A Life Through Death

Ren licked his cracked lips. His straw-made shoes had long gone and his raw bloodied feet were covered in a layer of dust from the rough road, but he did not feel them. The one thousand three hundred mile journey on foot had numbed them to the point that they no longer felt anything.

The scorching sun was relentless. Birds of prey circled the harsh blue sky, speculating on the cluster of uniformed soldiers below and the skinny figure of a boy who stood out amongst the troop of the Japanese soldiers – Ren.  The butt of a rifle prodded into his back. “Move faster, boy!” Ren turned to glare at the Jap but received a stinging punch to his cheek. “Move it!”

A week ago, he’d been safely at home with Mother. His life had been comfortable until that night… “Ren. Ren.” The twelve year old boy woke up. Outside was still a black blanket. “Ren, hurry. Get up.” It was Mother. Sleepily, he sat up.  His mother’s voice was urgent as she whispered. “Dress, now – quickly. We don’t have much time left.” She handed him a weighty bundle and told him to use it for emergencies only.

The woman gripped her son’s shoulders. “Listen to me, Ren. The enemy soldiers are marching across China. You are the Wang family’s only hope. You must go when there’s still a chance. Flee to Kunmin, you know where that is. You should be safe there.” The boy turned sad intelligent eyes on his mother. “Please don’t make me go. I don’t want to leave you!”

“Ren…”

The sky was beginning to light up with the presence of Dawn. Ren met his mother’s pleading gaze and finally, he nodded, reading the desperation in her eyes.  “Do not fall into the hands of the Japanese. They’re relentless people. Whatever happens, you must try to escape! ” Brave tears brimmed her eyes,” Run, Ren. Be brave now – don’t turn back. You have to live on, my child.” And as Ren slipped away from his hometown, he could not hold back the cold tears that spilled free from his eyes.

Ren touched his cheeks as if remembering the tear tracks that were once there. “I’m sorry, mama,” he whispered.

The harsh voices of two soldiers behind him interrupted his thoughts. One of them had two live chickens by the necks and was explaining to the other man who seemed to be his officer. “I took them from that farm we burnt down back there,” he said, “plump ones these are.” His gaze fell on Ren. “What should we do with him, sir? Kill him?” Ren felt his blood run cold.

He cringed as the Japanese officer’s piercing eyes scrutinized their prisoner, taking in his dirt-smeared face and narrow short stature.  “Get him to hold the chickens,” the man finally decided, “this skinny child’s no threat to us.” He shoved the animals into the boy’s hands and ordered him to start walking in front of the troop.

Ren stumbled on, the haunting presence of the Japanese guard behind him. The first thing the Japanese soldiers did when they caught him was a thorough body check. All he had, had been found and robbed from him. A wave of desolation washed over Ren. Why did he have to get caught when he was so close? After all he’d been through, staggering in the burning sun, picking his way through the forsaken remains of burnt down villages already visited by the enemy – all those things were done and endured just to avoid them. 

Yet, in the end, they still caught him – the thin battered boy, half delirious from the heat, hunger and the smell of death. It was all thanks to his run-away companion, Lou Chee, that he was discovered. Even after Ren tried to warn him not to go, the boy had insisted on going to that abandoned farm for food and as a result, he walked right into the hands of the enemy who happened to be sheltering there.

Then Lou Chee just had to rattle out that I had money with me, Ren thought bitterly.In exchange for Ren’s hiding place, Lou Chee was granted freedom – or so he thought. The Japs shot him afterwards when he was of no use. “This one babbles too much,” the soldier had said. 

Smoke and ash wafted towards Ren and the chilling presence of the dead slithered down his spine. He knew before he even lifted his head to check – it was another destroyed village. The small stone houses were either reduced to a useless pile of material or stained black with blood. Corpses were piled up in mounds of ragged cloth and rotting flesh. The remnants of fire still burnt free.

The officer blew his whistle. “Check the buildings. We’ll meet up at the end,” Ren heard him say. A chorus of ‘yes sirs’ came from the soldiers before they dispersed. A dead boy’s body slowed Ren’s footsteps to a stop. He stared long enough to realise the child was about the same age as him. The rifle stabbed his back. “Hurry up, boy!”

Ren shuffled forwards. Sooner or later, he was going to end up with the same fate as that boy – dead. I refuse to die this way! Ren screamed to himself. He couldn’t give up and let the Japs have their way, not when he was so close. He had to escape! The question was how?

Ren’s eyes darted around but no matter where he looked, soldiers were there. They were approaching a corner of the last house. After that, it would be the end of the village. Ren looked down at the animals he held in his hands and a bitter smile flitted across his lips. The guard jabbed him again. “Go around here!” Ren took a deep breath, turned the corner swiftly, thrust the flapping chickens into the surprised man’s face and ran.  

Then he realised it: there was nowhere to hide. Ahead was a wide stretch of dirt. If he tried to run in the open, he was done for. Ren could already hear the guard calling for backup. What to do? What to do?! There was nothing that could conceal him… except for the piles of corpses. There was no time to think. Ren dove into the nearest mound and wiggled deeper into it despite the retching odour.

“Where did that brat go?!” the voice was dangerously close. “He couldn’t have gone far.” There was a pause, and then what Ren heard made his body go rigid. “Check the corpses. He might be hiding in one of the piles.”         

The heart-wrenching sound of bayonets continuously running through flesh made Ren’s hairs stand on ends, but he held his breath and willed himself to disappear. Whether it was sheer luck or his own endurance, Ren wasn’t sure. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears when a blade missed his nose, then his ear until Ren lost count of how many times he came close to death.

He dared not to move a muscle, not even when he heard their footsteps retreat and fade. Ren waited and waited until he nearly passed out from the stench. The burst of the cold night air was reviving as he crawled out from his hiding place. Ren looked up at the starry sky and tears of relief flowed from his eyes. Somehow, just somehow, he’d managed to overcome the ultimate peril. His heart swelled up with gladness.

“I’ll live on, Mother,” he promised. “I’ll live on.”