Which actually gives you leeway to be as harsh as you want. I had about 15 minutes to write this in class during an experiment in which you picked a mood (or two) and then used setting, weather, and characters to develop it. I chose sadness and loss. It's nothing amazing, but I just wanted to see if anyone thought I did a remotely good job. Keep in mind that my writing style is a kind of 'snapshot', a glance at someone without knowing who they are which is why I rarely give names to my characters.
She could hear the rain coming. The birds had stopped singing, the leaves rustled as if trying to tell her to leave the darkening forest. The last time she'd been to this place was with him before the war had begun. Now, his body was being sent home. The soft "shh" of rain filled the air, already becoming heavy with the scent of wet earth. 21 days. They had been married while he was on leave. The day after the wedding, he was shipped back to the front. In less than a month, she had a wedding and a funeral. The woods were silent, frozen in time. For a moment, she closed her eyes and tried to remember it all, when he held her close and whispered in her ear 'I'll come back'. Like a fool, she'd believed him, thinking there was no way that he could ever be killed. 21 days. He'd been so full of life, but just like this forest during the storm, all the life had dissapeared. The rainwater that slid down her face mingled with the bitter tears of a widow. The rain seemed to fall harder in that quiet moment of tears than it ever had before. With her face turned to the sky, she let a sob fall from her trembling lips. For too long, she had held back. 21 days. She'd had no use for tears. 21 days. He would have been delighted. 21 days. If he had survived that many more, he could have come home. Home to learn about his son.
21 Days
She could hear the rain coming. The birds had stopped singing, the leaves rustled as if trying to tell her to leave the darkening forest. The last time she'd been to this place was with him before the war had begun. Now, his body was being sent home. The soft "shh" of rain filled the air, already becoming heavy with the scent of wet earth. 21 days. They had been married while he was on leave. The day after the wedding, he was shipped back to the front. In less than a month, she had a wedding and a funeral. The woods were silent, frozen in time. For a moment, she closed her eyes and tried to remember it all, when he held her close and whispered in her ear 'I'll come back'. Like a fool, she'd believed him, thinking there was no way that he could ever be killed. 21 days. He'd been so full of life, but just like this forest during the storm, all the life had dissapeared. The rainwater that slid down her face mingled with the bitter tears of a widow. The rain seemed to fall harder in that quiet moment of tears than it ever had before. With her face turned to the sky, she let a sob fall from her trembling lips. For too long, she had held back. 21 days. She'd had no use for tears. 21 days. He would have been delighted. 21 days. If he had survived that many more, he could have come home. Home to learn about his son.
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