I looked at the orange sun as it shone lazily in the horizon. The town would be dead quiet were it not for some loose roofing of a house across the street that was dancing at any slight breeze that blew. The weak rays of the sun fell on me, but every time I started to feel its warmth, the breeze blew and snatched every bit of it.
“Do you think we will make it out of this war alive?” Dave asked disrupting me in between my thoughts. Dave was my friend since childhood, and we used to live in the same neighborhood. He was one year older and had just completed his high school. I was in my final year and was looking forward to completing to join the army. Unlike most of us who wished to join the army on completing school, Dave was planning to join university and study Engineering. “Sure we will,” I answered as I continued to look at the sun
Dave was about to say something when two young men came over to where we were. I was so carried away I did not see them approach. The two were part of our group that guarded Amber Street. Since war broke between the government of Chad and the rebels, we as the young men were required to help in guarding the town of N’Djamena. Continuous war with the rebels had made the government run out of resources and we had to help in this war. The rebels were approaching N’Djamena, which was the seat of the government.
The war started about ten years ago when some communities from the northern part of the country started to claim they were being discriminated. The government assumed their cries even when signs of rebellion were so evident in the speeches that were being made day in day out. After several months of protests, the rebels decided to take action and demand their rights since their pleas were falling on deaf ears of the government.
They began by attacking police stations and government offices in the northern region of the country. The government continued assuming even with war verging on its doorstep. It gave strict warning to those involved but the rebels were more determined than ever. What started as spontaneous rebellious actions soon begun to spread in the northern region. Soon, the whole of the northern part of the country was part of the rebellion. The government sent troops but this could not help the stop the rebellion. Being a young nation, twelve years since independence, the troops were underequipped to deal with the rebels. The rebels smuggled weapons from neighboring countries and stood a better chance over the government’s armed forces.
Soon everything was on the verge of being crippled. The rebels continued to advance south and soon they took over the southeast part of the country. These southern parts produce the largest portion of agricultural produce in the country and this meant food supply in the town of N’Djamena was severed. Food became so hard to get and water too. The rebels had also destroyed water catchment that supplied water to the town. Women and children began deserting the town and fled to the neighboring countries.
Young men were required to remain behind and help guard the city. I was in my high school and my mother treated me as a child. She insisted I was still too young to be left behind but I was not going to let go of the opportunity of serving my country. Serving my country as military personnel was all I had been yearning all along. My mother raised my sister and I all alone since the time my father passed away. He served as a police in the northern region before his tragic death in the hands of the rebels ten years ago. My mother was not willing to lose me as he did my father to this war but I was more than determined to remain behind.
Finally, she gave up in persuading me and they left with my sister to Cameroon. Before she left, she gave a necklace she wore since her childhood. She got it from her grandmother, my great grandmother, who she was named after. I watched them as they walked away with my sister with tears welling in my eyes. Part of me wanted to go with them but the urge to remain behind seemed to win me over. I was going to miss my sister who was my best friend. She used to bother me every time with things she wanted me to do for her but I was going to miss all that.
After three weeks since their departure, I received a letter from my mother. This gave me a sign of relief knowing that they arrived unharmed. All this time, I was feeling irresponsible for not accompanying my family and provide protection as my father would have wished. In the letter, she described the tough journey they had to Cameroon. They walked for miles and got lucky when a military truck came along and gave them lifts. She also described how they had to dash into the bushes when they came across the rebels and spent hours unmoved until the rebels left. She closed the letter by requesting me to come out of the war alive for she could not afford to lose me to this war.
“There will be more rationing of food and water starting from tomorrow,” said one of the boys who had joined as they sat down tossing a bag on the dusty floor. The two had gone for our food ration we got from a military camp that was several meters from where we were stationed. I reached for the bag and opened and I was not shocked at the usual bread and some stew. The bread was shared among four people and was taken with the stew. It tasted nothing close to bread since it was prepared from mixtures of anything that was fit for human consumption now that wheat was hard to come across since the rebels took control of the eastern and southern parts of the country.
Months into this war had made us waste because the food ration we were getting was never enough. Those who were huge before the war began had reduced greatly. For the skinny people, I was one of them, nothing was there for them to lose and they seemed never to change.
After taking the meal, we headed to our station, on top of a rooftop, from where we guarded. We climbed the stairs quietly not willing to waste energy in unnecessary talks. We kept watch on the rooftops of tall buildings and raised the alarm when we spotted the enemy. The rebels attacked at night most of the time and rarely did they attack during the day. This meant we had to keep ours wide open during the night.
Anyone spotted out in the dark without military outfits was treated as an enemy. A curfew had been put in place to make it easier fight the enemy. Only the military had the freedom of walking outside at night as they carried out their random patrols. They shot anyone they spotted during these patrols.
