Peace at last

         "Left! Right! Left! Right! Le- Ahhhh!" I slid and suddenly I was tumbling down a muddy hill. The sounds of the other soldiers' march faded away as I accelerated down the slope. I was rapidly approaching a cliff, getting closer every second. I held on to a small bush I passed in an attempt to stop myself but it came right out of the ground. Then I was flailing my arms and legs, wind blowing in my face... I gasped as I woke up in cold sweat. Or was it the cold mud I was lying on? I couldn't tell anymore. This empty valley with nothing but mud had been my home for several days. Perhaps today will be the day someone finds me, or perhaps today will be the day I leave this world. If I were to die now I would die happily because I had finally left the corrupt world and found peace on Earth.
         The day I fell was a much needed day of rest. For the past three years there had been endless fighting. Everyday we woke up to the sound of gunfire and we fell asleep to the screams of men and women, risking their lives for the sake of their countries' honor. Three years we had been hiding in a trench killing the people on the other side just because they were on the opposite side. When our soldiers die we think of their families and friends who must live on without them yet we never think of the ones across from us at whom we shoot without thought. They too had families and friends and people who cared about them. We never think of how these people back home would suffer when they lose their loved ones. No, we shoot and we kill because we were told to. War has turned us all into heartless monsters. It has turned innocent 20 year olds into emotionless fighting machines. Nothing would have stopped us except the surrender of one side. But we had been in a stalemate for three years; there was no reason to believe that the war would end any time soon. However, everything changed for me when I slipped down the muddy hill.
         The day after I came to this quiet muddy land I woke up to a beautiful morning. The sun was shining and birds were chirping. That was a sound I had not heard in three years for birds were always scared away by our guns. But that morning there were no sounds of guns going off. It was silent except for the birds. When I fell into this valley, the war, along with every bad thing that ever happened, ended for me and I finally found peace for the first time in my life.