| General Fiction posted May 21, 2020 |
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War Entry
War now.
by zanya
For the class of 2020 the only 'real' war they may have known is on a computer or in a history lesson at school. WW1 and WW11 belong, between the yellowed pages of some history tome.
Of course, the world still boils over into armed conflict and new and more modern weapons are paraded to snuff it out.
Our young men and women still have to enter the fray and put their young lives on the line.
They know in advance what part of the world hostilities have broken out.
It can be pinpointed on a map. The issues giving rise to the conflict may be regional or global. There is some sort of framework. Regional or global warfare, sad to say, doesn't usually make the population at large sit up and take notice. Battling our new enemy called COVID19 has made even the smallest child take notice.
In our new 'war', the enemy is invisible, lurking who knows where or when. But very real and deadly. We are scared whether we want to admit it or not. The enemy is keeping us confined to our homes, unable to travel to work or take our children to school or visit our elderly. We are advised not to hug or shake hands. The very foundation of our human interactions is being discouraged for now.
Our shopping malls, once a hive of commercial activity, now resemble relics from a forgotten civilisation.
Patience, once in short supply, as evidenced by the honking of horns or speed on our highways, is now back in vogue, with a bang, as we politely queue, for what can be hours on end, just to purchase essential supplies for survival.
Our city streets are empty. Few weddings or funerals are solemnised.
War's aftermath can be seen in physical dereliction. COVID 19's aftermath we don't yet know. Uncertainty about the duration prevents us from predicting the ending and the aftermath.
Life as we have come to know it, thus far, has been overturned by this newly-arrived,deadly enemy.
Our greatest defence is a simple act, we are repeatedly told, of hand washing. Whoever heard of a war being fought with soap and water? Well,now we have.
Our battle dress is a simple piece of cloth placed over our mouth and nose in the form of a face mask.
All the sophisticated hardware of war is simply redundant in this new theatre of war.
The irony is that while we humans are doing everything possible to prevent catching this disease the planet on which we live is experiencing a cleaner bill of health as a result of our staying home. Animals who usually keep their distance in the wild are coming closer to our human habitation.
We are being shown some kind of new reality here, being taught some kind of lesson.
Are we ready for this brave, new world on our doorstep?
War Entry contest entry
For the class of 2020 the only 'real' war they may have known is on a computer or in a history lesson at school. WW1 and WW11 belong, between the yellowed pages of some history tome.
Of course, the world still boils over into armed conflict and new and more modern weapons are paraded to snuff it out.
Our young men and women still have to enter the fray and put their young lives on the line.
They know in advance what part of the world hostilities have broken out.
It can be pinpointed on a map. The issues giving rise to the conflict may be regional or global. There is some sort of framework. Regional or global warfare, sad to say, doesn't usually make the population at large sit up and take notice. Battling our new enemy called COVID19 has made even the smallest child take notice.
In our new 'war', the enemy is invisible, lurking who knows where or when. But very real and deadly. We are scared whether we want to admit it or not. The enemy is keeping us confined to our homes, unable to travel to work or take our children to school or visit our elderly. We are advised not to hug or shake hands. The very foundation of our human interactions is being discouraged for now.
Our shopping malls, once a hive of commercial activity, now resemble relics from a forgotten civilisation.
Patience, once in short supply, as evidenced by the honking of horns or speed on our highways, is now back in vogue, with a bang, as we politely queue, for what can be hours on end, just to purchase essential supplies for survival.
Our city streets are empty. Few weddings or funerals are solemnised.
War's aftermath can be seen in physical dereliction. COVID 19's aftermath we don't yet know. Uncertainty about the duration prevents us from predicting the ending and the aftermath.
Life as we have come to know it, thus far, has been overturned by this newly-arrived,deadly enemy.
Our greatest defence is a simple act, we are repeatedly told, of hand washing. Whoever heard of a war being fought with soap and water? Well,now we have.
Our battle dress is a simple piece of cloth placed over our mouth and nose in the form of a face mask.
All the sophisticated hardware of war is simply redundant in this new theatre of war.
The irony is that while we humans are doing everything possible to prevent catching this disease the planet on which we live is experiencing a cleaner bill of health as a result of our staying home. Animals who usually keep their distance in the wild are coming closer to our human habitation.
We are being shown some kind of new reality here, being taught some kind of lesson.
Are we ready for this brave, new world on our doorstep?
Of course, the world still boils over into armed conflict and new and more modern weapons are paraded to snuff it out.
Our young men and women still have to enter the fray and put their young lives on the line.
They know in advance what part of the world hostilities have broken out.
It can be pinpointed on a map. The issues giving rise to the conflict may be regional or global. There is some sort of framework. Regional or global warfare, sad to say, doesn't usually make the population at large sit up and take notice. Battling our new enemy called COVID19 has made even the smallest child take notice.
In our new 'war', the enemy is invisible, lurking who knows where or when. But very real and deadly. We are scared whether we want to admit it or not. The enemy is keeping us confined to our homes, unable to travel to work or take our children to school or visit our elderly. We are advised not to hug or shake hands. The very foundation of our human interactions is being discouraged for now.
Our shopping malls, once a hive of commercial activity, now resemble relics from a forgotten civilisation.
Patience, once in short supply, as evidenced by the honking of horns or speed on our highways, is now back in vogue, with a bang, as we politely queue, for what can be hours on end, just to purchase essential supplies for survival.
Our city streets are empty. Few weddings or funerals are solemnised.
War's aftermath can be seen in physical dereliction. COVID 19's aftermath we don't yet know. Uncertainty about the duration prevents us from predicting the ending and the aftermath.
Life as we have come to know it, thus far, has been overturned by this newly-arrived,deadly enemy.
Our greatest defence is a simple act, we are repeatedly told, of hand washing. Whoever heard of a war being fought with soap and water? Well,now we have.
Our battle dress is a simple piece of cloth placed over our mouth and nose in the form of a face mask.
All the sophisticated hardware of war is simply redundant in this new theatre of war.
The irony is that while we humans are doing everything possible to prevent catching this disease the planet on which we live is experiencing a cleaner bill of health as a result of our staying home. Animals who usually keep their distance in the wild are coming closer to our human habitation.
We are being shown some kind of new reality here, being taught some kind of lesson.
Are we ready for this brave, new world on our doorstep?
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