I Am The Enemy You Killed, BrotherAwe Toluwaleke Mark
From our first breaths, Lucas and I were one,identical. Our laughter and play intertwined,our bond, unbreakable, as we grew and shone,Together, we pledged to protect, no matter the cost assigned.Hand in hand, our souls forever aligned,Bound by love and brother_hood, an eternal flame.As destiny would have it, the world plunged into the depths of a brutal war. Our village threatened by the neighbor village. Both of us United by duty, Lucas and I enlisted in the army together. Side by side, we trained diligently, our hearts fueled by love for one another and a shared desire to bring peace back to our homeland.The brothers’ courage was tested on a fateful night, when the heavens wept and thunder roared across the battlefield. Rain poured relentlessly, shrouding the darkness with an eerie mist. Amidst the chaos, Lucas and I were tragically separated, our voices swallowed by the deafening cries of war.Desperately, we searched for each other amidst the pandemonium. Our eyes strained to pierce through the veil of rain, seeking the familiar face that had always been the beacon of hope. But fate, cruel and capricious, conspired against us. The carnage escalated, engulfing the field in a macabre dance of life and death.As dawn approached, the rain gradually subsided, and the sun timidly peeked over the horizon. The battlefield, once teeming with life, now lay desolate, littered with fallen soldiers. Only a handful of men remained, weary but resolute.Through the haze of exhaustion, Lucas and I caught sight of each other. But something had changed. We had both disguised ourselves as the enemy soldiers we encountered, hoping to gain an advantage in battle and defeat more foes. (Unknown to each other) Little did we know that fate had a cruel twist in store for us. Finally, a pivotal moment arrived. Through a series of fortunate events, Lucas and I found ourselves standing face to face. However, the horrors of war had transformed our appearances, making us unrecognizable to each other. Our eyes met, filled with a mixture of confusion, fear, and determination. Believing we had come across an enemy soldier.His weapons were raised, hands trembling, reflecting the agony of our shattered bond. Totally lost in confusion. Each step closer amplified the weight of our actions, the sense of confusion that hung heavy in the air. We pleaded silently with our eyes, yearning for recognition, for a flicker of remembrance to resurface.But as we clashed in combat, our movements driven by muscle memory and instincts honed by war, the realization dawned upon us too late. The lines of brotherhood had blurred, obscured by the horrors we had witnessed and the bloodshed they had endured.A single fatal blow landed, and the battlefield fell silent. As the fallen brother, I lay helplessly in the pool of blood, a reflection of the bond that had been torn asunder. Tears mingled with raindrops as the surviving Lucas cradled the lifeless body of his beloved brother, his heart shattered into a million irreparable pieces.The atmosphere changed as I unveiled myself from my helmet and in a twinkle of an eye, an astonishing moment as our identity was revealed. In that poignant moment, the war seemed insignificant, the victory hollow. The ravages of battle had not only claimed countless lives but had extinguished the radiant flame of brotherly love that once burned fiercely within them.
Bio: Awe Toluwaleke Mark,was born on November 21, 2002, in Ilorin, Kwara State. He grew up there and schooled there. He started writing at a young age of 12, he focused more on poetry. He schools in University of Ilorin. He has written several books, especially in prose and in poetry.
