January 14

December option B: The truth of society

Why is it we all treat others so harsh? Look at the past, how the treatment of African American was so unjust or the mistreatment of individuals such as Elie from the novel Night. If deep down everyone is truly kind and merciful how did such events occur? I write this persuasive piece to show the true heart of the world and how individuals only really care about themselves and have discontent towards certain individuals. Just take a look outside and you’ll still see the unfair treatment of certain religions,races, and cultures. I ask all these questions knowing there will never be a correct answer or that there will even be answered.

 

There is no individual one may put forth that will be willing to give up their own fortune for the sake of someone they do not even know. We can put a facade up showing a false image of ourselves but no matter how good our false identity is when put to the test no one will pass. I don’t say this with passion and joy of demining everyone but with sorrow for how weak man truly is. This can be proven with such a vast amount of examples, the first example that is most recent is the Uyghur Muslims in China who are being placed in internment camps. How is it possible in this day and age after watching the mass murder of millions of Jews and the regret and sorrow that comes with the Holocaust we still cant recognize the present day Holocaust? Why is it no one has taken action or done something, how is it world leaders watch this injustice continue with a blind eye. If we were really good people wouldn’t we have done something now other than just posting something on our Instagram and forget it. Mankind has evolved from the dawn of time from the en-slavery of non-whites to the multiple genocides. This can also be proven with the huge gap between the rich and poor, how is it with all the wealth billionaires and millionaires have we still end up with poor people can’t they just give some of their money for the poor. There’s one simple answer greed, everyone is full of greed and doesn’t really care about anyone but themselves.

January 12

Persuasive 4 day week

Dear Prosper school board I write this letter to you on the proposal of a four day school week, my name is Alex Wells and I am in grade 12. I have taken in all the potential factor not only for students but for parents and teachers, looking at both the pros and cons. I respectfully ask that the board keep my letter in mind when making the decision and to also remember their own responsibilities.  

 

 At first a four day week may sound very appealing and most will quickly believe less school equals less work and more free time but we should take in all the factors at hand. No matter how many days of school there will be there still must be a certain amount of class time required, and in the case of the Prosper School Board there would be longer school days starting at 7:55 and ending at 4:04. Having longer school days will begin to change the quality of students’ lives, an example of this can be seen with our student athletes who are worried they will have to attend practice after school at 4:15 then return home to eat and do homework while still being expected to wake up at 6:00am the next day and rebegin the cycle. There’s still one thing missing in a students four day week that wasn’t even mentioned in the student athletes day, every student needs a mental break from all the stress that comes with school and must be allocated time to relax. This period of relaxation resets teenagers minds and helps them refocus again. The Academic Journal states two important points in their latest research on the effect of sleep patterns on student learning first stating that teenagers require sleep to grow and mature, also that cutting sleep by just one hour drops an individual’s alertness by one third. The effects of sleep loss do not become worth the amount of days off as students would waste their time off trying to catch up with their sleep on their days off.  

 

 The opinion of teachers should not be taken into account when making this decision as this loss of rest will not affect them. This is displayed by the amount of school staff who said yes to the idea of four day weeks as they would be given fridays off. Teachers do not wish to have friday off for the benefit of the students but for themselves, so they are able to do other activites such as party and spend time with their friends .the opinion of parents shouldn’t be used when deciding as some of them as seen on Fastpool.com comment by Kristina Oudet believe that school is almost a day care for their young adults where they don’t have to worry about them. Thus creating a bias opinion for parents to not intake the other factors at hand, such as their child’s education or the amount of rest they will have.

 

I personally find it very alarming when the idea of students sacrificing rest just to gain an extra day off becomes acceptable, all students require the correct amount of rest time. If we are unable to keep the students of Prosper in the best mental and physical condition we will begin to see success rates fall lower and lower academic achievements. With the way the school system works now students have enough time for everything including work.shown by Rosies work schedule she will have the same amount of work hours per week without facing the risk of lost sleep and a greater amount of stress. Students such as Rosie prove how efficient the five day week is and why it should be kept, why must something be changed if it works perfectly fine. 

 

With all the reasoning given I find it clear that the four day school week should never be implemented, the cons outweigh the pros as the students quality of life should come before the benefit of anyone else. The schedule implace right now vastly beats the new one with pros and helps students become more successful.

