LIES

They told us that we were fighting for our land. They told us that we were fighting for our people. They told us that we were fighting for tomorrow and that by the end of this war, there would be peace.

This is the story of what of Private Alfred F. Jones and what awaited me and my comrades at the end of the war; this is the story of the men whose name remained forgotten in history; this is our story.

We were just like any boy out there; wild, reckless, not giving a damn about anything! We barely just graduated from high school when we answered to the call of our homeland and signed up for war. After all, we were guys. We can't just sit back and rot in our houses while men- real men- were out defending our nation. We knew that there were risks to take but we were ready to lay down our life for our country. At least, that's what I thought.

When mom found out, she was frustrated. Disappointment streaked her face and despite the tears brimming in her eyes, she told me to get out of her sight. Yes, I had to leave her and my brother behind but I was also doing this for them. I mean like, if I don't fight for them, who will? If I don't go out there to protect them, who will? It took some time but she eventually accepted it. When I left, Matt, my lil' bro cried and mom had to coo over him saying that I'd be back soon. What we all didn't know was that 'soon' meant months and maybe even years.

Singing war songs off-key, we marched into an unknown territory with only a map to guide us and hastily taught combat skills to defend us. It was all fun and games until we came across them; the Japanese. What we thought would finally be our 'action' started and ended with bleedin' and fightin'. The colorful world we once knew was plunged in black and white.

One minute, the sky was bright, next, it was gray with smoke while it rained bullets. Still, I imagined myself returning to the base, laughing and drinking with my comrades after pushing back the enemy lines but instead, I see their bodies littering the ground, cold and dead with the heat laughing at my face.

And the Japs? Sweet Jesus, they just kept coming and coming. I don't think any of them wanted to live. They were all ready to die and take us all with them. They were ready to unleash hell right then and there if it meant preventing us from taking over this island.

In less than a week, our lives were turned upside down. There weren't any walls or roofs to shelter us. Our mothers weren't there to cook us mouth-watering meals; there was absolutely nothing! All we had was trenches, guns and the canned glob they call food. Every night, we lay awake fearing for whatever was coming at us, fearing for our dim tomorrows. That is, if we ever get to survive till tomorrow. It felt like an endless cycle. It was an endless cycle until we got ahold of a game-changer.

The Japs whom we thought were invincible; the Japs whom we thought were powerful and indestructible actually had a weakness. Tunnels. They hid here, successfully evading our artillery attacks but the very same thing will soon cause their downfall.

We were ordered to round up every explosive we can get to smoke the Japanese out from their tunnels so that the survivors would be forced to surrender. That day, we thought it was over. That day, we thought that the war did end and we finally got ahold of this thing called, 'peace'. We thought wrong.

War was far from over for us soldiers who spent who-knows how long in the battlefield. The deaths of our fellow soldiers continued to haunt us every night. The guilt of letting a comrade die continued to claw in our chest. The blood of both our enemies and allies still and would forever stain our memory.

Actually, I'm not really sure of how I got to see the war through the end. It was a miracle. Ah, no. It's a punishment. Yes, I may have survived but when my friends died, I died along with them. I never got to see the colors we desperately fought for. The world was still black and white. The war did end but ours did not.

A/N: I'm here to remind ya'll I'm still breathing. Nah, just kidding.

So, about the story; it's actually a feature story I published in school recently. Originally, it was just a prompt given to me by a classmate. After I finish a short piece, I'd go around, look for a friend or a classmate and ask them for a word I could use as a prompt and yes, they gave me 'lies' and this is how the story was made.

Then, here comes the assignment for the publication with the theme "colors (or the lack of it)" and I thought that if I just add the right words to this story, I could actually pass it, and boom! After working my magic and adding some censors, I made this fanfic publish-worthy. It was challenging and difficult to censor words while trying to convey the same meaning of the story, but it was a refreshing experience. It helped me squeeze my creative juices out, haha.

For all of you who has read this, thank you so much for taking your time.