Across the field, the long line of men erupts in a thousand flashes of light followed by rolling smoke. The clatter of the shot whistles by him and he hears the rumble of the gunfire after the clanging tear of lead through metal and flesh. Thuds as the men around him stumble into the mud. The echo of the volley reverberates in the clouds. It whistles in his ears. It blooms in his chest. The cold sweeps through him that sunny day.
Paddy Dobson
20th February 2022