“King Richard’s Nobel Men” By Arianna Mickelson

“Gird the kingdom if you are afraid of the attack, King.” Richard’s nobles were encouraging him to secure the palace from the awaiting attacks.

“Are my guards and soldiers unable to protect our people? Are you afraid of defending our people?” King Richard countered unctuously, trying to learn why such brave men were acting so cowardly.

“No, King,” Sir Timothy said, ascending up the thrown steps, “Certainly, we are not trying to stave our duties; we are just looking to protect our wives and children!”

“I understand your concerns. I agree. We will fight if they challenge us.” King Richard stated this matter of factly, “and we will pilfer their hopes of victory! We will give any sustenance they’ve brought to our starving children!”

The next night, King Marvin’s acolytes charged into King Richard’s village They were mercilessly defeated.

            “His army, made out to be so well put together, yet no more than roughly hewn boys. I am glad, my men, I am glad you spared their families the grief of burying a son. My knights are no monsters. You gave them more than we could have taken. I am so grateful to have such a noble group of men under my arm! Drink to your many victories men!”

 

 

 

 

“George on Trial” By Arianna Mickelson

George Milton has committed murder. Not in self defense as he claims, but with a premeditated crime. Lennie Smalls, George’s victim, was shot once, from behind, where the spine meets the back of the head. Milton and Smalls traveled around job to job as migrant workers. Their relationship was much like a brotherhood, yet George took it upon himself to end this man’s life.

George Milton knew his life would be simpler without having to care for his friend Lennie. Lennie had a mental retardation, and didn’t know right from wrong. Milton was constantly being kicked out of jobs, and all because of Lennie. All George wanted was to work until he could have his own piece of land, and Lennie was holding him back. In an attempt to better his own life, he took his best friend’s, his brother’s.

Milton was well aware of Lennie’s learning disability.  He is constantly trying to keep Lennie away from others, telling him not to speak at certain times, trying to avoid problems, not for Lennie, but for himself. Although the two were close enough to be brothers, Milton was more like a father to Smalls. Milton taught Smalls the difference between right and wrong countless times, but Lennie just couldn’t remember. Milton got so fed up with teaching Lennie, so unhappy with his acquaintance; his rash thoughts drove him to steal a bunk mate’s gun. He blamed this theft on poor old Lennie. George used this stolen gun to murder a man, all in a premeditated attack.

Milton will claim that Smalls pulled the stolen gun on him, that Smalls had tried to kill him. We all know this is a false accusation. Smalls idolized Milton; he did everything George told him. Never, never, would a man with such a deep devotion kill the man he loved the most. George Milton snuck away to the bunk house and stole Carlson’s gun. He then confronted Lennie alone, shot him, and told the men who were awaiting George at the highway and told them Lennie pulled the gun on him.

The gunshot wound on Lennie, at the top of the spine, under the head, is an unlikely position for an entry wound if the gun went off during a struggle in self defense as Milton claimed. For George Milton’s story to check out there would be a gunshot in the front of the body, or in an arm, maybe a leg because in a case of self defense, if the trigger was pulled, an entry wound would appear in the front of the body. As jurors, you must find George Milton guilty for the charge of murder, because the placement of this gunshot entry wound is a little perfected, don’t you think?

 