 

Sincerely, Alex wells

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November 7

Ignorance is Bliss

There is a certain privilege that comes with being raised in a first world country like Canada. We are able to get what we want, when we want, with little regard for people around the world who are less fortunate than us. But with that privilege comes ignorance. We are ignorant to the fact that children from across the world struggle to go to school having to cross rivers, like the kids in the picture, just to get an education. The luxury of being able to afford and attain a good education has been taken for granted by many students like myself. It is important to recognize these flaws and move forward with gratitude, with the intention to help people.

Through the evolution of this world, we have forgotten and left behind so many countries to their own devices, doing very little when something bad happens like bombings, girls being married young, and kids getting little to no education leaving them with a literacy rate that would have been what ours was over 100 years ago. How come we are in an age where technology is better and faster than ever before yet children go to school having to walk many miles, some of them never getting above sixth grade because they have to help their families. Being first generation Canadian I often struggle with the idea that if my parents hadn’t left Zimbabwe, I wouldn’t have the opportunities that I have access to. Kids like the ones in the picture have to gather on a small raft hoping and clinging for their lives to get to school; this is something we have all taken for granted. Every morning I complain that I don’t want to be here, ignorant to the fact that if I had been born a few decades earlier, I wouldn’t have finished sixth grade and would be married with kids at the age of seventeen. We often mistake the luxuries we have as basic human rights.

It saddens me to think that kids aren’t as fortunate to go to school everyday getting picked up by a school bus where there is a level of security that on your journey to school and back there is no chance of dying because you drowned holding onto a small raft with your two other siblings. Countries like the Philippines, Ethiopia, Ecuador don’t have that guarantee for the kids who go to school that they will return home safely and have a life full of opportunities where they are encouraged to follow their dreams. The western world has somehow blinded and even isolated themselves to these issues that the rest of the world has to face daily. It is my job as someone who is a child of immigrants, who moved away from a life like this in order for their daughters to get opportunities they never had as children, to educate those around me ignorant and blinded to the fact that not everyone’s life is a version of the “American Dream” many try so hard to achieve. 

The privilege we have received as Canadians is one that comes with responsibility. The responsibility to be gracious for what we have and to know the difference between luxuries and basic human rights and needs. It is with this knowledge we are able to move forward as a unified world. Ignorance is bliss until the realization that the power of knowledge can help change the world so kids like those in the picture don’t have to risk their lives crossing a river in order to try and get a decent formal education just to get half of the opportunities that Canadian students receive. As a student, I will try my best to be happy and thankful to be at school so when I am able to help others I can fight for the right to have good education at schools that are close to home with transportation for all students no matter their ethnicity, gender, or background. 

 

November 7

Joys of Life

How is it that in my country we take buses and complain about school, but on the other side of the Pacific kids have to cross rivers and hike to get to school. I went to the Philippines on vacation as I thought it would be fun to go to a place and not the basic destinations for vacation like Mexico,Hawaii or, Los Angeles and it was half the price. So I packed my bags and headed to the Philippines, I was an avid photographer and knew if wanted to find the best pictures I would have to go far from the industrialized cities and into the forest. 

Once I arrived I found the first taxi willing to take me to the closest village away from the city, as we drove farther out from the city it became visible how bad and rough living conditions were here. The beautiful skyscrapers and malls hiding the true state of the Philippines, by modernizing their country they had left their own people behind. Once I arrived to the Village I felt as if I was in a new country, there was no running water or electricity. How could it be that an hour and a half  outside the massive city there was no basic needs being met, homes were made of mud and kids played with nothing but broken tires and sticks,somehow you could still find them smiling and laughing . I almost felt sick knowing people lived like this while their own government lived lavishly. I setup my tent for the night and tried to get some rest, I woke up in the middle of the night to children running and playing I checked time and realized it three in the morning. I peeked out my tent wondering what was going on and saw two little kids with backpacks on fooling around I was confused why were they up so early, why did they have backpacks on, where were they going? I decided to follow them and find out was going on I quickly put my shoes on and grabbed my camera. They waited until the 3rd child came out of the forest and followed him, he walked for two hours through the forest with only Crocs on I could barely keep up with no backpack and only proper shoes but no matter their condition they kept joking around with each other.Suddenly we came out of the forest and landed in front of a river. They grabbed a raft tied to the trees and headed down the river.

