Volume 2 Number 1 • Spring 2010
The girl stood on the edge of the cliff, her scarf blowing behind her in the wind. On a small island in the distance, she could see the gun smoke and explosions of war. She saw the smoke that only rises from torched houses. Then came the black spots on the water. She waited for them.
Specks floated toward the cliff in rows, five wide. The first ones came into view, and they turned out to be exactly what the girl had imagined.
The coffins came in all sizes. Some were six feet long, others three, and all lengths in between. She saluted the fallen floating toward her, not knowing if her father was among them. The violent waters knew nothing of the war. Still, they hurled rows and rows against the rocks where the cliff met the water, but none of them broke. They merely vanished.
Kelsey Loftin is a Junior, English Major at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala. She enjoys writing short fiction, and hopes to work in publishing upon graduation.