“Roses are Red” By Mackenzie Deak

“It’s stupid.”
“No it’s not!” Rosie defended crossing her arms.
Rosie’s boyfriend Lucas raised an eyebrow at her, staring her down with his gorgeous blue eyes. He crossed his arms as well. “Why would you ever want to go to a crazy fortune teller for your birthday? They’ll end up telling you something scary and then you’ll be paranoid for the rest of your life.”
Rosie narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m not afraid of anything. And it’s only for fun anyway. It’s not like the things those crazy ladies say are actually true.”
“You never know,” he sang.
“You’re too superstitious,” she told him running a hand through her long blond hair.
Lucas gave Rosie a grin and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, kissing her on top of her head.
“Let’s go to English,” he declared.
Rosie sighed and agreed. As they walked away, Rosie secretly smiled to herself because honestly, she was going to a fortune teller whether her boyfriend liked it or not.
The next day after school, Rosie told Lucas that she was going over to her best friend Sarah’s house and that she’d call him later. Sarah and Rosie got into Sarah’s car and she began driving to their destination.
“Are you really sure you want to go behind Lucas’s back and go to this place?” Sarah asked Rosie.
“Relax, Sarah. I’ll tell him tomorrow. It’s not a big deal,” she answered.
Sarah gave her an uneasy glance. “Yeah, but he told you he wouldn’t feel comfortable with you going.”
Rosie waved her off. “He’ll get over it. He loves me too much.”
Sarah merely shrugged her shoulders and in minutes, they had arrived at their destination. The building was rather old looking and the bright neon sign on the front of the building read ‘Wise Women’s Fortunes: Fortunes, Magic, and More’.
Rosie grinned and they both got out of the car, walking inside. There was a foyer in the front, with a desk. The walls were covered with drapes and random fabric. There were a few lit candles here and there and they both crinkled their noses at the smell of strong incents.
On top of the desk there was one of those hotel bellhop bells, so Rosie went up and tapped it, a small ‘ping’ echoing off the walls. Being herself, she kept tapping the bell until someone came.
Suddenly, a woman dressed in genie-like robes came out of a back room to stand behind the desk. She smiled warmly at them and Sarah and Rosie stole a glance at each other, trying not to laugh at her attire.
“Hello, dearies. Welcome to Wise Women’s Fortunes, what can I do for you today?” she asked them.
“Um, I’d like to get my fortune read,” Rosie spoke up.
“Of course, of course,” she said happily. She stared at Rosie intently for a moment, squinting her eyes to see her in the dim candle light. “Do I know you dear? You look quite familiar.”
Rosie stared at her too, not recognizing her. She shook her head slowly. “No, I don’t think we’ve met.”
She tapped her chin, thinking. “What’s your name, dearie?”
“Um, Rosie Briarwood,” Rosie told her.
Her eyes suddenly lit up and she clapped her hands together. “Oh! You’re John’s daughter! Am I correct?”
She stared at her some more, really confused about how she knew her dad’s name. “You know my dad?” Rosie asked her.
She waved a hand at Rosie as if it was nothing. “Of course I do! John and I went to high school together. After your parents got married, my sisters and I were invited to your baby shower,” she explained.
Rosie gave Sarah a glance then looked back at the lady. “Oh, wow. Small world.”
She held a hand out. “Glenda Witchworth. I’m the oldest of my sisters. There are 13 of us you see, and we’re all fortune tellers in this building.”
Rosie shook her hand. “13 sisters?” she said in disbelief.
She nodded eagerly. “Yes, and I’ll direct you to one right now so you can have your fortune read, dearie.”
She nodded and Sarah told Rosie she’d stay out in the foyer while she got her fortune read. Glenda told Rosie to go to one of the rooms in the back, where one of her sisters would tell her fortune.
The room Rosie walked into was pretty much the same as the foyer. The room was decorated with the same royal purple drapes as the front room and there were a few candles on the right wall. The only difference was that there was a round table in the middle of the room, covered with the same purple fabric, with a small crystal ball in the center. There was one chair on either side of the table and she snickered at the cheesiness of the crystal ball. This was going to be interesting.
Rosie sat down on one of the chairs, and then another middle-aged lady walked through a door on the opposite side of the room. However, this lady looked nothing like Glenda, and she wasn’t pleasing to look at, especially with a huge mole on her right cheek.
“Hello, welcome,” she said, opening her arms as if she was pretending to give the air a hug. “I am Hilga, your fortune finder for today.”
Rosie raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m…Rosie,” she introduced.
‘Hilga’ sat down in the chair opposite her, placing her hands on the crystal ball. She stole a glance at her, and then turned back to the ball.
“What’s your last name? You look familiar,” she said, the welcoming tone in her voice now gone.
“Um, Briarwood,” Rosie told her. She froze, as if Rosie had struck a nerve. “Is Glenda your sister? She was telling me about how you guys knew my dad in high school or something. I guess you guys all came to my baby shower. Small world, right?”
Hilga scowled, leaning back in the chair. “Oh, yes. I knew John,” she spat, emphasizing on her dad’s name. “That man was cruel to me. All of my sisters except me were invited to your shower.”
“Oh, um…I’m…sorry?” Rosie said.
Hilga scoffed at Rosie as if she didn’t believe her. “Of course you are.”
Hilga glared at her, and then placed her hands back on the crystal ball. Suddenly, her scowl turned into a creepy smirk. Her eyes snapped up to Rosie’s blue ones and Rosie flinched. “I’ve just seen your future, Ms. Briarwood,” she said almost happily. “Let’s just say it’s not too pleasant.”
She raised an eyebrow at her once again. “Try me,” Rosie challenged.
Hilga continued to grin like the Cheshire cat. “On your 17th birthday, you, Rosie Briarwood, will get into a dreadful car accident and die.”
For a second Rosie believed her, but then she realized that she was just trying to get revenge for what her dad did, probably just scaring her into being paranoid. “Whatever you say,” Rosie laughed.
Hilga frowned. “I’m serious. You are going to die in two days.”
Rosie laughed again. “Maybe you need to get your fortune telling skills checked.”
She gasped and stood up from the chair quickly. Rosie just stared her down until she stormed out of the room, leaving out the door in which she came in. She rolled her eyes and stood up from the chair as well, leaving the room to go back to the foyer and get Sarah.
“Excuse me!” a voice called. Rosie was the only one in the hall so she turned around. Another middle-aged lady that resembled Glenda, but was defiantly a few years younger, was chasing after her. When she caught up to Rosie, she realized her eyes were widened and it looked like she had been spooked by something.
“Your name, is it Rosie Briarwood?” she asked Rosie franticly.
She nodded her head slowly. “Yeah, who are you?”
“My name is Estella Witchworth. I realize you’ve just had your fortune read by my sister, Hilga?”
“Yeah,” she answered. “Why?”
“Do not listen to what she has told you, she lied about your fortune! You are not going to die in a car crash. Instead, you will fall into a deep coma for one year!” she explained.
Rosie snickered at her. “Whatever you say.” Then she turned around and continued her way down the hall. Estella didn’t try and stop her.
When Rosie got back to the foyer, she grabbed Sarah’s arm, not bothering to pay, ignoring Glenda’s good-byes, and left the building.
“What was that about?” Sarah asked Rosie as they got in her car.
Rosie shook her head. “Nothing. This really was a stupid idea.”
“Why? What did the fortune teller say to you?”
“Well apparently, she hates my dad, so she hates me now, and then she tried to tell me that on my birthday I’m going to get into a car crash and die,” Rosie laughed. “Then, as I was leaving, another sister of theirs told me instead of dying, I’m going to fall into a coma for a year. How crazy is that, right?”
Sarah stared at her wide-eyed. “What?! You’re going to fall into a coma in two days?”
Rosie raised an eyebrow at her. “Sarah, come on. Do you really think what those psychotic ladies say are true?”
Sarah shrugged, but still looked shocked. “I don’t know, I mean…what if it is true?”
Rosie laughed at her. “Don’t worry, Sarah.  Nothing is going to happen to me.”