I waited for hours until eventually they reappeared, tied up their raft and went right back on their treacherous hike. I was so starstruck as their parents told me they had done this since they were five every weekday they had to do the same journey just to get to the closest school. I remember as a child complaining when I had to walk six minutes from my bus stop, saying how much I hated school and my how my life was unfair. These children were so dedicated to learn and study they would walk and paddle for 5 hours one way just to reach the nearest school. I was confused as the 3rd boy grabbed some water and a small snack and headed back into the forest I asked the other parents where he was going they said’home” I didn’t understand what they meant wasn’t his home here in the village? I asked the parents “ where his home was” they told me he lived in the next village down which was two hours away. With my pictures and story I headed home to write my new blog post about the three most bravest children I had met.

I posted my blog post creating a juxtaposition of the children here in Canada compared to the children of the Philippines. Even with this harsh daily routine these children somehow still had a smile on their face, unlike in our society where children sit in front of a screen and never truly find happiness. How is it that even with the worst living conditions seen people still find happiness and enjoy their lives, it’s not because of what they own as possessions it’s the memories and experiences they create. You can’t text or call anyone in that tiny village the only thing you have is to bond and connect with your family and friends, imagine spending more than 10 hours of your day with two other people how strong and connected would you be to them? You don’t need the newest iPhone or car to be happy having others around you is just enough, we have spoiled and filled our lives with nothing but items and wealth maybe it time we stopped and looked around at the beauty of others and ourselves.    

students journey

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November 3

Indiscriminant Bonds

There is always a tale between every school and every student who attended those schools, that includes judgement about anything distinctive and unique about someone. This can turn into bullying. The victims often lose enough self-esteem and end up separating themselves from the community around them, if the community had not done that already from all the commotion and rumors that float around like an undiscovered, contagious virus. However, in the case of unfortunate situations, this changes. In the visual provided, where there are three children in an unfortunate situation, they willingly include and help each other out rather than discriminating because they all have a mutual goal to accomplish.

The Philippines just had a school in a horrible spot, where students on one side of the river that attended that school had no bridge to cross. That school is still getting funded, so education continues. For the children attending that school, they definitely need to write on paper. They have to keep their textbooks, notes, and blank paper dry. They have to keep their food clean. They have to keep themselves warm and comfortable by trying not to submerge themselves in water. They have to keep themselves clean and away from bacteria all over the river water to avoid getting sick. Those children, while growing up, were likely taught how to utilize the river and take care of themselves along the way to get to the school on the other side of it. Being on the other side of the river, they were not often exposed to the idea of leaving others out who are also in need of help. They were definitely not taught to leave others in the dust and fend for themselves only either.

In most social interactions outside of the Philippines, everyone often tries to some extent, to fit in with groups of people because it could lower their chance of being excluded. In some schools, some children are already excluded right away just because they started out alone. The usual motive for this is based off the priorities and the type of life that each child lives in and grows up in. The ones that judge and exclude others for immoral and minor reasons, typically tend to be focused more on hoarding attention or hiding their own insecurities with a false sense of ego.

In the Philippines, however, these three children focus on a common hardship. The river, being the common hardship, technically blinds children from attacking the lives of others for the sake of attention or just because they had insecurities that they wrapped some makeshift ego all over. Those children who worry about their own condition while crossing the river are able to easily understand the other children struggling to cross the river, and would provide a helping hand if they needed it, and if they were able to. 

If a wandering adult sees three children with backpacks and smiles on a raft, what would they be thinking? Aside from them going to school, they are probably friends. They are probably having fun. They definitely do not seem to be upset, scared, nor bothered about the fact that there is no bridge to cross the river if they are smiling. It is because they have a common hardship they are dealing with together, that they can understand each other better, and that they could begin forming a bond with each other that is free of spiteful judgement.

September 27

A Healthy Campfire

Time means a lot to me… If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.

