Exceptional A dialogue only short story The Immortal Life of War by Videl Sky A Dialogue Only Entry contest entry

“Reliving this again, are you? I can’t lie, the fire and the terror, the chaos and screams – they’ve all become a bit routine, haven’t they?” “I have about as little of a choice as you do in this. It’s something karma won’t allow me to discard. My penance is to watch; to know I’ll never be able to intervene. To have you always whispering in my ear, keeping this moment all the more vivid.” “But you know I’m not really here, observing, I’m you. You didn’t know the first thing about me, my dreams, my fears, what I believed, what I sounded like. I’m just a voiceless script that keeps you company through these memories. You didn’t know of me or my life, you were just the hand that happened to end it.” “This is the time then, that you walk out from behind the wall. I was surprised, my finger was already tightened on the trigger – I didn’t think. I’d pulled it so many times that it became a reflex, an unfeeling sort of detachment. And so many had been laid out on the ground before me, but your body was the smallest amidst the rubble.” “Wait, you must recall it all, I fear. You remember, don’t you? I fell, and you walked right past me. Not even a spare glance until your mind caught up to you, twenty steps down the road. That’s when you ran back and took in exactly what you had done." “If I’d looked back right away, could I have helped? Would it have mattered? Maybe..” “No, that’s one sin you were spared from. Because they trained you well - your aim was textbook. I was lifeless before I felt the dirt under my cheek.” “That absolution doesn’t feel like mercy, please, I can’t bear to see this again – let’s just skip to the end? Nothing ever changes.” “You know better than I do we can’t. Don’t forget, you crafted this cycle all on your own. Now look! This is the best part, let’s replay it.” “You saw my crumpled body, the blood that mixed with the ruins of my home. In that moment I cemented a new one in your mind. Because now, you remember every detail. The stunned look of surprise etched on my face, the little red bow I was wearing. Even the teddy bear hanging limp from my backpack. That I barely made a sound when I hit the dirt.” “And you knew from the beginning, didn’t you. That nothing I could say or do would spare me in this life – that my fate was decided before you ever met me, before I was even born.” “That’s right.” “And did that stop you?” “It should have.”                               “It didn’t.”   Recognized

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