TWENTY SIXTH WRITING AND PAINTING CONTEST!! / #WORLD OF XPILAR - My Entry

Hello, fellow Steemit users. As per the rules of this contest, I would like to present a story based on the picture given below.

The One Last Time

Rick looked up at the sky. It was cloudy and had kind of a pinkish colour to it and he could look down on its reflection that was visible in the vast lake in front of him. The lake stretch as far as his eyes could see and there were some small hills alongside it. The hills and the flatlands were all green. Usually, Rick would just dive into the water and just swim up to some distance. But that day. He did not feel like doing any of it.

His eyes seemed blank with no signs of any hope in them. He muttered to himself as he stared into the lake, “Tomorrow, even I have to leave the village, this lake, these hills, and my family. My father has already gone off to the war and now my nation requires more soldiers so they are recruiting every capable man or boy from the villages.” He let out a sigh.
A kingfisher swooped into the lake and caught a fish but he didn’t seem to notice that at all. He was worried for his mother and his younger brother. After their father had left, he had worked hard at the farm and at the market to help his family make a living. But now, even he has to leave. “I wonder how mother will be after I am gone. She will have so much to manage and she as it is doesn’t look after her health. Also, Dustin is still very young to help at the farm.”

“I know there is a very small chance that I’ll come back alive. The enemy forces are vast in number and we have already lost a considerable amount of our soldiers. I don’t even know how father is, he hasn’t responded to any of my letters.” And a teardrop fell from his eye as he was talking to himself. He remembered those days when his father would bring him and his brother for a bath at this lake.

At last, he got up and wiped his face. He took one last glance at the lake and its surroundings and as he left he said ,”It is always us innocents who suffer at the hands of the bigger authorities in their fight for power. For we are nothing but cannon fodder in these wars.”

Thank You.

Lastly, I would like to thank @franyeligonzalez and @xpilar for organizing this contest.