Conscription

At twilight I stopped at a small village where there was a lot of commotion. Government officers were arresting people to die in the war. Where I was staying, old man escaped by climbing over a wall and a sick old woman told the officers to leave them alone. They’d already taken her three sons and two had already died in battle. A son’s wife, nursing a baby, couldn’t leave since she had no coat to cover herself. There was crying and screaming all night long. In the morning I said goodbye to the old man and set off to do my part in the war.