At school the next day as Rosie was at her locker in the morning, Lucas approached her. “Hey,” Rosie said after he kissed her. “I have something to tell y-“
Lucas cut her off. “I know, Sarah told me where you two went yesterday.” Rosie made a mental note to scold Sarah when she saw her.
“I’m sorry. But I really wanted to go and I knew you didn’t want me to.”
Lucas waved a hand at her. “Don’t worry about it Rosie. I have a plan.”
Rosie smiled. “What do you mean you have a plan?”
“Sarah also told me what the fortune teller told you. So, my plan is that on your birthday, you are not allowed to drive a car or be in one for that matter,” he explained.
She raised an eyebrow at him. Rosie realized she had been doing that a lot lately. “Whatever you say.”
On the 18th of May, Rosie got millions of ‘happy birthdays’ throughout the entire day. Her friends were throwing her a surprise party at 6, which she had secretly found out about, and Rosie was all ready to go by 5:45.
Neither her mom or dad was home, and Rosie hesitated before getting into her car by herself. What if Lucas was right? Rosie thought to herself. What if Hilga was right? But she shook the feelings away as she snickered to herself again about what had actually happened at Wise Women’s Fortunes.
Rosie started playing the radio as she pulled out onto the street and began singing along, super pumped for her surprise party. She drove onto the main road, continuing to sing along to The All-American Reject’s Move Along.
Rosie didn’t even notice the car pull straight out in front of her.

