Never Went to War

Any movie with gunfire these days makes me laugh. I laugh because people who've only heard the shot of a gun in movies have no idea what one really sounds like. I remember standing in the field, dug deep in my foxhole, trying not to catch stray gunfire. I got this image in my head, it was like a giant blanket the size of a hill floated down over the enemy and muted their rifles. It was like popcorn popping in a cloth bag. There was no crack like you hear in the movies. The sound of it was quick to start and quicker to end. A bit closer and the sonic quality of the shot takes on a completely new texture. Usually there's an echo; in the field, though, the sound bangs to infinity and never comes back. No sparks or flashes, nothing cute like that. If you're in a wooded area, or a city, the sound from the contact the bullet makes will answer the call from the shot. Pow...Shunk. Right into the wall, or the tree, or whatever is around you. You dare not look. From up close, though, the crack of a gun goes on forever in your ears, as if concert speakers at full volume clicked on the sound of static noise. The ring that follows soon leads, and the sound of the static leaves, but the squeal from the aftermath sustains. Flat, unchanging, unending. Like a long blade. Then you shoot him back.