Penultimate Engagement

They were tiny. We could step on them. We

did. Crushed them into oblivion. All

of them. It was like stomping on snail shells.

Which was pretty cool. All the goo, the crunchy

sounds they made, the way some of them would call

out to their gods right before our boots fell

on them—we had a blast. The easiest

mission ever. It was over before

dusk the first day. We slept like babies. No

one was prepared for the scene that came next,

when their gods arrived and declared a war.

A few of us survived, hidden below

the pile of charred flesh that was our unit.

I don’t sleep now.

      Discharged.

                                                          Declared unfit.