Crash.
The water hits the shore. It crashes onto the sand that sinks my feet deeper and deeper into it as the water recedes back into its own depths, pulling the sand along with it. The sand covers my toes completely. Looking at them buried in the sand somehow calms me while I mentally prepare myself for what is to come. Soon my entire body will be covered in dirt.
Or maybe burnt to ashes. That is for him to decide.
I look up from my dirty feet and stare at the dirty green water that is being pushed around by the heavy wind that blows my hair in front of my eyes, blinding me momentarily. Once my dirt blond hair falls back above my shoulders, I can see the bright blue sky, painted with pink, purple and orange as the sun starts to set. I realize how much I will miss the sunsets. I realize that I will miss the sand between my toes. I will miss the cool water, and the soft feeling of the wind against my skin. I'm going to miss the connection that the sun and the moon make to create a painting only stars could paint. Suddenly I curse the stars for giving me such an unfortunate future.
Then I thank them. I thank them for doing exactly that, knowing that it is best for the world, that I succumb to the newfound power that he has brought upon us.
It is best for the world that I just disappear... maybe deep into the soft sand of this beach. It is best that I stop fighting for something that no longer exists.
I'll be happy there. I know it.
The wind hits again. It brushes against my back forcing me to fall forwards. I catch myself before falling face first into the algae infested water.
It whispers to me. The wind weasels its way into my ears and whispers.
It's harsh, and cold and maybe if I were someone else, someone who was supposed to live, I wouldn't understand what it says.
"It is time." Chills run up my spine. I knew this moment was coming.
They are waiting for me. He is waiting for me.
I stare down to my toes once again, wiggling them out of the sand and for a moment I feel a smile appear on my lips. It's a weak smile, one without much feeling, but just enough to convince myself that I am okay with what is about to happen.
I pull my feet away from the sand and begin to back away from the water.
A single tear rolls down my cheek, comforting me that even though I'm leaving the beach, leaving the lake behind, I still have water inside of me.
I walk backwards all the way up the beach where the tree line starts. I find my shoes and force them on my feet. I don't care that the water and the fabric of my shoes might create blisters on my heels.
I'm going to die. Blisters are the least of my worries.
I find the path in the trees that led me to this secluded beach and follow it back up.
The trees seem to call to me as I walk through the path of snapped twigs and mud.
I can hear my mother's voice calling my name. My father's also. My little brother and sister are crying in the trees. I can hear the muffled whimpers.
I emerge from the path onto an empty highway. Not a single car drives by.
Not that they have power to drive anyways, or anyone to drive them for that matter.
There's just a long, grey and yellow path.
The only path that I can take.
I shove my hands in my pockets, and take a shaky step. At first I try to keep my feet on the yellow lines, trying desperately to distract myself from all the trees that surround me.
The trees, that tower over me. Souls, reborn into another life.
There are more trees than there was before The War started.
I try to keep my feet on the yellow line, but it doesn't work. I lose my balance more than once, already starting to feel like I am dying.
I'm starting to feel what my family felt so long ago when they died.

"It's okay. We'll be fine." My mother had said, as she stroked my wet cheek. I was a year younger then.
My father stepped up and placed both his heavy hands on my shoulders.
"Son. You must live for us. You must fight for us. You must not give in." I remember him saying before he grabbed my sister and brother who were already crying.
I don't even remember their faces. I can't picture my sister and my brother. Only that they were small.
And scared. So, so, scared.
My mother's face, though, even when she was scared beyond belief, looked as beautiful as always. Soft features, blonde hair that caressed her face. Soft brown eyes and soft pink lips. Rosy cheeks and a slim figure.
My mother was the epitome of beautiful. She shined in the sun and glowed in the moonlight. She carried herself so gracefully you would have never guessed that she had three children.
My father was the complete opposite. Big, tall and bulky. Harsh shoulders, chiseled jaw line. Big hands perfect for a woodcutter. I remember the stubble he had on his chin that day.
On that fateful day.
I remember him cursing at the world for forcing this war upon us, because that didn't give him any time to shave.
He always seemed angry too. I guess that's why my mother was the perfect match for him. Is the perfect match. She softened him. He toughened her up.
Like on that fateful day.
On the day my family died.

