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One More Inch
“One More Inch”
Home, every day I dream of home. I remember the cold mornings and cold nights. Drinking fresh spring water and eating my favorite homemade breakfast. I’m tired of this dream, I want to wake up and live that dream.
Today is a Wednesday of 1898. Just another typical day at camp, we would get our daily ration of beans, a piece of bread and dirty-looking water. We don’t know whether it’s clean or not. Me and my friends would sit down before combat and have a little talk about our pasts. We laughed, smiled at each other, and of course, prayed to survive that day. Life at war can be pretty exhausting, and even more when you are on the first line of attack. I was 19 years old when I saw my home for the last time. Right now it’s hard to remember, I was just abducted by the Russian army, taken as a prisoner unfairly, without even knowing why, forcing me to fight my own beloved Belarus. It’s been years since I’ve fought day by day on the open field. I don’t know how I’ve survived these horrible conditions. Every day I kill my own people to survive, and I am forced to betray my own family.
On Friday, we shall advance 2 Km east, in order to take down the remaining Belarusian forces surrounding their front. This is it, the big battle. We, the Belarus prisoners have been ordered to advance first in a so called “suicide run” or forward push to try and take the Belarusian front. Of course, we are not willing to, but forced to do so. On that day, we shall kill our own people to survive.
However, during the last 3 months, I’ve tunneled a 1 meter deep tunnel, which now extends to about 3.5 km, according to my calculations. How have I done this? Well, each sunset I excavate, nonstop. Every single night, I wait for the Russians to fall asleep. That happens at about 3 AM, sometimes at 4, it depends on how much time the sergeant takes to give up the late night orders for the next day. The key is to do this whenever nobody’s watching, not even my mates; but of course, I plan to tell them after I am finished tunneling. I always cover the hole where the tunnel begins with some sets of rocks and bushes, and in these 3 months, no one has noticed so far.
It is Thursday 1 AM, and I am waiting for the Russians to fall asleep so that I can continue tunneling the last remaining inches so that I can be sure that I reach the far Belarusian front.
I am not entirely sure, whatsoever, if I will notify my mates or not, I prefer to remain it my secret.
-I experience an adrenaline rush.-
I must finish my tunneling tonight because early tomorrow, we will advance towards my death, forgetting all of my work, giving up all hopes of survival. Will I make it? That is my longtime question.
It is 3:35 AM and the Russians are still awake. Time flies by, and every second lost, is another tunneled-less inch. Finally! The Russians have blown their candles out. It is time to finish my tunneling. I unfold my great tunnel and run towards the end and continue drilling. One more inch to salvation. It is approximately 4:45 AM and I am still not sure whether I should dig up or not. Who knows if I dig up and have the entire Belarusian army in front of me? Will they confuse me with a Russian? There is only one way to find out. Let’s dig up.
-Jitters crawl all over my body.-
I can’t believe my eyes! All of the sweat, the hard work, the sleepless hours spent have finally paid off, living is worth now. I can finally see the other side...MY side. I hear my familiar tongue which I’ve spoken since I’m 2 years old, there’s this feeling of joy that I feel for the first time after all these months. I am finally walking through my lands. I am slowly approaching my troops and a feeling of victory invades me, but right now, they’re too far away, they look ant-like in the death of the night. I have to tell them. I have to tell them what happened to me, what happened to us. I need to speak now, all of my mates are still prisoners, and their nightmare is not over yet. Now I see my troops only some meters away from me. I am confused, am I scared? Am I happy? Will they take me as a prisoner? Will they remember me? Or is it just the feeling that my dream will finally become reality? It’s time to tell the truth. But first, I will drink some fresh water.
THE END
