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Monday, March 16, 2009
The Used
Will the children cry,
When their mother dies?
A lifetime of servitude
Their minds too feeble
A symphony of steel
Disharmonic death waits
The abyss in their eyes
The fire in their hearts
A gun in hand
Ordered shoot to kill
Play tag with the corpses
And dance with the dead
Rest their heads down
Then they cry
They never ask
The reason why
Pour blood in their bottles
Place knives in their pockets
Let the virus plague their minds
Minions of Revolution
Day Eight:
There are many ways one may describe a soldier. Some call them patriots, while others call them bandits. Some fight in groups for a single cause, or alone for selfish needs. To become a soldier, you need to let go of everything you care about. Brainwash yourself into it. Every day can be your last, and the last thing you want is being distracted by family in a gun fight. Fear is not an option.
Being a soldier will change you. The most important thing to you while in a battle would be you, your gun, and the men standing next to you. These allies are fighting for the same cause, might as well get to know them. In many ways, being in an Army as a Soldier is a lot about team effort. If one man falters, or fails to accomplish a task, the army can suffer major losses only because of that one person. Also, the things you see while on the job, are unimaginable to most. Think about it. A huge group of men, killing another huge group of men. It disturbs people. It still disturbs me too. You learn to cherish life more, and how precious your existence really is.
Being a soldier will change you. The most important thing to you while in a battle would be you, your gun, and the men standing next to you. These allies are fighting for the same cause, might as well get to know them. In many ways, being in an Army as a Soldier is a lot about team effort. If one man falters, or fails to accomplish a task, the army can suffer major losses only because of that one person. Also, the things you see while on the job, are unimaginable to most. Think about it. A huge group of men, killing another huge group of men. It disturbs people. It still disturbs me too. You learn to cherish life more, and how precious your existence really is.
Day Seven:
Seven days of training. Seven days of pain. It’s all been for this very moment. Today started like any other day. All of us woke up early, and went to get our morning coffee. We had our usual 2 hour long training session, when all of a sudden there were trucks everywhere. The people of the fortress started to stuff them with ammunition, food, medicine, etc. At first I thought we were relocating the camp, to move to a safer place. But, with my usual luck, we were assigned the direct opposite. San Ildefonso has been taken by the enemy, and we must fight to get it back. Our company, E company, would have to hold the line at the Rio Santiago ford until the rest of the reinforcements arrived. I may have escaped killing someone at the jungle encounter, but there is no way I will be able to avoid killing anyone this time. As Ignacio would always say, this is war.
A gun in my hand makes me feel like I’m worth something. While some fear still daunts me about the weapon, it makes me feel powerful. When I possess this destructive little contraption, I have the ability to end lives. I have control of whether a person will ever see the light of day again, or if they won’t. I’m not a boy anymore, I’m a soldier. I am a soldier for the revolution!
A gun in my hand makes me feel like I’m worth something. While some fear still daunts me about the weapon, it makes me feel powerful. When I possess this destructive little contraption, I have the ability to end lives. I have control of whether a person will ever see the light of day again, or if they won’t. I’m not a boy anymore, I’m a soldier. I am a soldier for the revolution!
Day Five:
The Entry on Day Two stated -,” What’s the force that fuels the hatred and bloodlust between these two factions?” After today, I understand…
Have the loyalists no mercy? These are unarmed civilians! Poor villagers going on with their everyday lives, slaughtered like dogs. No matter if they were children, or women, they were treated like pests. And then there was the girl. The little girl, shot in the neck, holding a newborn child. Each time I would look into her eyes, I could see Concepcion. I tried to imagine what both girls have been through, but failed. These emotions are too great to just be “imagined” from thin air. I pity them. It’s a miracle that the newborn wasn’t dead himself by then. A great number of things could have easily happened to him then and there. What the Loyalists did here, was disgusting. It fills me with feelings a 12 year old shouldn’t feel.
It’s hatred. The old saying goes, “Do to people, as you would like them to do to you.” If these bastards want to die, so be it. They deserve to. All this time, I feared death. I would have thought of it almost impossible to maim someone. But now, I have a new force driving me.
A new brain. A brain of a soldier.
