again. How is he faring now? Already on his way home? Won all the battles?
That'd be quite like him. A gunshot rips my thoughts apart. A deserter probably. Whomever tries to flee from the slaughter gets killed.
There's only one way to escape from the war, and that's by dying. Morning comes swift, too swift. For when the morn comes we'll have to continue
fighting. The sun has barely crept over the horizon, it's still dark in the trenches. Then, a whisper, telling me that the general has called.
He want's us to continue the battle. We wake everyone, make ourselves ready for combat. The horn blows, we climb out of the trenches. Running towards
our death. We run blindly towards the enemy, whom are hiding in their trenches, shooting us like deers. I feel the impact of a bullet in my shoulder.
I feel it ripping apart the muscles, then the bone, more muscles, and then it leaves my body again. But the pain stays with me, making me unable to run.
I'm half blind and bleeding heavily. Then I walk into the gas. Poisongas, one of the new tricks of this war. A slow and a painfull death. For it's not
really poisonous, just really acid. Making your lungs fill themselves with fluid. Coughing and walking blindly I trip over something and fall. Another
pain pierces my head. Barbed whire, I'm stuck in the barbed whire! With a wound in my shoulder and unbreathable air around me! As I start to loose my
consiousness I think of my friend. I hope he's doing better than me. I hope he won't have to experience such a torment. Alas, I have to break my
promise. I won't be coming home...

And there they laid.
Each on another battlefield.
The promise had been broken,
Just like their bones.

No families
No children
No glorious return
Only their friendship remained...