Bruce Lee

    This is a quote that had shown me the importance of living my life to its fullest extent. It has also shown me that time is something that is very limited in any lifetime, so that I should be doing my best to make every second of it feel worth it to myself. Thus, I believe in devotion. I believe in dedication. Devotion and dedication is essential if I want to provide myself with an adaptable and tolerable lifestyle that I want or wish for. Devotion and dedication being explained this way reminds me of a campfire, the starting of it, and the maintenance of the fire itself. Devotion and dedication becomes a necessity if I, or anyone, were to attempt to make a proper fire and keep it alive. This fire could represent a multitude of things too, like the bonds of friendship, my control of my own life, and more.

 

    To begin, I had an old friend from Hawaii named Kai. A few years back, he was visiting his grandparents for several months who, surprisingly, also lived in Alberta. He and I used to hang out pretty often during his visit. We always made jokes together, had fun together, talked about controversial topics together, and more. He seemed like a fine and morally acceptable person to be around for a lifetime. But, unfortunately, family issues for me had arose and the time that I hung with Kai on a daily basis, began to shrink more and more. I had not told him about my reasons for hanging out with him less, but I still tried to allocate a minimum of an hour a day for him. This hour-a-day routine only lasted two weeks, before something catastrophic had oozed its way into my life.

 

    It is nearing the end of October 2017, and the last month that Kai is staying in Alberta. Being around him was not fun anymore, but rather, very enervating and gloomy. The fact that I had decided to continue hanging out with him, had in fact, spoiled him. That was something I had learned right after I had left him for two days for a small family trip, when I found out that he had triggered one of our mutual friend’s depressive episodes. Well, things were a very steep hill at this point, because I had to choose between dealing with two old friends. Since I knew substantially more about Kai than I did about the other friend of ours, who was in a relationship, I decided to help Kai out. I believed that our friend would be able to recuperate from this with her relationship, so I left them in a pool of hope. I asked Kai questions regarding his depressive mood, and I got confirmation that all he wanted was attention. He wanted someone to be with, to play with, to communicate with, all on a daily basis. Out of loyalty, I blindly indulged him. I, like a sheep, followed him without any signs of hesitation, because I, at that time, thought that the time I spent with him, would actually help him. I had not realized what was really wrong, until I spread the word about me and my situation with Kai to my family. They told me that all I was doing was just satisfying his guilt tripping, and not really giving him any advice to tackle his attention-seeking depression. After I was made aware about how this looked from the outside of the picture, I began to think about what needs to be done, what could help him. My family argued that someone like Kai, as he was, was essentially at the point of being a lost cause, and that I should just stop being friends with him, since I would only be wasting my time.

 

    It was the first time in a while, that I felt like I might battle with sorrow again. My family suggested that I should leave Kai in the dust, and part ways with him. And in this moment, since I felt that there was a need to clean some things up. I compromised with my family. Especially since I was told by an outside perspective, a problem that I could not see myself. I thought about what I wanted and how they thought I should deal with Kai. My compromised method was to not leave Kai in the dust, but to minimize my interaction with him when it came to spending time with him, and to maximize my advice that I give him that should be helping him fight against his desire for attention. I thought this would work, because Kai had been taking me for granted by expecting me to always say yes to his requests. I thought that this would be a justifiable way to show him that it is not possible for me to stick around as often forever, and that he should be putting in some dedication towards fixing himself and putting himself in a place where he is comfortable in life. All he was really doing was being childish and whining about how boring, empty, lonely, and silent his life was whenever I was not around. And it was always about whether I was around or not too. He told me his problems one more time the next day, and I got a little fed up; began to tell him upfront what I had thought about his behaviour and his attention issue that he was pushing onto me. His problems are not something that I should be solving for him, since it is only possible to do as much as extend a hand to help. That was the message I delivered. From then on, I had started reducing how much time I spent with him on a daily basis, down to the point where I had just ignored him. It hurt, yeah, because I was basically being a fool.

