The Two Days!!

By Nandhita Pradeep

29th March 2019

The war zone gives us an uneasy and terrified feeling. People who have the courage can only get through the war. But it’s not as easy as you think it is. We may get attacked or we may not, we may die or maybe not, we may win the war or may not, but that doesn’t make us weak.

I’m Madhav, now, at a war that started twelve months ago. Our hiding place was in a trench. When we used to move out to fire upon our enemies, we hid behind a sack filled with sand, covered with leaves to make it look like a bush, keeping our rifles on top of it without making the enemy notice, and began to fire upon them. We don’t know when the war will end or if we will make it out alive. But I would be happy as a soldier being a part of the fight to save our country.

It was almost two in the morning, and everyone was tired but couldn’t sleep. The tiredness made our eyes shut. Few soldiers were on night duty protecting us.

Gaurav, the boy with a blonde head is my best friend. He was lying his head on my lap fidgeting with his fingers, I knew he wanted to say something. I preferred him to say it by himself rather than me forcing him to say it. I waited for a few minutes and lost hope in it. I was about to close my eyes when he called me, slowly raising and facing me and spoke “I have something to tell you Madhav. I’m scared for my life. I have told you about my family, right? My sick mother with my wife and two-year-old girl child living in a hut in a small village. They live with my assurance, if something happens to me, what will happen to my family?” I said with a sigh “Don’t worry about that just keep up your confidence.” He was not happy about it but shrugged it off, and went to light sleep. The next day arrived, having a fierce battle among the groups. We shot around twenty bullets of which fifteen were dead. Another bullet passed and I heard a scream. I smirked and turned around to give a thumbs-up to Gaurav, only to look down in shock, they shot him dead. I looked to the front and started shooting recklessly about five of them. I got down, threw Gaurav around my shoulder, and took him inside the trench. I knew I wouldn’t be able to save him because he was on the edge of death. I had tears in my eyes. He spoke his last words. “Please take care of my family” he was struggling to breathe and soon he stopped breathing, I hugged him and cried.

-Madhav

I kept the book on the coffee table and closed my eyes sitting in a rocking chair. I remembered the moments with Gaurav and unknowingly a tear slipped from my eyes. A small tap on my shoulder brought me back to reality. Arathi brought a cup of tea for me and sat on the couch opposite me and smiled softly at me. She knew what I was thinking. Arathi is my wife, we married last year. It’s been three years since the war. I took care of Gaurav’s family and now they are staying on the top floor of our house. Just the two days story I wrote, expressed the full war zone. I would never forget these parts of my life.

By Nandhita Pradeep