Content warning: Strong adult themes, war, violence, PTSD  

Moon

There was this … I was in a long line of soldiers, we were some sort of unit, we went behind enemy lines and we attacked a command post in a school building. Then we retreated through some small paddocks and bush. We stayed too long in one place, I dunno why, and they … were spotted by the enemy, and they came toward us in big trucks with huge lights on them, on the front of them. They lit us up. We decided to make a stand and die, so with light hearts we attacked the enemy. To our surprise we shot many enemy soldiers and we weren’t hit ourselves. I seen two big, strong, healthy young enemies: they was full of life and vigour, running towards a position, a sort o’ trench, you know. With two shots I cut them down. The second one, a bloody great hole in his chest, he didn’t want to die; he cried out ‘Oh, no!’ and sank slowly to the ground, staring across at me. Then, without his rifle, he came at me, and though I shot him many more times, and I saw the bullets go into him, he did not fall. I became terrified, though he was obviously unable to harm me. Finally I shot him in the head at point blank range. This stopped him; but still only slowly. (There is silence.) You can kill a man and it feels like nothing. But afterwards …