 

    It is now the seventh of August 2019. It has almost been three whole years. Leaving Kai with my parting words as advice left a bad taste in my mouth, but I believed it was advice worthy for the best and the rest of his life. To my surprise, after three silent years without Kai, he comes back for a visit. This time, it was a visit for me, not his grandparents. He said he would see his grandparents while he was here. This was awkward, much like the first time I met him, except, this time, being around him was not enervating and gloomy. It was even more awkward for me, because I was a little anxious about what he would think about me. About me being unresponsive towards his cries for attention after the last message. People change, and that is an absolute thing. I understand that. What it felt like to be around Kai in 2016 was not the same anymore. The 2019 Kai is not in an adrenaline rush for attention anymore. He greets me, and talks to me as if his depression incident had never happened. He was fine to talk about it and remembers everything he has done, and says he regrets it, and understands what went wrong. He gave me news saying that he had found two companions to hang around and talk to on a daily basis. And I briefly congratulated him. Throughout these years, I had thought about how much time I spent dealing with Kai, helping him. And it was only until I thought about it, that I had not realized that my unique traits that carried me through those few months, was devotion and dedication. Devotion made me stay with him. Devotion made me compromise with my family’s suggestion. Dedication made me go back and help him when he needed it, even if he was not conscious of his own flaws. Devotion and dedication gave me hope that what I did would give him the idea of traveling to the light he only stared at. Devotion and dedication, ultimately, let me see that time is definitely needed to mend things, but time will not mend things if nothing is done to start that process. Since time is limited in a lifetime, I had learned that sitting around, whining, crying, and grieving about personal problems is just wasting the time I have left to live. And with that wasted time, I could have spent it all on trying to better myself and find firewood to keep my fire alive.

January 18

Polished Visual Response

Visual Response

Kindness can play a big role in an individual’s life especially when that person is in a time of crisis. People often help others through their problems while they also have hardships in their life. For example the soldier is feeding a stray kitten during the Korean War. This type of kindness is very rare to find because people focus on themselves and don’t care about what’s going on around them. People who care for each other are the people who want to bring peace to this world and make society better. By doing so, people will realize the importance of kindness and how much it can affect other people’s lives.

 

The first time I was exposed to this type of kindness was when my family was going through some problems with my cousins who lived in Vancouver. At this time, I was struggling with some of my classes and needed serious help but with everybody’s lives occupied, I couldn’t find any. All of my family members were busy with the problems in their lives that they didn’t care about what other people were going through. I kept asking my parents to help me find a tutor or get them to help me but they eventually forgot I even asked them. As Spring break approached, I was fed up with my parents not helping me with something that was a bit more important than what was going on in their lives. I asked my older sister to help and she had agreed to because she knew how much of a hard time I have had with getting help. At the time, my sister was in her first year of university and had final exams coming up but still agreed to help me. This was when I noticed that my sister was one of the rare people who help others even when their lives are busy. I took advantage of this situation and got all the help I needed in order to do good in my classes before the year ended. Looking back at this, I couldn’t have done this without my sister by my side and the kindness that she shared with others. This characteristic can show how an individual truly feels about you and what kind of a person they are. My parents on the other hand are the opposite of my sister and focus on themselves more than they focus on other people’s lives.

 

Individuals often have a sense of kindness within them like the soldier feeding the kitten during the Korean War.While he has a more important thing in his hands, he still takes the time to feed a stray cat because he cares. Having this type of a person in your life can help you become more successful because they put their problems aside to resolve yours first.

 

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January 18

Irony

Aly Jetha

Visual response #3

Irony

War brings out many feelings and situations where one does not know how to act. It can bring out the best in people or the worst in people and it really show a lot about a person when you see how they act in many difficult situations. Even after the was is done and the individual goes back home they can act different due to what they have experienced.

In the photograph given it shows a soldier feeding an orphaned kitten. I find it ironic how he is in a war killing people, but he is also giving life by helping this kitten stay alive. He is in a very stressful situation and has a lot to worry about but he takes this kitten in as well so he can raise it and give i it the help it needs until it can support itself. He sees that the kitten doesn’t have its mother to help it, but on the other hand he doesn’t see that by killing people he could be taking someone else’s mother or father and that kid could end up like the kitten at the mercy of a stranger’s hands. This happens a lot because some people get married and have kids but have to go to war and don’t have a choice and sometimes they don’t get to go back to see their kids because they were killed. For the lucky one that make it out alive some are not the same – they come home with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and they are physically there but not mentally. The kitten is lucky because it won’t remember much about its younger months and it will make it thanks to this soldier. The kittens mother was probably killed because of the war and that left the kitten alone to fend for itself. This could happen to the child of one of the people fighting the war if they are killed the child will be alone and have to find their own way in the world which is not easy to do at a young age.Society is not forgiving and especially for a child that has nothing or nobody.

