A toddler sits up in his bed, hearing a noise. Fear chokes him, paralyzes him. A young man sits up in his hammock, listening to the wind blow on the sands. His thoughts keep him from sleep. The toddler imagines the things that could be lurking just out of his sight, or under his bed, or beyond that door that he insists be kept closed. The man thinks of what all had happened during that day, and of what might be lurking just around the corner that he will pass when he wakes up in the morning. If he wakes up. If he can sleep. The toddler wishes that he would just be able to fall asleep, but he cannot keep those unseen horrors out of his mind. He keeps on sitting up. The man wishes that he could let sleep take hold of him, if only for a while, but he is powerless to stop the horrors of the day from entering his mind. The toddler’s mind acts on instinct, taking his mind from one thought to another until he runs out of thoughts to think. He falls asleep. The young man longs for his brain to be exhausted of images, of sounds, of thoughts, but they still stream, endlessly, until he loses consciousness, overwhelmed from the things that enter his mind. The toddler wakes up, and goes through a whole new day. At night, the same behavior happens to him again, until he falls asleep. He is losing sleep over his thoughts. The young man wakes up, and goes through a whole new day. At night, the same behavior happens to him again, until he falls asleep. He is losing sleep over his thoughts. The young man continues this pattern for a while, but eventually it is all over. He goes home to his family, his tiny daughter and his wife who is as young as he. But his thoughts don’t leave him. Every night in bed, the same routine happens until he loses consciousness. One night, he cannot take it any longer. He lies awake in bed, thoughts of the war going through his head, pistol in hand. A shot is fired, and he loses consciousness one final time. The toddler continues this pattern for a long while. Eventually he grows up, and joins the Marines, not because it was his dream, but to pay for his education. His battalion is one of the first to go to war, and one of the first to leave once it is over. He is not happy when he is home. He decides to shoot himself, he cannot handle the pain any longer. A man loses his life. A daughter loses her father, a wife her husband. A mother and father, their son. A country wins a war.
