Flames
August 6th, 1945
“Attention!” Thomas yelled throughout the aircraft. No one really knew what he did and why he was here until now: “We’re going to be using the first ever nuclear missile to bomb the city of Hiroshima.” And just like that, my view of this whole mission had changed.
The room turned into a deafening circus. Lots of people had questions, like “What?” or “Why?” No one was expecting a little test run to turn into the first time a nuclear missile had been used in war against someone.
“We’re doing what?” I asked, shocked at what my mind had just comprehended.
“You heard me, we’re going to use the first nuclear missile to bomb them Japs,” Thomas restated, making it sound like an ordinary, expected task.
“Ok then…” I added. The plane got as silent as a country night for about the next 20 minutes until it was time.
We were told to shield our eyes with our arms, and we were also given earplugs so the blast wouldn’t burst our eardrums. It was 08:14 in Japanese time. The boys were in the fuselage, loading the bomb onto the dropping platform. Everyone's hands were shaking vigorously.
We were ready when Thomas counted us off. “Three… Two… One… GO!” The bomb was racing towards the ground like a million bullets. We drove the plane as fast as we could away from the bomb. We had never seen a nuke used before, so we didn’t know if it would blow us to microscopic pieces. We put on our earplugs and flew away in a hurry. No one had any idea of what would happen.
Even with earplugs on, you could hear the massive BOOM. I wanted to look back, but I knew I couldn’t. They told us to wait about a minute or two to look, and eventually, that time came.
It was the most beautiful and terrible thing I had ever seen. Red, yellow, and orange flames blistering the sorrow terrain. Eventually, that fire turned into smoke, and that smoke just turned to dust. All I could hear from the other guys was, “Wow…”
As fifteen or twenty minutes went on, I was curious about what happened under those clouds. I knew that innocent lives had ended because of all the flames and smoke. The boys snuck some booze on to the plane, and they were drinking away. Some were even smoking right near the plane engine. They took off their knoblebechers and were just partying like they were at home.
As fifteen or twenty minutes went on, I was curious about what happened under those clouds. I knew that innocent lives had ended because of all the flames and smoke. The boys snuck some booze on to the plane, and they were drinking away. Some were even smoking right near the plane engine. They took off their knoblebechers and were just partying like they were at home.
“Guys, what have we done?” I asked.
“What do you mean what have we done?” Theodore asked. Theodore was the navigator for our plane, and I didn’t like him one bit.
“Are you mental? We just brutally murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent humans!”
“And what makes you believe that?” he stupidly responded.
“Did you not see the flames or the smoke? Clearly someone died down there.” Some of the other guys were starting to step in and take part of our discussion.
William was the one and only person to agree with me. He went to military school with me and was our weaponeer. “Robert is right, guys, there are no military personnel in Hiroshima; we just ended innocent lives with no purpose.”
I heard a lot of people say, “Yeah” or “I agree.” Theodore was still disagreeing with me.
“We had every right to; they held our people captive.”
“Yeah, but you don’t ruin normal people's lives. The citizens did nothing to us.” Now about everyone on the plane agreed with me.
“I guess you're right,” Theodore muttered softly to himself.
“Guys, ever since I was a kid, all I wanted to do was see the vast and free world. But when we do things like this, we can’t.”
“We’re sorry, Robert, I can imagine how hard this may be for you,” William said sympathetically.
“It isn’t your fault, it is humankind's fault for creating this devastating weapon, just so we can attempt to end a war.”
Now I look back and say: “What could I have done differently?”
-Jackson Collins
"Everyone's hands were shaking vigorously." I really like the wording you chose here. It brought me right there with you and made me feel what they felt. I also loved the beginning. It shocked me so much that I just had to keep reading, “Attention!” Thomas yelled throughout the aircraft. No one really knew what he did and why he was here until now: “We’re going to be using the first ever nuclear missile to bomb the city of Hiroshima.'' It was so overwhelming that the news that you were going to use the first ever nuclear bomb was so sudden that i had to see how it all played out.
ReplyDeleteMy central idea is to stop something bad happening before it's too late and the line is, "Now I look back and say: “What could I have done differently?”"
ReplyDeleteI believe that one of the central ideas of the story is how all of the citizens died to the nuke, and how it was discussed about later in the story. I noticed that one of the reasons why they dropped the bomb was because they held their people captive, as mentioned in the text, ¨Ẅe had every right to; they held our people captive.¨ This leads me to the a possible lesson in the story. To not take anger out on others.
ReplyDelete"The bomb was racing towards the ground like a million bullets." this is some use of figurative language which brought your story to life.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you described there reactions on the plane. And how after the bomb hit the ground, you could feel the regret coming off of them. You made the piece so alive with your details which helped in the piece really feel how they did. A part I like is "As fifteen or twenty minutes went on, I was curious about what happened under those clouds. I knew that innocent lives had ended because of all the flames and smoke."
ReplyDelete“What could I have done differently?” I loved that massage you put a question at the end that leave the reader thinking. I think the central idea is learn from your mistakes. The figurative language was really good too. Like here"The bomb was racing towards the ground like a million bullets." This brought your story to life. Great story jackson!
ReplyDeletei think the central idea in this story is to stop something bad from happening before its to late. I think that because you said "Now I look back and say: “What could I have done differently?”I like the figurative language that you used " you could hear the massive BOOM" over all good story!!
ReplyDeleteThe central idea of the story I think is that the world should be peaceful, and not be destroyed. "“Guys, what have we done?” I asked. “What do you mean what have we done?” Theodore asked.
ReplyDelete“Are you mental? We just brutally murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent humans!” “And what makes you believe that?” he stupidly responded. “Did you not see the flames or the smoke? Clearly someone died down there.” Some of the other guys were starting to step in and take part of our discussion.
I like how your story became alive with the saying "The bomb was racing towards the ground like a million bullets." letting us know what this felt like
ReplyDeleteI liked the part where your character yelled, “Attention!” It kind of made me want to read more; I don't know why.
ReplyDeleteI loved the figurative language used in this piece; like when you used the word vigorously,"Everyone's hands were shaking vigorously." It really pulled me into the story and made it more descriptive.
ReplyDelete