Literary Yard

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Story: Preying. Ticking. Saving. Detaching..

By: Elohor Ojose

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There’s a small click; the bomb detonates. Click. Dust kicks up and shots ring out through the once peaceful town. Click. Buildings with thousands trapped inside crumble down. Click. Humans are blown apart. Bodies pile up. Red stains the sand. Click. There’s a bad human shooting at all the innocent. Click.

Lucky sinks down on all four paws and pounces at the attacker.

That’s all he remembers. Mutilated bodies. Red staining the sand. A disaster he wants to forget, but he remembers. His memories left him with singed ears, a missing paw, and half a tail. Any dog as damaged as he j would be deemed worthless in a warzone, so he’s sent home. Ever since the attack, clicks replay in his mind. It drives Lucky crazy as he survives life through a blur. And it blurs right through cleaning bodies, leaving the war zone, and returning to home base. He supposed to be safe now.

Life clears little by little as months pass. Months pass with the repression doesn’t come any easier. It still haunts him. And even, though he’s not the best looking dog around, he’s praised.

“Good boy”, the humans say, “you’re a hero.”

I let too many die, he thinks, I’m no hero.

But his opinion doesn’t matter to them. He’s a hero. To better fit their allusion of glory, he’s given a handsome bronze paw and dock his tail. Lucky’s awarded a medal for his bravery shown in a war he’d much rather forget. The President of the United States hooks it on Lucky’s collar for all to see.

“Take your pictures boys!”, the president grins, “this is what an American Hero looks like!”

The camera’s start clicking.

Click.

Lucky knows what it means.
A click means bomb. A click mean red will soon stain the sand. A click means too many dead.

It’s all he sees. All he hears. All he remembers.

No ones running. Don’t they know we’re under attack?, Lucky thinks.

He needs to go. Time is running out. He needs to go now.

Before the bombs go off, before the red stains the sand. Before they start shooting he lunges at the attackers as they keep clicking.

 

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