As he opened his bloodstained eyes, though not completely recovered from the huge blast that blinded him for a second, he tried to process what happened in front of him. His left eye felt heavy with the burden of drops of blood constantly dripping from his head and it made it difficult to open. However, he tried to make sense of what was going around him through one eye. A cloud of dust and ashes further blurred his vision. Nevertheless, his eyes regained focus on seeing a ring in front of him, a beautiful ruby cut in the most astounding fashion placed on a seamless white gold base. The ring was attached to a finger that was detached from a body. The moment he saw the ring, he knew that it was the same finger that had caressed his hair whenever he was having a bad day and it was the same finger that had wiped his tears when he had hurt himself or had fed him lovingly after a long day.
His eyes feverishly searched for the body that belonged to the finger. He tried to move his body he could only muster the strength to stand still. His legs were trembling and his knees were not of much support. But, he didn't give up. At last, his eyes fell on the body that he was searching for slammed under the debris of a fallen wall. The steel reinforcements had pierced through the guts exposing a part of the ribcage, and the face had got smashed beyond recognition by a huge concrete block. Then, he saw the exposed heart still pumping the last few drops of blood that remained in the body. The blood that was oozing out seemed to have stained the beautiful Persian rug that they had purchased just a week ago. This sight made his eyes swell with tears. Amidst all this, he was able to hear the commotion that was going on outside. He could see people running helter-skelter to save their lives. Some were seen searching anxiously for their kith and kin amidst all the debris while some just knelt beside the lifeless bodies of their loved ones in deep despair. A blink and drops of tears fell out of his right eye.
He looked beyond and saw a bunch of bloodthirsty rioters with grenade launchers and assault rifles sauntering toward their house. There was something cold and inhuman about their walk. It almost looked as if they were lifeless robots with no trace of humanity in them but programmed just to kill innocent people. One of the militants came still beside a little girl who was trying her best to pull the half-crushed body of her dear mom out of the rubble. He just stood there looking at her crying and pulling with her tiny arms the corpse that had already started to tear away bit by bit. In the flash of a moment, BANG! the brain of the little girl plopped to the floor, the pink frock that she had purchased from his shop for her birthday celebration was now stained red.
As the militants marched forward undeterred, the cries of wailing drastically increased all along accompanied by gunshots or grenade blasts. As they neared his house, he slowly started to scan the house. His legs which would normally flee at the first sight of trouble stood still for a moment. Something got his attention and made him walk towards it. He slowly tried walking towards it but a pool of blood flowing from his thighs revealed that a broken piece of silverware has cut through his thigh pretty deeply. He held onto that piece of silverware and pulled it out with all his might, giving out a scream. BANG! he heard a bullet zip past his ears. The militants have now noticed that a guy is standing up in a village that is on its knees. Strangely, the bullet's heat passing by his ears didn't bother him. He tried again to walk towards the now silent heart lying under the debris. His hands reached out and picked up a long piece of metal pipe with its edge broken up. He wipes the blood off his forehead to help him see better. He slowly starts walking towards the mob with multiple bullets zipping past him and some closely brushing his arms and legs. It is as if the mob had decided to have fun with this kid in his teenage who has gone mad by the sights around him. But they seldom realized that they couldn't hurt him anymore. He stepped out of the house walking slowly and fearlessly towards his death with the entire village fleeing behind him. His mind was bogged with the question, “Why today?... Why today? Can’t you find some other day?” Beside the bleeding heart, there was a letter. A letter addressed from the army base, a letter that said that his Dad would be home that day.
