A strange war

Tears flowed through my eyes while I clutched the letter that my mother had written for me from Venice. She was thinking there that I was serving the soldiers that were sacrificing their lives for their own nation, but I was not. Here I am seeing deep into the eyes of my victims and slitting their throats.

Why?

Because they were against my country. I am a spy. Serving my country in World War II.

Changing my role every day, hacking into the transistor room, and if I am close to getting caught, all I do is finish the witness. The war is on the verge of becoming a big curse to the world, and here I am stuck with some letters, photographs, and memories.

Last week I was conducting guerrilla warfare with my other spy mates in the ammunition depot of a German camp. We had orders to blast the bombs and destroy the war machinery.

In the deep forest, under the black sky, we were hoping on our light steps towards the depot. A strange fear had entwined our hearts and the patriotic blood was flowing through our veins. I was ready to die and kill for my country. A bright light shone from the depot signaling the ongoing strategies taking place in the camp. We camouflaged ourselves with the background and stepped into the camp with fairy steps.

A soldier was standing on the door of the depot guarding the war ammunition. His hands were placed on the gun and his fingers were on the trigger, he was ready for an unexpected attack. I have to silently kill him without any hustle, my mind was running in all directions, flipping through my mind to kill him in various ways.

“Isn't it strange,” Maria exclaimed.

“What?” I ask in dismay.

She replies, “It's such a crucial depot. Then why is only one soldier guarding it?”

She had a point that made me pause my thoughts for a bit.

“All the soldiers are tired due to their drill, there is a 2-hour rest schedule for everybody. We have to strike them now without any delay,” said Rob.

I smiled at him and believed his words without a second thought. He was my companion at the training camp. The first rule of the training is to trust your mate under all circumstances, which I did and which I shouldn’t have done.

I tiptoed towards the soldier from the back, he was whistling a song which would be soon stopped with the sharp edge of my knife. I blocked his voice with my palm and slipped the razor-sharp edge against his throat. A gush of blood flowed from his veins and soiled my blouse.

I dropped him on the ground, and dragged his body behind some barrels, and covered it with dry grass.

We sneaked up to the door and broke the lock.

A strange feeling overpowered my mind, my hands trembled, but I took a deep breath and opened the door which I shouldn’t have done.

Inside were men with loaded rifles who were as bloodthirsty as I was. They made my companions still with their merciless firing. All I did was watch them with my bloodshot tear-filled eyes.

“Anne, breakfast is ready,” said Rob.

I wiped my tears and gained my posture. The incident is darker and scarier than my nightmares.

“What made you happy by killing your colleagues?" I squeaked with my words.

He stopped in his tracks and turned around to answer me, even he had tears in his eyes.

“It was my job,” he humbly replied to me.

“Killing your mates, seeing their clothes soaked in their pool of blood and hearing their screams. How that made you happy?” I screamed.

“I was a German spy. It was my job to disclose your actions, it was my duty towards my country.” He gulped down his tears towards his throat with his reply.

“Then why did you remove me from my team before the firing? Why did you save me? You should have killed me with them." I screamed.

Tears were flowing down my cheeks and a strange silence crawled in my head and a hole consumed me.

I woke with a shrill pain in my head, three blankets were covering me, and I was sweating from head to toe. Rob was sitting beside him with a tense expression on his face. When he realized that I have awakened. He brought me a huge glass of water. I drank it with each sip, each sip reminded me of the incident again.

“You did not answer me,” I asked him with a smile this time.

“It was my duty like you were doing. Did you realize how many lovers, brothers, and fathers throats you slit in the name of your country?” There was a strange taunt in his voice.

“But they were strangers for me. I did not break their trust nor betrayed them.” I smiled at my answer.

“In this war, no one is stranger to us, because we all are bonded with link of nationalism and patriotism. By the way, my betrayal for you was a test to show my patriotism.”

His answer made me think about the way I had perceived patriotism.

He continued, “And I saved you because my love for you was greater than my country."

The silence was deafening between us. A strange wind was blowing in the room.

“Then why did you bring me here…” I removed a small pistol from the dress pocket and pointed it on his forehead and said, “because I may take the revenge of my mates.”

He smirked, and rubbed his chin, and looked deep into my eyes.

“Because I realized that you were the only purpose of my life. The day I had joined for the training, I saw you. Your green eyes showed me the hope that I had been yearning it during this war, your hairs reminded me of the wild rain of my town, your smile reminded me of my mother who died during the bombarding. Your actions, your words and your every move shows me that this war does not need your sacrifice.”

I threw my pistol away and pressed his lips on mine. Strange blood rushed within me, a memory surfaced within from my mind where I used to dream of wearing a beautiful white dress, with a bouquet of blue peonies and walking down the aisle, watching the love of my life waiting for me on the pedestal.