Innocence Lost

The little boy can’t be more than 10 years of age
His eyes are wide with terror
He is afraid
There are tears in his eyes
His mouth is wide open
Screaming for his life
Clothed only in his underwear
He sprints towards his frightened father
My finger holds down the trigger
A trail of my bullets approaches the heels of the child
The child’s innocence does not register in my brain
All I can grasp are the words heard moments earlier
“Seale’s hit!”
They shouted
“Seale’s hit in the head!
Seale’s hit in the head!”
How could they shoot Seale?
The gentle, kindhearted giant
Beloved by all
How could they take away our goodness?
“Seale’s hit in the head!
Lay down fire!
Light ‘em up!”
Eager to kill
I hold down that trigger
The child disappears
“Cease fire!
Cease fire!”
Suddenly the child’s innocence registers
I confess my guilt to myself and to my buddy next to me
“I think I just killed a kid”
The news is heard clearly now
“Seale’s hit in the hand
Seale’s hit in the hand”