Tag: war
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IT IS ENOUGH
It isn’t much, but it’s more than most have now. It is a roof and solid walls. The oil lamp will give me light during the nights. There is no radio or television or computer, but I have paper and pencil. It is hard to write from my imagination. What I have seen in the…
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SIMPLE THINGS
Simple things. Being able to take a walk without fear is one of them. The empty blue sky overhead is another. Seeing the children running and playing again, though their innocence has been stolen. The worry remains. How long will it last this time? There is no simple solution. There is too much hate, too…
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THE HANGING ROOM
Somewhere in the rural midwestern USA, after the war has ended. ‘Why bomb a barn way out here? They’ve blown the roof right off. ‘Never had a roof. Was meant to be like this.’ ‘Why have a barn with no roof. What was it for?’ ‘Hangings.’ ‘Really?’ ‘Yeah. Could get about ten on each bar.…
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FOR OUR OWN GOOD
The bars appeared overnight. We didn’t notice until Bill left the house for work and walked smack into them outside the front door. The Presidential decree came soon after. Lockdown again, only this one enforced by steel cages. A strong rebuke: until we could all learn to behave for the greater good, we’ll remain behind…
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COLD TEARS
They huddled closer together as the roar passed overhead. The stone walls of the barn did little to protect them from the frost outside. Their breaths formed white clouds in the air, their cold tears stung their faces. They heard an explosion in the distance. Then a series of cracks like gunfire. They had come…
Iain Kelly 