It's not an easy thing to turn your back on the ones you love.883Please respect copyright.PENANAMsyrZsjqLd
They say it's something that cowards do, and they couldn't be more wrong.883Please respect copyright.PENANAvDovfU5aw5
It's an act of courage. To overstep those boundaries of trust, to go against the irrationality of emotion for the greater good.883Please respect copyright.PENANAS7B8UrD3On
I tell myself this as I walk down the road, fields passing by and their cries fading away, but it doesn't stop their tears from stinging more than mine.
Death awaits me in a carriage, with a uniform and a mustache. On his wrist, a watch that my family and I would never be able to afford with a lifetime of savings, counting down the hours until I die. It may be just twenty four. It may be over a thousand. Little metal hands clicking clockwise eternally, but eventually even their cold insides will rust and grind to a halt.883Please respect copyright.PENANAH4OgM8Mh6s
Some other boys who are joining with me seep slowly out of their houses. Their families, too, are saved.883Please respect copyright.PENANA14xNOzTWnR
Their friends, too, are condemned.883Please respect copyright.PENANAgiyDt4rh7Y
Solemn glares all round, no greetings or banter now. We've come to fight against our own country in return for our family's safety. 883Please respect copyright.PENANAPe6MMtearu
They say that we are the spineless, but when you have to walk past the people that may die by the hands of the army you join, no one can say that we lacked the moral fiber to look them in the eyes.883Please respect copyright.PENANAclE1dw2dky
Eyes that scream, filth.883Please respect copyright.PENANACPXQA7JLRA
Down the road, a broken promise awaits.883Please respect copyright.PENANAIk6VO61zjb
You said our families would be safe.883Please respect copyright.PENANASZS2ITFNUA
But the watch hands keep ticking, the wheels keep rolling, and the lone hearts keep breaking, because since when was a coward's promise kept?