Unknown Soldier

A Story by Hannah

A flash fiction piece that I wrote one morning.

I look up at the sky, feeling my heart pumping the blood through my system, only to have it leak out of the cylindrical hole in my abdomen. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem; people like me, we are trained to mend things like this before they even let us out into the field. But this time... things are different. I am dying. And no one will ever know.

Involuntarily, a single tear leaks out of the corner of my eye. At this moment, I am truly alone. Even the man who had pointed his gun at me had gone, likely fleeing, as is a guerrilla's tendency. That thought sent another shock of agonizing pain through my body, but oddly enough, I wasn't fully there to notice. I can feel myself slipping away ever so slowly, like a sandcastle eroded by a rising tide. Looking up at the sky, I capture the stars in my mind. And I lay there, unseeing. Waiting for the end, for the blackness to come and sweep me away.