In the Silence
Leah Hamilton
The world stopped one day
Winter had broken summer's promise
With its crisp, unfeeling air.
Birds did not sing ...
Leaves did not stir...
Winds did not howl...
Streams did not flow...
Waves did not crash ...
Plants did not grow...
But the smoke did rise from the chimney...
And the stretch of death did fill the air.
Hundreds of barracks stood motionless ...
enclosed with barbed-wire fences.
Guards stood like pigeons at their posts,
With guns aimed at invisible objects.
Snow lined the black asphalt and left a
False sense of beauty with everything it touched ...
A girl sat... alone... naked..... perched on a bench
Out of the guards' sight.
Tears streamed from her eyes...
Blood ran down her legs...
Staining the perfectly pure snowflakes that had
Fallen at her feet...
She could endure it no longer...
A gut-wrenching cry rang through the air...
S H A T T E R I N G the silence...
The rifle CLICKED ...
The bullet FLEW ...
The wailing STOPPED.
And silence prevailed once more.
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