A example of this from my life is my mother she grow grew up in India and when she was about ten-years-old her dad died leaving her mom to take care of her and her three siblings. They all got jobs at a very young age so that they could support themselves and get a decent education. Her dad did not die in a war, but it is relatable because the rest of her family was left not knowing what to do. Luckily her family pulled together and worked  hard so that they could get to where they are now. They had to work hard to get the basic necessities and if the rest of her family gave up then I probably would not be here today. Some people are not as lucky to have a family that can do that.

War shows a bad side of some people and in this case it was different because it showed that some people still care and have a heart. It is a hard choice to make to kill people when you look at it this way. It looks like a person is heartless when they are at war but they have to choose to protect their family by going to war or to let someone potentially hurt your family if your country losses. It is ironic though because you are affecting someone else’s family by killing people in the war but that is a choice you have to make.

January 18

Salvation (Refined Visual Reflection)

Talha Muhammad

December 12 2018

Visual Reflection

 

Salvation

 

Individuals often find salvation in doing the tiniest of good deeds at times. During wartime individuals often lose sight of themselves and the goal that they set upon themselves. Through that loss individuals often have to change to adapt in order to the cruelty on the battlefield. During this period individuals become susceptible to their surroundings and change for the better or worse, more often being the worse as no one is around to help them. Individuals often begin to cherish lifeforms weaker than them, avoid unnecessary cruelty, and taking care of others in an attempt to preserve the remainders of their worn down sanity.  

 

Individuals can often keep their sanity by remembering to show compassion to weaker life forms. By doing this individual’s remember the value of life no matter how big or how small it is. This is seen is in the photograph taken in 1952 in the North Korean war, as a soldier is sitting down under a ditch and focusing on feeding a cat, rather than killing it. Through feeding the cat it is seen as a form of salvation as instead of using his hands to kill the others, he is using his hands to preserve a life. This shows that although the soldier should be wary of his surroundings while resting, he is willing to risk letting down his guard in order to feed the cat.

Individuals in a war often have a difficult time preventing themselves from crossing the line and deliberately performing cruelty in order to release stress over their situation. Through resisting those urges individuals are preventing themselves from losing a vital aspect of themselves that makes up their identity. This can be seen in the photograph as the soldier is tenderly feeding the cat while sitting in a defenseless position in the trench. As he feeds the cat he is preventing himself from crossing the line and causing his himself to change for the worst. The cat can be seen as a test to see whether he can preserve his character or change and indulge in the acts of cruelty on the battlefield.

 

During the wartime, individuals will often seek to preserve their sanity while trying to fight and survive. Individuals will often be overcome with their negative emotions while having feelings of comfort and happiness sapped away from them in order to adapt to the cruelty of the battlefield. As individuals constantly kill, they lose a crucial part of themselves that they had before the war, changing their mentalities to become unstable or depressing that lasts their whole lives even after the war is over. In order to preserve their sanity individuals will often take any actions that have a relation to their lifestyle before the war. This can be seen in the photograph as the soldier is very serious in carefully feeding the cat, neglecting the situation on the battlefield which would normally be a soldier’s first priority. In this photograph it is seen that the soldier is carefully protecting the one thing that can preserve his sanity during the war, even disregarding his safety by taking his helmet off. Through the act of feeding the cat, he is also protecting a vital piece of his himself that he possessed before the war in order to prevent him from completely losing himself.

 

Individuals in the battlefield will often find salvation by not going overboard through doing deliberate cruelty and by learning to cherish the life around them. By doing this individuals will find that it doesn’t matter how weary they become during the war as long as they as they have something to hold on to.

