Silence

A short story about a war. And a mouse.

A sweet perfume creeps over the hills, and through the valley. Silence. A slight breeze blows, the grass sways, and leaves fall. A small field mouse picks up a seed, and stuffs it into her mouth. The mouse stands up, ears perked, listening. She looks around for the source of the sound, the deep, and ominous rumbling. The ground starts to shake, the mouse runs toward her hole in the ground. The sun is high in the sky. It’s hot, dry, not a cloud to be seen. A good day for a war. The rumbling gets louder, like an earthquake. All the wildlife in the valley take shelter, not knowing what might happen today. Clouds of dust creep over the hill on either side of the valley. The rumbling stops. Thousands of soldiers stand on their own hills, opposite each other. Silence. Seconds like minutes, minutes like hours. Neither side moves. The men stir, they are all restless, hungry for battle, and blood. Both sides wanting to end the century of war. Silence. The wind blows through the valley. One man from both sides takes a few steps forward, saying nothing. Silence. Both men let out a ferocious battle cry, a cry that will send shivers down their enemies spines. Both sides charge down the hill, and into the Valley of Death. Three thousand men charge into battle with no doubt. Just the thought of the battle ahead, and their families, and the afterlife. The two armies meet in the middle. Steel clashes with steels. Blade pierces skin and brakes bone. The men fight bravely. The battle last what seems like hours. Not one man stops fighting until they are dead. Every warrior, every father, brother, son, husband, falls. Silence.

Author's Note

This is it. I started this back in high school, 2000, as a short story. Through the years it got longer, then shorter. Ever few years I will go back and r-write it. Mostly just to see how my writing has changed through the years. Any feed back is appreciated.