Transformation

It was an early morning in 1918. He awoke to the sun gleaming on to his eyes and, with an unpleasant moan of disgust, he remembered where he was and why he was there. He heard gunshots and shouting in the distance. He was not at home but rather in France, fighting for a god forsaken war that was pointless to begin with.

He got up from his bed and got dressed. There was no time for brushing his teeth or showering; in war he must always be prepared. He walked out of his bunker and felt the coldness of the French air. He felt something cold touch his face. To his amazement, it was snowing. It sent a chill down his spine. It triggered his memory of home, playing with his fiancée and building snowmen together. Yet this was no time for fun and games; after all a war was going on. Moving into the sun, he got to his post. He looked around and saw nothing but bullets flying and the soldiers suffering. Oh so much suffering!

This soldier saw his whole existence before its end. He is a soldier; a hard driven, passionate man who will do anything to support his comrades and ensure  their safe return home. However this war has made him question his purpose in life. He has a theory that everyone was born for a reason and that the world goes on, but we keep making the same mistakes over and over, not knowing why. He has a theory, that life does not end on a battlefield. Instead each soldier will be reborn anew in a place they can call home.

He looked into the sky, as if he wanted a sign. He was looking for a sign for peace, hope and that everything would be okay. He reached his hand way up high but to get nothing in return. He thought of his mother. She always told him that “if you reach up to the sky to get what you desire, then you must take it from the Gods themselves.” He had hoped that this would be true, but it was only a bedtime story; nothing more, nothing less. There was no one to save the soldiers in their time of need. He suddenly realised that there was no God. No voice to guide you or to tell you what to do. Only you. That is all you need. Though he was lonely, he thought that no matter how long you live, you learn. But do we truly understand? He wondered why we kept making the same mistakes.

As he looked into the sky he saw the flag that had inspired him to sign his conscription papers. It filled his heart with the passion of patriotism. This symbol of hope made him believe that everything was going to be okay, that someone will come and save them from this war. He remembered that the Earth still moves on, never truly stopping. Lives are born and taken away; that is the way of life. Yet the soldier’s theory was never right, it was also never truly wrong. He wondered whether everyone was born into futility with no reason to live or whether we all had a purpose in life. He hoped that life was more than just this.

At that moment the feeling in his heart became overwhelming. He clutched his chest, as the pain took control. He stumbled to the ground. But he was still trying to look up to the sky. He tried so hard to believe that he would be saved. Laying on the ground, he looked to the sky. He thought hard about the reasons that he wanted to stay alive. He had still not achieve his purpose in life. He was filled with remorse. With a tear running down his face, he shut his eyes for the final time.

Though the soldier’s life is gone, his story is not over. His purpose in life was not to help people, to kill his fellow man or to be rich. His purpose was to break the Earth out of its sleep. He will live on, in a different world and reality until this has been succeeded. That was always his purpose in life.