 

 

 

 

January 18

Polished Visual/ Home

I never suspected it to happen, but when it did, it tore me away from my family. Leaving nothing but a rifle in my hand and fear in my heart. The Korean war was the worst experience in my life, the bloodshed and hatred that it brought caused nothing but suffering. USA thought they were doing the right thing when they invaded, to help its allies. Instead, they started a war that no one wanted to participate in. I remember the day I got the letter to join the army, and it wasn’t my decision, I was forced to leave the ones I loved to help complete strangers. I got to camp and everyone that I conversed with were scared beyond help, nobody expected things to blow up like this. The next couple of weeks were nothing but training and eating rations. Our sarge, Sergeant Henley, he was a honest man and knew exactly what needed to get done. All of the men respected him for that, he had a strong soul and incredible will power. One evening, after all the training the sarge was playing poker with all the boys, it was our nightly ritual. He then stood up with a rush and said to us men, “ Just know when your time comes men, that you don’t lose your innocence or faith within yourself,” it’s the one thing that will keep you safe. With that he put down his cards to show a royal flush and walked out of our quarters.

 

That next morning I wake up to the noise of sirens blaring and helicopter blades chopping at the wind. The attacks have gotten worse and needed more men on the battlefield immediately. Without a moment’s notice I pack up all that I needed, which was just a handful of rations, all the ammunition I could carry, and my rifle. As I was about to leave the building I hear a soft meow from the corner of the room. When I turned around I noticed a kitten in the corner all alone, without thinking twice I go to pick it up and gently place it in my duffel bag. I wasn’t just going to let a kitten die, I’ll have him and he’ll have me. At that moment I knew I had to get back home alive to give my little girl her own cat. After that I bolted out of the doors and ran to the nearest helicopter, it was packed with men but they found out a way to get me in. After we took off I unzipped my duffel bag and reached in to grab the kitten. He was afraid at first, I reckon he was less than a month old. To be abandoned at such a young age, just makes me think about how such a thing could happen. Soon after I was able to curl my hand around his small body, with a gentle and steady hand I brought him closer to my chest. We watched as different landscapes whipped past us as we barreled through the air, closer and closer to the destruction. As we were flying, one of the soldiers noticed what I had, “What in god’s name are you going to do with that? Eat it!” My only response was, “No actually, it’s for my daughter.” That made him shut up real fast. Then we started to get closer to the battlefield, the sound of AR’s and bombs slowly crept into our ears and got louder with each passing second. The air was stained with the smell of blood and mold when we landed, in the distance you would see the paramedics dragging men’s bodies that were missing all sorts of limbs. They were all images that could have came straight out of a nightmare. I then realized what I was put here for, I headed to straight to base camp to get further instructions. They told me I only needed some rations, but take all the ammunition that I can and head to the front line, they were losing men by the minute. I didn’t want to show them how afraid I was, so I just nodded my head and did what I was told.

 

The smells were unbearable, it was a mixture of undefined fluids and feces. The only thing that kept me there was the image of my daughter’s face when she sees what I got her. As bullets sped past right above me, I slowly withdrew the kitten from my jacket. I placed her gently in my palm and dug around my pockets to see if there was anything I could feed him. With no luck out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small plastic medical syringe on a soldier that must’ve died earlier that day. Without even realizing the situation, I took the syringe and broke the metal needle right off. I then took what ration of milk I had left and slowly poured it into the syringe. With my back against some sand bags and my helmet on my knee, I took the one thing I cared about and gave it a life worth living.

 

As I nursed the kitten with it’s small paws wrapped around the syringe, the voices of the axis were closing in and my time of survival was nearing to an end. The footsteps of a unknown individual was closing in, my instant reaction was to pull out my pistol from the holster that wrapped around my waist. With each step growing louder, my heart beat faster and my hands started to shake. Someone then peered over the sandbags, I quickly raised my gun and saw that it wasn’t an ally. I squeezed the trigger and the bullet hit directly in between his eyes and the lifeless body collapsed on me. With the kitten still in the palm of my hand I pushed the corpse off of me and made an effort to escape. As I was about to enter through the door of our barracks, I heard the shot of a rifle as if it were right behind me. The next thing I know, I had collapsed on the ground and couldn’t move my lower half of my body. Knowing that this is the end of the line I throw the kitten into the barracks and with the little strength I have left I shut the door.

If this was the only life that I could save, then so be it. This was a war I wasn’t ready to fight and I saved a life that I had no idea I was going to know about.