Perception

Screams and explosions echoed throughout the air. 2 figures stood in the broken battle ground. One of the figures was facing the other, both of them tired and worn from the war.

"Give up!!!" one of the figures yelled, a blond. "Your army is defeated! You can live the rest of your life if you just give up!!"

"No!!" The other figure yelled, he was a brunette, outraged at the thought of giving up. "I will win!!"

"Your entire army is defeated, you can't win!" 'He can't win. I will protect what I believe in!!'

'No,' the brunette thought. 'I will win! I have something worth fighting for, and if I give up, what hope is there in the world!!'

With those thoughts in mind, they both rushed forward, giving their all into one final attack.

~( <^> )~

"Come on, honey,"

"Coming mother!"

"Look at you all muddy," the mother started. "We just go out to get groceries, and you manage to get yourself filthy."

The brunette boy looked away sheepishly. Laughing, he spoke, "I can't help it. I see all the other kids playing and I want to join in."

"I know that, little Jason," The mother started. "But next time, how about you boys try playing where there isn't a lot of mud."

The boy, Jason, nodded. "Alright mum. Oh, but did you know Aaron is going to be a big brother?"

"Is he now?" the mother asked. "I hadn't heard that, but then again, I haven't seen his parents for a couple of weeks."

They kept on walking along the road to there house. The house was simple, a log cabin, nothing special. But, it meant the world to Jason and his mother. They didn't have a lot of money, but they always made the most with what they had.

"Papa!!!" Jason yelled, as he ran inside. "We're home!!"

He ran through the living room until he got to the kitchen. The father turned around and opened his arms, waiting for Jason to jump into his arms as he always does when he get home.

The father looked at Jason and asked, "How was going to the market?"

Jason smiled at his father, and answered energetically, "Good! I played with all my friends, and we got muddy, and it was really fun, and can I go again sometime? Please, please, Please?! Aaron is going to be a new brother, so I really want to visit him! Please, please, please!? And-"

"Breath child," His mother interrupted. "We wouldn't want oxygen to stop going to your brain, now would we?"

Jason shook his head opened his mouth to say something.

"Sounds like it was a good time then," His father stated. "Maybe we should go and visit Aaron's parents, seeing as we haven't seen him in a while."

"Jason," his mother spoke. "How about you go get cleaned up, then we'll have dinner."

Jason nodded his head and ran to the bathroom. Both his mother and father looked at each other and smiled, laughing at his short attention span.

"So how was the market, dear?" the father asked. "Any new faces in town?"

"The market was good," the mother replied. "And no, there aren't. This place is very secluded, I wouldn't see why many people would journey this far. I did run into a few friends though. Did you know Milly is getting married?"