"Son, you need to go now. There is no hope for us. But there is hope for you. They don't know you exist. We hid you from them. Please run. Leave us." My mother begged. This time I touched her cheek. It was wet, but warm all the same.
I remember that she kissed my forehead once, and then reached for my sister. She grabbed her and they all turned their backs on me.
I felt the tears land on my t-shirt, the same t-shirt that I am currently wearing, and felt myself trying to distance myself from them already. I turned around, swung the back door to our house open and shut it before the soldiers came through the front door.
I had paused to look back. To have one more look at my parents and my siblings before I ran away from them forever.
It was the worst idea that I had ever had, because right as I turned around, the soldier pulled out their guns and shot my siblings first. Blood dripped onto my mother's white dress and blood darkened my father's black shirt.
My mother had burst into tears but before she could yell, the soldiers shot her too. She fell to the floor, my dead sister entangled into my dead mother's arm.
That left my tough father. It was the first and the last time I would ever see him cry.
Before he could set my brother down and fight back, he was shot in the leg and then in the chest silencing his yells, and his roughness forever.
His body seemed to soften as soon as it hit the ground.
By then, my hand was over my lips, gathering the tears that were running down my face.
I took one last look at my family's dead bodies and then turned around and disappeared into the depths of the forest.
The trees comforted me then and they are still comforting me today.

The sun is setting faster now, as if it wants me to speed up. The sun is turning on me.
It wants me to die. It wants me to join the trees.
The yellow lines begin to change. It turns into an orange colour. Blood stains the pavement and the paint.
I'm getting closer. Closer to the end of my journey.
My hands still shoved in my pockets, my head still hanging low, I soldier on, taking smaller steps than before, begging my body to give me more time before I must leave for good.
Eventually I look up and spot the exit to my right of the highway.
The exit leading to the street. My way out.
Standing at the exit, blocking my path into the small town, a girl stands, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Not in an angry way, more in a cold way. She's shivering, cold from the idea of death and of the falling sun.
She's turning to ice, because the love of her life is about to die. I take a deep, shaky breath and speed up a little. She is the only reason that I could smile right now.
I reach her and before we say anything, my arms have already wrapped themselves around her. I use her small hips as leverage to pull her even closer to me. Her chest against mine, her head under my chin. My breath falling on her hair.
She is the only thing that is more comforting than the trees. The only thing that is more comforting than the idea of death.
"You don't have to go any further you know." She announces, stepping back, letting her hands rest on my chest while looking up to me.
Her big blue eyes glow in the almost darkness and they twinkle with fresh tears welling up.
"I have to." I answer.
"No, you don't." She pauses and grabs hold of my shirt. "You could keep walking down the highway, you don't have to take the exit. I'll come with you, we'll start over. You have a choice!" She's almost yelling.
"If I don't die, the world will resent me. I must die, for the good of the rest of the citizens of this planet, of all the other countries that are still intact." I pause to stop the tears from coming down. I know if I cry, she will too and I do not want the image of her that I will die with, be of her crying.
I want it to be her smile. The smile I fell in love with.



When I first saw it, it was as if The War hadn't even started. My parent's death disappeared back into the forests. She was all I saw.
I remember seeing her walking alongside her evil father as they came down the plane stairs. She looked sad, as if she wanted no part in The War.
And I guess now, being the daughter of the Chief Commander, is her inevitable fate. She has no choice but to stay alongside the country that is fighting against the one of her lover's.
We are star-crossed lovers.
Or will have been.
Before she stepped into the car to be driven someplace else, I remember her turning her head in my direction. Her eyes locked on mine.
It was a long moment that we looked at each other. A long moment I will never forget especially when at the end of that moment, all she did was send me that amazing smile.
After that moment, I followed her. I followed her and her father into the building, being greeted by her father's generals, who had already killed more than enough people to prove their point.
To show why they came here, why they came to my country. Why they had to destroy everything that got in their way, everything that didn't resemble them.
Why they had to kill us, to take over our country.
I followed her for more than a week before she finally came out by herself. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. So plain, for such a beautiful girl.
"Who are you ?" Is the first thing she had asked me. I came out from under the table of the restaurant patio outside her hotel, and flashed her a smile.
I remember fidgeting with my clothes, because they were so dirty and wrinkled, while hers looked perfect.
I had forgotten that she had asked me a question.
"Oh. I'm nobody. I'm not important."
"Well what's your name?" Her voice was soft. It reminded me of my mother's voice and maybe that's why I almost cried when she asked me for my name.
And I guess it was good thing. Because she immediately ran over and grabbed my hand pulling me away from the hotel. She left me stranded in an alleyway, while she ran back to the hotel. She had come back a few minutes later with a bottle of water and some bread.
I ate the entire loaf in under a minute. I couldn't help the fact that I was starving, and only living off random plants and berries I found along the way growing from various trees, as I couldn't stomach the idea of breaking into someone's house to find food and instead finding multiple dead bodies.
After my quick meal she grabbed hold of my hand again and told me her name.
After that, things went too quickly for me to retell.


