A Shelter

The deluge pounded across the feeble and friable mud walls of the hut, a litmus test for the wall which separated me from death. The water had already made its way in the shelter, dripping intermittently, squirming and pushing past the tiny holes in between the stacks of the straw above. The bright light of the full moon outside flooded in through narrow space beneath the door, casting the interior in what seemed to be like thick mist making everything look soporiferous and hypnagogic, as if it was a dream however I knew that this was too bad to be one. The aroma of wet sand wafted through the air but along with it was an ironic smell, the smell which I recognized as that of blood.

Another shot reverberated in the air, gripping my heart with cold trepidation as one more person that I knew found solace in the chilling and halcyon arms of death. The war had finally reached us, enveloping the whole village in the berserk massacre killing anyone and everyone who came in the way of the soldiers. Today, I had seen families being destroyed, lives and houses being burned down to ashes and the sinister face of destruction. A tear ran down my cheek, hot and red with the hatred that had been ignited in me and the mourning which ate me from the inside making me hollow. I sat in the doomed hut quivering and shaking, the cold around me making my senses go numb. My heart was thumping against my chest, trying to put up a fight against the fact that I could not be hiding here forever. The only wish in my mind was to not give up, to keep going until either they find me or my body gives up. The tempest had slowed down and now what I could hear was a weird mélange of human sounds and that of water pouring down slowly from the heavens, a welcome for me a chimera came to my mind. Their words were unclear but I was still able to decipher some, words that spoke about the darkest of sins that they had committed and how they rejoiced about their deeds, relishing every drop of blood that had flown down the valley along with water. The land had already been cleansed, but what about the crimes that had stained this place for eternity.

I waited there, wanting to retaliate and fight back, however by body was not in accordance. Fortunately soon, my interim came to an end as I heard footsteps squishing in the mud. Their intensity grew with every passing moment and as my death came close to me. Everything seemed to have come to a standstill, silence prevailed and the only prominent intonations were that of my shallow breathing and the footsteps of the approaching soldier. It was as if I were trapped in a bubble with him, a bubble which cut me off from the rest of the world. I closed my eyes, a smile coming across my face as I prepared to unite with the ones I loved in this shelter. However, someone out there had different designs for me.