Mouth set in a grim line,
mud streaked across his jaw,
the face of combat stared back at him
from half a mile away.
He narrowed his eyes,
finger resting against the trigger.
Outside the scope of the lens,
the soldier fingered the letter in his pocket —
one he’d thumbed a hundred times,
words he’d committed to memory:
“You’re going to be a dad.”
Their eyes met —
a mechanical intimacy
in a bisected world.
The turret clicked,
he dialled for the drop.
He held the hollowed air
and fired.
Stephanie Hurley is a writer and English teacher based in Manawatū, New Zealand. She is passionate about all things creative; in particular, using writing to examine the world around her. Her work has been published in Tarot, Mote, Chortle, The Belladonna Comedy, Poetry Potion, and fiftywordstories.com.