The Day’s End

As the sun began to rise slowly… his eyes opened… and already the warrior began to pray that the evening would come again soon. He knew, even now, that this day would prove to be no different from the days past, although he could not clearly remember more than three or four days gone by. The war seemed to make a man forget things all too quickly.

As he looked around himself, the thickly webbed forest surrounding him lay quiet and beautiful. In every direction he could see the glory of creation, for there were no two colors alike, nor two flowers that resembled one another. To the north he could make out the purple-hued mountains… majestic and dominant over the surrounding land, and the birds sang their beautiful songs of freedom in their deep blue domain above him. Even the air itself seemed part of a dream… for it came pure and unspoiled to his awaiting lungs. And he wondered how man with his wars and death could so arrogantly destroy such a beautiful world.

Suddenly… as if taunting his thoughts… the air exploded about him with the screams of pain and the odor of death’s presence as once again the enemy returned.

This was why he so deeply hated the daytime. Day brought the renewal of battle. To him… day meant only death and destruction… where the evening brought a still calm to the land.

To build even more upon the ugliness of the war… the rising yellow sun would bring a nearly unbearable heat that could burn a man’s body to blisters and dry the air until his tongue would swell in anguish. It would cause the sickening scents of war to lift and hang in the air, and it seemed to even drain the earth itself of life.

In spite of the tormenting daylight and the sharp, burning heat… the warrior found the strength to fight on as he had in the past. And, as in the past, he cursed the day and prayed for evening which he knew would eventually conquer the evil surrounding him now.

Suddenly… he felt a sharp, sickening pain in his chest… and he dropped heavily to the ground. In that instant… panic swelled within him as he realized that this day he too would be among the rank of the dead. His panic diminished quickly though and he slowly brought the beginning of a smile to his lips. While lying there… he realized that the sky was once again beginning to grow dim and the sun was sinking into the trees to the west. The evening he had so painfully prayed for had finally come. Now… all would soon be quiet again and the beautiful night would once again rule. He realized this night would be eternal… and that never again would he have to face the day with all of its horrors… and the warrior welcomed death.