One year later…
Lucas opened the door to the room Rosie was assigned to in the hospital.
She had been in a coma for exactly a year now, for today was her 18th birthday. Lucas had visited her every day since then; he loved her way too much to ever leave her for someone else. As much as she was stubborn, he loved her to death. Rosie was the one he wanted to marry and spend the rest of his life with, if she ever woke up.
For her birthday, he had bought her a bouquet of gorgeous red roses. Roses were her favorite flower and red was her favorite color. He remembered how it always made her smile or blush whenever he used to give her one. If only he could see her smile again.
Lucas sat down in one of the couch chairs the hospital had put into her room so it could accommodate him, Rosie’s parents, and occasionally Sarah and other family members.
He held his head in his hands for a moment, and then looked up at Rosie. He admired how beautiful she was; her silky long blond hair, her soft skin, and her naturally red lips.
He hadn’t kissed Rosie for a long time. It had been over a year. If only he could again.
He looked at her lips again. I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt, Lucas thought.
Lucas stood up from the couch and made his way over to Rosie. Her hands were clasped lightly over her stomach.
Suddenly, without even thinking, Lucas leaned down and softly placed his lips on Rosie’s, giving her a kiss. When he opened his eyes, they widened as he noticed Rosie’s blue ones staring directly at him.
“Lucas?” she whispered quietly.
Lucas began crying hysterically and pulled Rosie close to him, never letting go.

“From Regular to Royal” By Christina Nhep

From Regular to Royal

I will never forget that day, the day that changed my life, the day of my new beginning. It started with the day of the cave festival but it was decided that I couldn’t go because of my sudden pains and groaning that began the night before. Once Wei Ping and Stepmother were dressed and on their way to the cave festival with the slave boy I crawled into the storeroom. I went over to the hole under the loose stone in the floor I had discovered yesterday. I was excited to see the things Mother had left for me as she said in her letter I had also found and read. After bundling all of the contents in the hole together I took them into the light of the main cavern room. There was Mother’s pearls, the fine gold embroidery on her green silk dress, the kingfisher feathered cloak, and a pair of gold shoes which Mother’s letter had not mentioned but caught my attention the most. Without another thought I raced down the hill, plunged myself in the spring fed pool and scrubbed myself from head to toe. Then I came back to the cave and slowly slipped on the dress, the pearls, and the cloak. I smoothed my hair and put it in a bun with the ivory picks I had found in the hole. Finally I slipped my feet into the gold shoes and they nestled my feet like a chick under her mother’s wings. Soon before I realized, I was walking down the hill toward the park where the cave festival was taking place. The park had never held so many people at once before and I was worried about how to keep myself form being seen from Wei Ping and Stepmother but it was easy to get lost in the crowd. As I passed the men they told me how pretty I was dressed in green but I wouldn’t look at those men. Young people who got married without it being arranged by their parents could be put to death, so instead I went off to look around. The day passed by far too quickly and as the sun started to wane I realized I didn’t want to stay and listen to the ci completion. Although I was upset that I wasn’t able to share my own poem I longed to go home. As I turned around I saw Wei Ping and Stepmother staring at me and my heart began to race so I quickly ran passed them. On the race home I tripped over the roots of a dead tree and lost one of Mother’s gold shoes. I finally got home and wept in the storeroom, sorry that I had lost one of Mother’s gold shoe. With no other choice I changed back into my old dress and placed all of Mother’s lovely things neatly back in the hole. The next morning Wei Ping and Stepmother were telling me about the cave festival and how they saw a beautiful girl dressed in green that lost a gold shoe and looked so much like me. There was no screaming. No whipping. No banishing. Stepmother and Wei Ping hadn’t known it was me last night at all. We continued our daily routine as mother sought for suitors for Wei Ping. Then one morning one of the old women who assisted in marriage arrangements showed up at our doorstep. Xiu Mei announced that the prince was coming to propose a marriage to the young women who lost a gold shoe at the cave festival.  She also told them that he was going from village to village letting every female who went to the cave festival try it on so Stepmother gave Xiu Mei two coins to add their names to the list. I watched as they primped themselves for the prince’s arrival and as he ordered one of his men to first try the shoe on Wei Ping only half of her foot could get in. then he ordered him to try it on stepmother but she couldn’t get her heel in no matter how hard she tried. The prince announced they were they last two names on the list and yet none of the women fit the shoe. Astonished at how special Mother’s shoes were I spoke from the shadows and as we carried on our conversation about me not being or perhaps being “the one” I crawled into the storeroom and dressed quickly in the dark. Once I stepped back into the room Stepmother and Wei Ping sat astonished while the prince simply stared in silence.

