The War

A Story by Madhoora

Sixty nine years had passed but the scars were as new as they were then. The old man could not take it any more. The burden of guilt was too heavy to carry.

Mr. Shankarlal Mukherjee had always been ready for death to overcome him. But, now all he wanted was to get rid of the guilt. He sat at one corner of his huge house. Alone. Isolated. The furniture were old. a dim light glowed at one corner.
The old man, Mr. Mukherjee was unable to remain quiet anymore. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah", he shreaked. Tears began to roll down his cheeks. He caught buried his face in his hands.
******
Days seemed to be years. It was as if the World War II refused to end. But, the youth knew what the had to do. War had become the main motive of life. Sankarlal Mukherjee was one such youth. He knew perhaps he would never return to India. Perhaps his corpse would lay in Japan but he knew that was what he had to do. For himself. For his country. He knew that maybe he could never see his parents, his siblings ever again. But war had become his main motive now. That boy of 18 or 19 did not want anything else.
War had been raging in Tokyo, Japan. Sankarlal saw many of his fellow soldiers leave the world for ever. But his eyes were accustomed to seeing Death. He was hit by a bullet which had penetrated through his bone. He managed to escape and soon reached the outskirts of the city. "I cannot give up!". he thought as he fell to the ground. For the first time he felt as if pain had overcome him.
"You can't do this brother! NO!", screamed Sayuko.
Her brother Tonaka did not reply, as he checked his rifle.
"Don't go outside the camp, Sayuko! I think you will be safe here as it is in the outskirts but please do not risk going out.", said Tonaka after a long time.
"Listen to me brother, I love you but you ought to realize this is wrong. It can be good for nobody."

"Don't try to stop me because it is useless."

"Okay fine! But you will soon realize you were wrong!", Sayuko screamed as her eyes began to water.
Her brother smiled faintly and left.
*******

Sankarlal could see a figure in the darkness. He held up his rifle and stared blankly. It was a girl. She belonged to Japan. She was beautiful. Her long black hair looked like waves of the sea.
Sankarlal lifted his rifle pointing it towards her. She silently came closer. She leaned towards him. She had a bottle in the hand. She broke it's neck and rubbed the liquid on his reg. It was iodine. It burnt. The boy was shocked. He did not why she was there. Why she was trying to help him.
"Thank You." ,he said. She moved away and murmured something. Then she said," They will kill you. I tried to explain to my brother. War leads to nothing. It simply kills the innocent ones. He kills so many people. Because of HIM so many people lose their fathers, their husband. I wish I could make him realize how it feels to lose somebody whom you love.GO! They are coming.." The man tried to get up. He managed to do do and vanished into the bushes.

After walking for a long time, he had to confront what he feared. He saw Death waiting for him. A Japanese soldier stood quietly. It took a moment's time for him to pull the trigger.

A river of blood started flowing.

The Japanese soldier was startled. Tonaka's head went blank. He felt as if he was stabbed in the heart. He stared into his dead sister's face. She lay there calm. In her own pool of blood. He was conquered by his emotions. Tonaka had killed his sister.

**********

Even sixty nine years later Sayuko's words rang in Sankarlal's ears ".......I wish I could make him realize how it feels to lose somebody whom you love....."