The Unseen Man

      The young private stared at the carnage and chaos, as if he was trying to change what was happening with a single look. He was no stranger to the random, nameless violence that is inflicted so often by strangers on countless battlefields. He has seen many of friends die, killed by unseen men, who in turn, were killed by men unseen. He had reloaded his rifle many times, unfazed by what his target may be. For some reason however, everything seemed to catch up with him as he used the rubble of a house for cover.



         'It's Christmas tomorrow. This is not peace on earth. This sure isn't Goodwill.' The thoughts raced through his head as he desperatly searched the ruins of this small town.



         'We were supposed to stop fighting...why did we have to invade this town? For the upper hand? What kind of people does that make us then?' The private shouted to the dead residents of the house. As he serched the ruins of the town, the everpresent unseen man started shooting from his perch. When the private lunged back to aviod the shots, he fell back into the family room of the previous residents. His eyes fell on a Christmas Tree, fully decorated and ready for tomorrows gifts. The shots followed him into the room. The Private ran to the house next door, using fences and rubbled walls as a cover. As he entered the room, he was greeted with gunfire. Sinking to the ground, private looked up at his killer, and asked 'What are we?' and passed.



         The killer paused slightly at the question, but returned to his self appointed job of ridding his town of these soldiers. It was Christmas time, and half the town is being slaughterd. What are we? What kind of a question is that? Asked by men who kill women and children. The killer turned a corner to end any introspective questions that another soldier might have had, and kept on moving. He found himself in the middle of the street when he heard a shot, followed by a sharp pain. He spun around, looked desperately for the unseen man, but only found relief in a finishing shot.