The Blood Wasted in the west

"Auf Wiedersehen, Leipzig und Maria"

She cried in my arms, "no, Thomas, don't go, dodge the draft!" How my heart wavered at that moment, as if my own mortality of my soul was touched by her pleas. I sigh and shift my helmet "Im sorry Maria, it is my duty to the fatherland, and the Kaiser." I say with sunken, horrid eyes. I walk away, past the crowd of cheering men and woman with my fellow soldiers, "Veil Glück, Männer!" They cheer as we march past and towards the train station.

I board the train in the third passenger car. I see other men, most in their early twenties, only few with facial hair. One sits next to me, "cigar?" He asks nonchalantly and innocently. "Thank you" i say as i take it out and begin smoking it. I watched the city fade away, and enter into countryside, watching the cows graze in the incorruptible fields. It took us three days to reach bootcamp.

"In formation!" The general yelled. "You are all officially drafted into the Prussian army, Your to be issued a uniform, rifle, canteen, and gas mask! Do i make myself clear?" In unison we all replied "Yes sir!" The first week we practiced our agility and fortitude. The next week we learnt how to fire our rifles, attach a bayonet, and put on our gas masks. The third week we were in trucks being shipped like cattle to the front.

When i first stepped into the trench it felt as if i fell into a lake. My boots were instantly sunk into wet mud and it was hard to walk. I walk past a man, he seems to have been here longer than any of us reinforcements, his eyes pink and his skin and uniform covered in grim. He says nothing and his eyes seem to be facing off to another dimension. Two men talk about the train ride and how this war will be fun and exactly like the hundreds of years of german war and victory. The French and British pillboxes stood in the distance as sturdied and menacing reminders of war. It was late, so i went to bed and slept. Around noon is when i woke up to loud banging sounds. I saw the two men who were excited about the war have these shocked and confused faces. As i looked out of the trench i understood why - artillery was bombarding our position, blowing dirt into the trench with every shell, and nearly making us deaf. I feared for my life.