“Fairytale” and “Smile” by Ivy Swinski

Fairytale

Look around and what do you see

A girl that fits in perfectly

But if looked at closely you will find,

You only see her half of the time

She hides herself in the tower of her mind.

She’s the princess and Evil Queen in the fairytale she devised,

Waiting for the prince to come save her.

But he’s not there

He’s not coming

It’s time to live out of our mind

 

Smile

I take a deep breath

Count to three

32 perfect teeth smiling at me

‘cause I always smile

‘cause I am the strong one to rely on.

“That Night” By Andrew Ounkeo

It was a Saturday morning. I was snoozing off until my alarm clock woke me up. I didn’t want to but I had to because of the big party I was having. I forced myself off my bed and rubbed my eyes. I walk to my computer and turn it on. Meanwhile as that’s happening I walk to the bathroom and brush my teeth. I try to sing while I was brushing but I stopped because toothpaste was going out of my mouth and landing on the sink. I rinse with my mouthwash and gargle for a couple of seconds. Walking back to my room I remember that my mom and dad left to go on a business trip together. My dad said he would check up on me but he said he doesn’t really have to, I mean I had to worry a little bit at least. I went to my computer and went on Facebook. I saw that everyone was writing about my party tonight. I was so happy, so I turned off my computer and walked to my kitchen to cook up some breakfast. I open the refrigerator and took out four eggs, some bacon, ham sausage, and some mayonnaise, miracle whip to be exact. I brang out a frying pan and sprayed it with non-stick spray. I cooked the four eggs sunny side up because I love the yolk. Then I cook the bacon and ham, and put the sausage in the oven. I toast the bread in the toaster and then construct the master piece of a sandwich. It was so marvelous that I had to take a picture of it and send it to my friends. Then I began to devour the sandwich, man was it great the eggs, and all the meats. It is so good that I finished it in five minutes. After that I washed the dishes. I look over to the oven clock and it said eleven thirty.

“Oh my God!”, I said.

I hurry to my phone and call my five best friends.

They all rush over, I get a sigh of relief. My best friends bring out the best in me like Renz he is smart but is really strong. Tyrone is the best dressed one. Christian he’s usually a downer but we usually get him to do things.  Devon is cool he is like a skateboarder kind of guy and he makes beats for music. And Alex is my brother from another mother we go way back.

“You ready for the party?”, I said

“Yea it’s going to be epic”, Devon said

“Hopefully”, Christian said

Renz and Tyrone didn’t have a comment I guess they were really excited for the party.

“Alright were going to buy some sofa and chips first and then setup for the                      music and then were all done.”, I said

“Ok.”

Renz drove us to the local Walmart since he is sixteen and has a car he usually drives us everywhere. I got the carriage and started walking to the chip aisle. We already decided on some potato chips. So after we got our chips we went to the soda aisle. We had a lot of choices to pick out from.

“Can we get Sprite?”, Christian said

“No.”, I said

“How about some Mountain Dew?”, Devon said

“Yea Mountain dew will give us a little bit of energy when were dancing.”, Renz said

“Yea well get Mountain Dew.”

“Alright the last soda well decide between is Coke and Pepsi.”

“Coke!”

“Coke!”

“Coke!”

“Coke!”

“Pepsi.”, Christian said

It was always Christian who voted against everyone. I grabbed six packs of Mountain Dew and six packs of Coke. We went to the cashier, she scanned our things and we payed her. We lugged all the bags to the car and drove to my house.

We arrived at my house and now we were hanging out in my living room. I looked at my watch and is said twelve thirty. Six hours until my party. Alex called his uncle and asked for some stereos and asked if he could set them up and he said yes. Now we wait, we watched some TV. An hour goes by and his uncle still isn’t here.

“Where’s your uncle?”, Devon said

“Let me check on him.”

