He Stood

He stood up. He cleared his throat. He began to sing.
The song of the dead rolled over the battlefields, causing a brief respite from fighting, both sides coming to a stunned stop.
Blood and gore, dead and dying, living and breathing, all stopped to listen.
A hundred thousand heads turned to see and to listen to the saddest song in the world. They saw a young boy stood, swaying and clutching a small trumpet to his chest. Tears streaming down his face.
He kept singing.
He looked with pleading eyes towards the generals, hoping to make a difference.
He carried on singing, hypnotizing thousands.
The general turned his horse, and nodded.
There was a thump. The trumpet fell and the boy’s last note hung quivering in the air.
The armies watched the body fall. The battle continued.
Later, much later the general retired to his tent, fell to his knees and began to cry.