There’s bombing throughout the night,
distant shells that shake the ground as they erupt around me.
Sometimes the rocks tumble away from under my feet and once or
twice I slip, landing hard on my butt, threatening to knock the
wind out of me. When this happens I lie in the night air, rocks
digging into my spine, exhausted and sore and too damn frustrated
to push myself up and continue on.
At one point a shell explodes near me.
I hear it whizz through the air like a dragonfly and then it
shatters the world, sending me sprawling down the incline, cutting
my hands and face with shrapnel. My knees ache, my pants are torn
and bloody where I scrape them open, and it’s all I can do not to
give up.
Tomas is waiting for me, I
remind myself. That’s the only thing keeping me going. It’s
