Death of a Soldier

This is an idea I had for a short story. The original was a lot longer and I put it on a website called "Short Scary Tales"


Death of a Soldier

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"Damn, It's hot!". That was the first words out of Cpl Edwards mouth as he regained consciousness. The IED had caught them by surprise. They were supposed to be on a "hearts and mind" mission in a secure area about 10 clicks north of Baghdad. Instead, they were now caught in the sights of insurgents, hell bent on killing the "Crusaders". There were only three vehicles in the convoy and none of them were heavily armored, as they were not supposed to draw enemy fire. But, this is Iraq. A hot, miserable place where the sand is so invasive, it gets into everything. Just walking tends to rub your thighs raw from the grit. And insurgents that want to gain entrance to Heaven, lurk everywhere.

Edwards sat up and tried to regain his senses. He checked himself to see if he had been hurt. Aside from some shrapnel wounds in his left arm, which did not appear to be that bad, he was alright. The vehicle he was riding in was destroyed. A smoking heap of camouflaged metal burning into nothing. Bullets were flying everywhere. The screams of the dead and dying from both sides filled the air. He tried to assess the situation. Needed to know how many casualties they had taken. Needed to find out if they had reinforcements in the area. But, the vehicle's radio was destroyed and the little handhelds they had were worthless in these type situations as they only could be heard by others close by.

He raised his head above the sand berm that he had fallen next to, to take cover. He could see his buddies being "hammered" from all sides. They had started with 10 troops and all he could see, still okay were three. He yelled to them, "Get down, take cover", And they, hearing his voice, made their way to take cover alongside him, running and dodging bullets. At that moment, an RPG, fired from an insurgent from a rooftop, took out the rest of his buddies, their screams drowning in the din of the gunfire and explosions.

Suddenly he was all alone. Edwards still had his M16 although he had hardly any ammo. He knew he could not stand against the terrible rain of death coming at him. The insurgents circled his position, talking in a language that he had not even tried to learn. They shot at him from all sides, blowing sand into his face and deafening him. From the rooftop an insurgent shot him. "BAM" right in the side, knocking the breath out of him. As the pain of the shot washed over him, and the shock and adrenaline coursed through him, he had the fleeting thoughts and memories of home, his Mom and Dad admonishing him for enlisting, his girlfriend, promising to be faithful, and strangely enough, his dog, Rex, running towards him as he got off the bus after school. As death closed it's cold grip on his life, he suddenly heard a booming voice. He thought it must be GOD. But, when he heard what it said, he knew the truth. "JIMMY, I TOLD YOU TO PUT THOSE TOY SOLDIERS UP AND GO TO BED. NOW, YOUNG MAN!!" In Edwards final moments he saw a giant hand, like a child's hand, reach down from Heaven.