I stare down into her eyes and shyly smile. "Come, on. Let's go." I grab her hand and intertwine my fingers with hers. She squeezes back as I start to walk down the exit.
She refuses to move forward and plants her feet in the cement. I know that she doesn't want me to turn myself in. She believes that I'm being selfish, when in reality I'm doing this for her. I'm doing this to save her. To make sure that she will live.
So I face her, placing my hands on her hips and my forehead against hers and tell her why I need to go.
"I love you. You know that. But I love my country too, and I need to stop this chaos." There's silence before I speak once more.
"I need to make sure that you will live in peace. Free of war. And the only way to do so is if I die." I step forward, grabbing her hand once more, and then I tug on her arm and she falls forward and into step with me. Before we continue walking, I cup her cheeks in my palms and kiss her softly. One last kiss that she will hopefully remember forever, and one last kiss that will linger on my lips until I die.


The exit is short and winding. It's a lot shorter than I hoped it would be. I wanted it to be long, so that I could spend as much time as possible with her. But it's only a few kilometres and we're already close to the end.
Close to my death.
The sight I see ahead of me is definitely not the last sight I want to see. So instead I turn my head and stare at her. I notice the tears falling on her cheeks as she sees the tiny speck way far down the road that represents her father.
I want to cry myself, but I know I must not. If I will die for my country, it will not be in tears. It will be with pride and joy and understanding that I can finally give back to the country that gave me so much.
That gave me life. That gave me my parents and my sister and brother, whom I will soon be reunited with. The wonderful landscapes that I got to live in for the past year and that I got to look at since the day I was born. I want to give back to the country who gave me freedom and what true love really is.
I turn my head from her and stare at the growing tree line that towers above both of us.
I try to count the trees, reminding myself that these trees are souls. Lost and dead souls that have been reborn into another life.
Reminding myself that these trees are my country, and that they are watching me.
I close my eyes and let her guide me the rest of the way. I can hear the water in the far off distance crashing onto the beach.
I can hear the wind whispering reassuring words to me, as I get closer and closer.
I can hear the muffled chants of the people standing on the sidelines, roped off on the grass, cheering me on. Cheering for me to die.
I open my eyes and I see them. I see the people of her country that have travelled far to come see this event. To come see me die.
And when they see me walking hand in hand with their President's daughter, their cheers grow even louder.
"Let her go you animal!"
"You don't belong with her!"
"Die!
"Go and die with the rest of your country!"
All the chants are so dark and horrible, but every single person says it with a smile on their face and joy in their voice.
I feel a tug on my hand and turn around.
"No!" She yells so loudly that it wrecks my ears. Two guards are handling her, pulling her away from me. Her outstretched arms are trying to reach for me. She's kicking the guards in the groin, and in the stomach trying desperately to walk into death's arms with me.
She wants to die with me.
"I love you." Is all I say. I shoot her my last smile, as she disappears into the crowd of people with the guards.
I keep walking. I keep walking until I reach an intersection of roads.
A cross between the horizontal road and the vertical road. Just across the horizontal, standing on the vertical road, is him.
The President.
He's holding a gun in his hand, no expression on his face. His dark uniform pulls me towards him.
It's as if he knows what death is like.
I pause in front of the horizontal road, and stare back at him.
I could run away right now. I could turn down this road and run as fast as I can. The trees would help me escape. I could run away.
I could live.
And just as that thought crosses my mind, I spot her being dragged to her father.
I can't live. I have to die.
If I choose to run away right now, they will kill her in hopes that it will drag me back here for revenge. For killing the one I love.
And I don't know that I could live with myself knowing that the last person I love is dead.
So instead, I take a step forward, and another and another until I reach him. I am only a few metres from him, a couple more from her.
"Kneel." is all he says.
"With respect sir, if I am to die, I would rather die standing up." is all I say. He stares at me with narrow eyes and then looks up to the sky that is now black.
Only the torches and fires surrounding us light up everything, like it were day.
"Fine." He breathes in before he says anything else. "You, my dear son, have come here tonight to die." The crowd yells, and screams. They sing their national anthem as I feel a single tear roll down my cheek and land on my chest.
"You are going to die for being the last citizen of your country." Deep down I hope there is someone else like me. Someone else who has escaped. Who has not fallen in love with the enemy's daughter, thus forcing himself to be captured.
I hope that they will fight back. I hope they will find allies and fight back and regain our country.
I hope.
"When you die, I will take over this land to be mine and will repopulate your country with my people." He pauses and lets the loud cheers fill his ears. " My first step to conquering the world."
And with that, he raises his gun. I look at her once more.
I look at the trees once more.
I hope.
And then I hear the sound of the bullet leaving the gun.
I hear it whizzing through the air.
I hear it thump in my chest.
I can't hear my heart.
My legs are buckling.
Crash.