Have the loyalists no mercy? These are unarmed civilians! Poor villagers going on with their everyday lives, slaughtered like dogs. No matter if they were children, or women, they were treated like pests. And then there was the girl. The little girl, shot in the neck, holding a newborn child. Each time I would look into her eyes, I could see Concepcion. I tried to imagine what both girls have been through, but failed. These emotions are too great to just be “imagined” from thin air. I pity them. It’s a miracle that the newborn wasn’t dead himself by then. A great number of things could have easily happened to him then and there. What the Loyalists did here, was disgusting. It fills me with feelings a 12 year old shouldn’t feel.
It’s hatred. The old saying goes, “Do to people, as you would like them to do to you.” If these bastards want to die, so be it. They deserve to. All this time, I feared death. I would have thought of it almost impossible to maim someone. But now, I have a new force driving me.
A new brain. A brain of a soldier.
Day Two:
Today I asked Mendoza something. At first, I was expecting a beating for being so “impolite” to my superiors –“There have been forty-two revolutions in our country, and none of those wars helped. This is another. Will the war be one this time?”- But, I saw something in his eyes. The usual photo like expression disappeared. I looked beyond the Captain, beyond the propaganda speeches, and the lies. What I saw, was terrifying. –“I don’t know…All I know is the great need. This country has a volcano for a mother and a jaguar for a father. The children suffer. We must try.”-and without saying another word, Captain Mendoza walked away. I was shocked. Never in my wildest dreams would have thought of Mendoza like this. There is something about him, something different. He’s not like the other captains.
Does this revolution have a purpose then? If they have fallen to the Loyalists countless times before, why bother? What’s the force that fuels the hatred and bloodlust between these two factions? This is something I’m not surprised I don’t understand. In a way, I don’t even want to know, but then again, it’s nagging on me. It’s almost like, I have to know. They tell us that, when the revolutionaries win, that life will be better. They claim that when they win, they will fix up everything in the country and make sure the starvation and poverty goes away. Well, I’m not convinced, seeing that they already broke more than a few promises. They claimed they would give soldier’s families food and water, but as far as I’m concerned, my village has gotten none of that.
Does this revolution have a purpose then? If they have fallen to the Loyalists countless times before, why bother? What’s the force that fuels the hatred and bloodlust between these two factions? This is something I’m not surprised I don’t understand. In a way, I don’t even want to know, but then again, it’s nagging on me. It’s almost like, I have to know. They tell us that, when the revolutionaries win, that life will be better. They claim that when they win, they will fix up everything in the country and make sure the starvation and poverty goes away. Well, I’m not convinced, seeing that they already broke more than a few promises. They claimed they would give soldier’s families food and water, but as far as I’m concerned, my village has gotten none of that.
Day One:
It all happened so fast. 5 hours ago I was at home, with Mother, and Concepcion. It was just another average day, with me, picking bananas off the trees to feed my family. Then, all of a sudden, they came for us. They, the revolutionaries, came for me, Lolo, and Ignacio. My worst nightmare, the thing I have feared ever since Concepcion’s incident, now was coming true. I, Uno, a 12 year old boy, was to be drafted into fighting for the Revolutionaries. I am to be taught to take lives. I am to be taught to take away fathers and sons from families. I can’t, and I won’t. I know how much mother loves me, and how much she cares about me. For me to die would be so hard for her, her delicate heart couldn’t bear the pain. Yet, here I am…
My only option – ESCAPE
Of course, that is probably easier said than done. Whilst making our way here by truck, I noticed that there were sentries everywhere. If you couldn’t see one patrolling the road, they’re probably up in the jungle somewhere, waiting for any intruder to cross the line. The fortress itself gets worse. There are people everywhere. But most importantly, they almost all possess guns. Weather they are eating, or in the watchtowers, there are guns. I understand I shouldn’t fear them. Or should I? These are the revolutionaries. They are on my side right?
My only option – ESCAPE
Of course, that is probably easier said than done. Whilst making our way here by truck, I noticed that there were sentries everywhere. If you couldn’t see one patrolling the road, they’re probably up in the jungle somewhere, waiting for any intruder to cross the line. The fortress itself gets worse. There are people everywhere. But most importantly, they almost all possess guns. Weather they are eating, or in the watchtowers, there are guns. I understand I shouldn’t fear them. Or should I? These are the revolutionaries. They are on my side right?
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