Every time any group of people raised the alarm, the military would rush to the place in response and within no time, gunshots would be heard. Sometimes the fight would last for hours while others lasted for some few minutes and the enemy would retreat and run into the forest. Every time a fight broke out, buildings were set to fire and it was our responsibility to put the fires out during the day. We therefore acted as guard at night and firefighters during the day. We used soil in fighting the fires since water was hard to across with the current rationing.
For every rebel that was gunned down there was jubilation. The war had taken away any humanity we had and we celebrated for everybody of the rebel that we spotted lying lifeless in the streets. Trucks would later come and collect the bodies before they started rotting in the street making the town inhabitable. None of us knew where they took the bodies but it must be to a mass grave.
I was following the searchlight that was some distance from where we were when Dave shouted, “What is that floating in the air?” We all glanced at the direction Dave was pointing and a parachute was floating in the sky. We had never seen a real parachute but we had heard about them and seen them in pictures. At first, we were dumbfounded before Dave said he had overheard from a military group in the camp when he had gone for our ration that we were expecting help from the French who were our former masters. Soon, the parachute was visible as it drifted towards us. We could see that a box was hanging below the parachute.
A searchlight shone on the parachute and it was clear it was the aid Dave talked about. Out of excitement, we started running downstairs not caring of our current states of weakness. The stairs were steep but none of us seemed to put that into consideration. Outside was dark since none of the streetlight was functioning but we had gotten used to the moonlight and we continued running to the place the parachute was headed. Soon it went out of the vicinity of the searchlights as they were stationed on top of tall buildings and they would not shine in the streets.
We wandered for a while and spotted it some distance from where we were. We ran towards it excited at its sight. Soon, we were tearing the container apart eager to see what was inside. Inside were some foodstuffs we had never set our eyes on. They were neatly packed in packets that had writings on them but we could not read in the darkness. Within no time, everyone had food stuffed in his mouth. It was long since we had a nice meal and no one was willing to take chances.
We were happily enjoying our “catch” before we heard a military truck approaching. We were too taken to realise some more parachutes were floating in the sky. At the sound of the truck, everyone took to his heel. We ran toward our station since no one was ready to take a bullet at that time. We were ordered to stop but words were not going to make us stop running. I was the fastest and was leading the group before I heard Dave groan from behind. He had stumbled and fell down hurting himself.
The idea of leaving my friend did not cross my mind and I stopped to help him. Soon we were at our station and I helped Dave cross over the bars first. As I was trying to jump over, I felt a strong hand holding me. I tried to fight but I came falling down with a thud.
“Should we kill him right away?” asked one of the soldiers as he looked down at me.
“Not before we extract the food he has just taken,” said one making others burst in laughter.
They lifted and carried me to the truck where they tossed me in the back seat. They took the container we had torn apart and placed it carefully in the back of the truck and soon we were speeding down the road.
Setting and Character Explanation
The happenings of the above creative writing took place in a West African country two years after it gained its independence. Like in the “City of Thieves”, “Young in The War” is set during a time of war and inside a town. In both cases, the governments have run out of options and are facing a fierce enemy. They decide to make use of patriotic young men to help win the war. The characters are faced with difficult times now that the enemy has cut the supply of essential stuff like the food.
In both settings, the main character is a young man in his teenage. He is a patriot who is willing to serve his country in the military. He even goes ahead and part with his family as they escape the impending danger but he chooses to remain behind and help protect their town. This is seen as an act of bravery and patriotism.
The main character reflects on the life before the war began. He talks about the death of his father that led to their mother taking care of her sister and him all by herself. He also talks about his friend Dave from his childhood.
The main character play a leading role in both settings. He was willing to sacrifice his life for his friend. He also to comfort his friend Dave who is in the war unwillingly in “Young in The War”.
In both settings, the characters play a similar role of helping the military in fighting the enemy they face. They are not actively in the war but they help in a crucial task of keeping watch. It is during their routine that a strange happening took place and it distracted them. Being young and aggressive, they leave their responsibility and risk their lives and the lives of others in the town. They run down in excitement ignoring the fact that they might hurt themselves in their present state of weakness.
On reaching their point of interest, in both settings, they go ahead and tamper with what they met. This plus walking out in the night is against the rules set by the desperate governments. In the midst of their excitement, the military arrives and they have to run. They are aware of the consequences and they have to run for their lives.
As they ran, one of the main character’s friend finds himself in a compromising position as it is in the “City of Thieves”. The character realizes he has to do something to help. In the “City of Thieves”, he is compelled by the fact that he will not be able to leave with the guilt of leaving the girl but in “Young in The War”, he is made to do it by the fact it was his best friend. He succeeds to help his friend but he gets himself caught.
