Here's a short story I wrote for English class last week.

I’ve Been There
By Bernard Farquharson

I know what hell is. I’ve been there. Hell is war. Going to war is hell because no one comes back alive. No one. The excruciating pain, the sudden death, the pitiful, unheeded cries from brave, grown men. No one can come back from that abyss and be truly alive. They are dead. I am dead.
It’s funny. But not funny haha. It’s more wrong. It’s wrong that every teenager on my street wanted to go to war. They want to serve their country and be like Gordon Higgs down the block who valiantly raided a Japanese camp, killed ten Japs and found his way home to a brass medal of honor.
I was much too young to join but I wouldn’t be swayed. I put on a fake mustache and they took me in with open arms. Wishing me the best of luck. I was so excited that night. Ecstatic and eager to condemn myself to death. Ma and Pa tried to stop me but I didn’t care. I sneaked out late at night and hopped on the war wagon.
Ouch. It hurts. Lying here in the dark light of sundown, the growls and bellows of cannons and guns rock the ground beneath me. Me. Lying here in a pool of my on blood. A thirteen-year-old boy. What am I doing here? I force my mouth open or at least I think I do. No sound escapes. Where is all this blood coming from? Does it matter? They think I’m dead. They can’t hear me. I can’t hear me. I let my eyes shut. I’ve witnessed enough. Young men shot down in their prime. Mounds of bodies being used for cover. I open my eyes.
A soldier stops to rest two feet away. His eyes find my almost lifeless gaze. He takes in my fair boyish face, my flyaway brown hair Ma was so proud of, matted with blood. He sighs. “Such a waste.” I blink. He gasps. Reaches for me.
A splutter of fire. My savior falls. His lifeless eyes held any hope I had left in me. Crushed it. My tears finally flowed freely and mixed with the blood.
I wish it would end. I wish a stray bullet would just catch me. Release me. I miss my home. My fortress. My people. I wish I’d never left. I wish I had known. Why do they lie to us? No one would want this. I don’t want this. I wish I would die. I want to die. Goodbye Ma, Pa. Good-.
A flash.
Silence.
Peace.