The wind roared and the only thing that broke its silence was the sway of the tall tree in the backyard. The boy clad in camouflage fatigues, leaned against the tree and squinted his eyes to gaze at the watch on his wrist.
“It’s late. He must be sleeping.” The boy sighed.
“On with the mission.”
Shoving the hand holding the knife deep into his pocket, he slowly crept towards the hidden entrance.
“What are you doing here? You know what my father would do if he found you here?” A voice sneered through the darkness.
The boy froze in place.
“This has to be a joke right?” laughed the voice again. “A couple of years ago, it would have been funny. But not now.”
The boy turned around slowly. His breath started to quicken. He stepped back as the other boy slowly stepped out of the shadows. The boy’s face was stern, but the look in his eyes made the boy gasp.
“You-you’re….you’re”
“Dead?” The other boy said casually.
“You’re a ghost?” stammered the boy who was standing now.
“I’ve never been more alive.” The other boy said in a dark tone.
“H-how?”
“My story?” The other boy started. “Let me make you a deal.”
The boy went silent. It was almost like he was waiting for permission.
“Think of what I am about to tell you as something better than any fiction story you will ever read. It’s a story about war, revenge, and obsession. A story about the bond between brothers.”
“You were my brother.” The boy blurted out.
The other boy smiled. He looked into the eyes of the boy and saw his reflection.
“I was.”
He continued: “What you are about to hear will haunt your soul. It will cause your hands to shake and your eyes to sting. It will rip your body apart and leave your heart like a rock.”
The boy looked at the ground. He was silent, chewing on his lip. Worry gnawed up his insides.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“I wasn’t until you asked.” The other boy said looking up at him.
The boy turned and started to walk away. He wanted to run but that would be childish.
“Where’re you going?”
“I don’t want to hear this. I don’t want to know what happened to you. I don’t want to listen to you tell me the story of how you died.” The boy said with a shaky voice.
“But you’ve come this far.”
The boy stopped. “That doesn’t mean I have to hear the whole thing.” He started to walk away again. Suddenly the boy felt hot breath on his back.
“It’s not an easy story to say. I remember how hard it was for me to talk about it. It’s a long story, it does not end the way you think.”
The boy shook his head.
“You must know what I am talking about, you were my best friend. I would die for my friends, no matter of how much they hurt me.”
“I know, father said you were a hero.”
“That’s what you want to believe, but I was nothing more than a coward. A survivor. I met some strange people out there, did you know that.”
“I……I don’t want to hear this.”
“You’re a lucky man. You don’t have to hear the story of massacre. You didn’t have to watch your family and friends getting slaughtered. You didn’t have to watch the same enemy soldier cutting your mother’s head off with a machete and taunting you. You didn’t have to watch your best friend get shot in the head point blank with a pistol.”
“Stop.” The boy whispered. “Stop talking.” The boy turned around and started to run.
“That’s why I had to say this to you. I went through what I did, because I had to get revenge. I have to help you. You have to fight on. You have to live. It’s what I did to. So, you have to do it ever!” The boy yelled.
The boy started firing his gun and running. He did not see the shadow of the other boy following him.
“You have to believe in the mantra. You have to live. You have to survive. You have to finish what you fight for. You must keep on going even when you want to give up. Even when your spirit wants to disappear. You must get through it, you must live. I’m telling you to survive for all that you are, for all that you’re worth. But I’m telling you this out of selfishness. I don’t want you to die because if you die, I will be in more pain than I could ever imagine. I’ll never be able to make up for it.”
The other boy was limping, but his lungs breathed fire. He chased the boy running out of the gate of the backyard. He saw the gate swing back to its original position. He was about to yell at the boy, when he saw something that made him freeze. A pair of eyes, from the other side of the gate, were peering inside the gate.
It was a child of about two. He had a dirty gray t-shirt on, but he was barefoot. He had a small backpack on his back and he looked hungry. He was the picture of someone begging for shelter and food. He was growing silent and his eyes were losing their sparkle, he looked like he was giving up.
The boy looked at the other boy, who was also frozen.
“What are you doing?” The boy asked.
“I have seen enough death. I have seen enough pain. I shouldn’t go any further.”
The other boy said, tugging on his wound, now calmed.
“But you’re the one that told me to say this.”
The other boy bent towards the boy who was fixated on the sound of his voice.
“Let me tell you my story. I don’t want to rob you this, but I will rob you what I want most. I want to give you my name.”
The boy stared at his friend. A tear fell down his cheek.
Pic (Source)