Alex went outside and called his uncle. I flipped the channel around and went on MTV. The door crashes open…

“Dude my uncle’s truck broke down on the highway!”

“Oh my God”, Everyone said

“I know he said he will be here in another hour.”

“He better hurry because we still need to get washed up and dressed for the party.”, Tyrone said

Another hour goes by and we see a tow truck approaching my house. It was Alex’s uncle.

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late where do you want me to set up?”

“Downstairs.”

“Ok.”

We played some video games until Alex’s uncle left. After a couple of hours napping and playing games with my buddies, Alex’s uncle comes upstairs.

“Alright guys I’m all done now, all you have to do is plug in the iPod.”

“Okay thanks Uncle Vin.”

“Anytime, now you guys go and get dressed, it’s already five o’ clock.”

All my friends left and I went upstairs to take a shower. I get out, dry my hair, and get dressed and sprayed some axe. I bring out cooler fill it with ice and put the sodas in. Its five fifty and my friends come early. We wait until people come, we decide to make a play list of songs for the party. We hear the door bell ring and we open the door a flood of people came in. We lead them to the basement. We play the songs and everyone starts dancing. More and more people come and it starts getting even crazier.  People started grinding and kissing everyone got white boy wasted. In the middle of me talking to a girl my phone vibrates and I see it’s my dad calling. I run upstairs and go into my room and answer the phone.

“Hi dad.”

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Nothing just on the computer.”

“Oh, what’s the noise in the background?”

“The neighbors are playing some music.”

“Oh, well were coming home tonight because your mom is very sick.”

“Umm okay when do you think you will be home?”

“Twenty minutes.”

“Okay well I’m going to go eat bye.”

“Bye, love you.”

“Love you too dad.”

I hurry downstairs and yell lat everybody to go home. They don’t so I turned off the music and screamed to everyone to go home. I go up to the girl I was talk to and said I was sorry and asked for her number. I got the goods. When everyone left I started cleaning the basement, I disconnect the stereos and hide them into the closet. I dust the floor and pick up all the trash. I look watch and I have five minutes left until my parents came back. I hide the cooler behind the couch and run upstairs. I get undressed and put on some sweat pants and a baggy shirt. I hear the door open and it was my parents. They come up the stairs and say hi to me and they go to their room. Man it was a fun night, Maybe ill throw another party when my parents go away.

 

 

“A Real Man” By Daniella Carnevale

Sometimes when we hear words or ideas, we picture them. Think of the word “man” and what do you picture? You probably picture a male, standing tall, with subtle bulges of muscle, right? You probably picture him having a broad chest too, accompanied with a sense of natural confidence and bravery. What about if you add that he is a soldier in the army? Suddenly the man you were picturing holds an assault rifle tucked in his arm, with a tinge of filth on his face. He’s probably standing in the realm of your thought seeming now as undefeatable, able to endure the worst of any situation.

If this is true, then why am I crouching over my best friend as he quivers in the light powdered dirt in his green fatigues? Why does this untouchable man lay at my feet, so feeble? Why am I hoping to save him now, my own hands and pants soaked in his blood? Please, open your eyes pal, you’re all I have.

Only eight minutes ago, I was crouching in the foliage near the building we were anticipating to raid. First I’ll tell you that my name is just a number here, just another mouth to feed and mind to order. I’m just a number to represent a 19-year-old man with deep green eyes and soft olive skin. My dark shiny hair is just long enough for me to run my nervous hands through. I only have my father back home, but he’s not holding up too well with his old age. Most of my life I’ve been close to Daniel, my best friend I lived next door to since I was only nine years old. We enrolled in the army together as soon as we were eighteen. I never would’ve joined without his support, but when we thought about it then it seemed so glamorous. The toughness and manliness had gleamed in our thoughts.

However, I feel like now this is a hell that I can’t escape. As I woke up today and the sun came basking onto me through the opening of the canvas tent I didn’t get the peaceful feeling that I used to. No longer did I smile with my eyes squinting overjoyed by the beauty of the morning sun. Instead as the sun beat red into my eyes I saw fire. I saw a fire from a bomb explosion searing the skin of innocent people. As they burned in my memory they kept weary expressions in their eyes, lying hopeless in acceptance of their fate.

