Layout by: Heart Magbanua
Published by: Kassandra Aman
Date Published: April 8, 2024
Time Published: 8:30 AM
Category: Prose
Theme: Love that goes against roles and expectations.
You’re a soldier, made to serve and be loyal to your cause. You meet a man, no one of interest except he is of the enemy. Not just from the enemy. He is the enemy. They are of kin and this information is not privy to you. The war will come and that face of his is what you’ll see in battle. It is, you know it.
But you talked to him. He looks at you and sees you as nothing but glory. He doesn’t see the enemy. He doesn’t see the soldier. No, he sees you. He prayed for someone like you, someone strong and someone loyal. He prayed for you every night, wishing for his father to come home safely and for the war to stop.
You’re a soldier but you started to notice something about him. He’s blind to you, to the both of you, to the bloodshed and the enemy. He’s blind but you saw everything—you saw humanity.
It’s in the way he only wished for safety. It’s in the way he worshiped. It’s in the way he looked at you for guidance and trusted you to be there when he fell. The small things were humane. His love felt humane. The simplicity of his wants was nothing if not human default. He is so good that you start to wonder how this is the enemy.
Because he is so full of beauty. He’s so full of righteousness and hope. When his first act was a rebellion against the war, you follow his steps. You defy your army, you defy your cause, realizing that war is not the right answer. You fight for your cause because you see how he fought. You saw him.
In his lowest points, you’ve seen him. You’ve saved him from his lowest point. You saved him because he deserved to be saved. From the fields of battle, he heads straight. For each injury he faces, the more he only wants to stop the war, stop the fight. You injure yourself too, it feels righteous.
And so you continue to fight the good cause; the word fighting means nothing to you now. He said, “Fighting is an instrument of destruction. What we do is bring the construction of new life.” So fighting wasn’t right. You continue to build for the good cause, for the cause of peace and neutrality. He was the enemy and yet he holds your hand and you make it through another bullet with nothing but pride.
You would be a soldier, but you’re not. You fell in love with a man who was destined to die by your blade. You fell in love with a man who you would be buried with as the people celebrated the peace treaty made in both of your names.
IMAGE SOURCE:
Limited, A. (n.d.). ROBERT WALKER, JUDY GARLAND, THE CLOCK, 1945. Alamy Images. https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-robert-walker-judy-garland-the-clock-1945-30950773.html
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