I knew every day since that explosion some months ago, that I have been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. However, I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want to leave Daniel here alone as I’d watch my elderly father slip into the hands of death. Daniel’s closest thing to family was me, or maybe his foster parents. I was never good in school either, or any leadership skills in creating a career for myself so this was my only future.

Day by day, I felt the people around me slowly noticing and treating me different. When I would wake up during the night heaving and shivering in an ocean of sweat and tears from a nightmare, the next morning I would always get sympathetic stares. When the other guys would harmlessly joke around with each other they wouldn’t ever say a thing to  me, because I was different. I’m so hard-headed; I never thought that I could actually hurt someone or do something terribly wrong when having an episode. One time actually, one asked me casually if I would be going home soon hinting maybe that I should. I grew furious. At the time I thought I was mad because he was ignorant and didn’t know what he was talking about. Truthfully, it was because I was ashamed of the truth. My reaction to my realization that I wasn’t mentally strong enough was to send my fist into one of the shiny steel locker boxes. I knew at this point I needed to hide it. Why hide something like that? Why didn’t I just go home?

So I was crouching behind the brush next to Daniel about eight minutes ago when the commander gave us the order to approach the target further. Our light steps were quick, and the steady sound of the crunching sand under our boot was so familiar. We were searching for one particular man to execute for this mission. The commander’s radio sounded that he was on the second floor. Shots were then fired from the house, cracking the eerie silence that hung in the air prior. I tried to stay focused but I had only obtained four hours of sleep last night because of my anxieties of being sent home.

Suddenly, the van abandoned about three yards away from the house exploded. There must have been a car bomb awaiting our arrival. My ears rung with a high pitched screech, and I was crouched down to the rubble.

“Nobody was hurt”, I thought to myself. However, when I gazed up under my helmet, one of our men lay almost unrecognizable in a sea of flames. The world seemed to freeze around me and just focus in on his scalding face. I could hear now several shots back and forth from the house and from our men, muffled in my ears. A small stream of blood trickled down from my ear and tickled my neck.

“Johnson! What in the hell are you doing!” a deep familiar voice howled. Something in me was stifling me completely from reacting to anything. My gaze was fixed on the flames. “Someone get him!” the voice commanded again. Then, my heart started to race. I thought of all these burning, dying people. All of them I’ve seen are innocent. They’re all humans, with hearts, brains, and feelings. They are all linked to someone who loves them. I thought of the feelings of their family, their friends. Then my mind flashed through all the faces I’ve seen, the way the eyes look as they die. Those vacant stares, they appear in all of my worst nightmares.

What is the point? Why are we killing each other, what for? I couldn’t see at all now except for blending colors of red and orange. Anger and adrenaline flooded my veins. Fright engulfed my heart and lungs. I went into panic, I got so scared. The loud cracks of noise, the strangling fear of death, or mutilation from the explosions was all too much. An arm grabbed me with haste, was it an enemy? I had forgotten where I was because of my loss of vision. Through my rage I retrieved my knife, and shaking, I planted it straight into him.

But that man wasn’t an enemy. He was the farthest thing I had from an enemy.

Again, think of the word “man” and what do you picture? You don’t picture a male, kneeling on the ground the blood of his own best friend covering his hand. You don’t see a coward too afraid to live without support and one’s control over them. Also, when you think of an army man you most defiantly picture a person capable of killing their own kind. This man that you picture is strong and smart enough and strong enough to always make the right decision, no matter how stifling the pressure crushing their souls.

If this is true, then why am I crouching over my best friend as he quivers in the light powdered dirt in his green fatigues? Why do I foolishly crouch here, my mental state so broken down and feeble? Daniel’s breathing fell and his head lay limp on the ground to the side. The commander must’ve been screaming at me as always, however I couldn’t hear anymore. My senses were shut off, merely because my mind couldn’t possibly handle one more stressor at that given moment. Please open your eyes pal, you’re all I have.

Little did I know, that stare I then saw in my best friend’s eyes would haunt me forever, just like the rest of them did. I was sent home after that, and given medication. Nothing will patch the emptiness in me though. There was a huge hole in my chest that only the reassurance of Daniel could bring. As weak as I was then leaning over him, living in fear and ignorance in the army, I am the strongest one could ever be now. Only a real man could do what I did. That was forgiving myself.