The Warchildren

It was a bright Summer day in the forest; flowers were blooming, little animals were scurrying about  and birds were sitting and twittering in the branches of trees.
Then, through the forest came, skipping, a little boy named Hansel dressed in blue and, stopping in a clearing, he twirled around; he skipped left, he skipped right and then twirled around again before stopping and waiting.
Then, not a moment later, the boys sister, Gretel, came skipping through the forest then, stopping, she too started to do a little dance; she twirled around then skipped right, then skipped left then twirled around again.
Then the little boy and girl both started to dance together.
Joining hands, they danced round and around then skipped left, then skipped right, then skipped right, then skipped left, then danced round and around once more.
But then out of the sky came the towering black boot of a giant marching soldier that stepped upon the two children, crushing them both into the ground.
All of the forest became dark and quiet after that.
Then into the forest flew a parliament of rooks and perching in the trees, they began to strut about on branches with their chests puffed out, cawing and bellowing so that, from a distance they sounded almost like a parliament of men debating but then, when the parliament had collectively come to some agreement, they all descended as one upon the bodies of the children and started to peck upon them.
Fortunately, just at that moment there came into the forest, the mother and father of the children and, seeing the rooks pecking at their bodies they flew into a rage trying to drive them away but then the rooks started to fly at them, pecking and clawing so then the parents had to pick up dead branches from the forest floor and beat them away with them.
When the rooks had gone however then the father and mother entered a solemn dance of grief to the sombre sound of their own wailing; whirling round and round as they circled the bodies of their children; dancing together and then far apart before, suddenly stopping, the father lifted up the body of their son and the mother, the body of their daughter and they slowly carried them away.
But the spirits of the children still lived in the forest; the birds could see them; the trees and grass could feel them and the flowers could hear them talking.
"Why haven't you two children gone up to heaven yet?", asked an old mother owl, seated on a branch nearby.
"Because we're worried that this will happen to other children", they said, "And it should never happen to any child".
But then the spirits of the children started to wander in the forest and, as they were wandering, they came upon a company of red uniformed soldiers who were encamped in a clearing, chatting and singing and relaxing as soldiers do.
And so the two children decided to make themselves visible to the soldiers and, the flames of the soldiers campfire eerily dying, they performed a ghostly dance upon its ashes.
Seeing them the soldiers went silent and all of them became terrified, some hiding themselves behind trees or clinging onto and coweing behind their own backpacks; even a tough seargeant used to bellowing orders went white as a sheet and started to tremble with fear.
Timidly, a regimental priest took out his cross and bible and tried to exorcise the children with it,
"Why do you haunt us, foul spirits", he said, "In the name of Jesus Christ, begone".
But the man saw that the cross and bible were both stained with blood and knowing that he himself had stained them, the priest ran off into the forest to confront his own guilt.
However, then one of the soldiers, seeing a red poppy growing nearby, picked it and holding it up infront of him shouted,
"Begone, we do not want to be haunted by the ghosts of children anymore".
And there was something about the red of the poppy that seemed to sting the children for they could not bear to look at it.
Then, seeing the effect it had upon them all the other soldiers started to pick poppies and hold them up infront of them saying 'begone' and when, looking round about them they were confronted by the glaring red of poppies on every side, the children, unable to bear it any longer ran off into the forest.
"What can we do?", said Hansel to his sister, Gretel, when they had stopped running, hanging his head in sadness, "To protect the children of the future?".
But then the light of heaven opened in the middle of the dark forest and they saw that it was made of glowing, golden children reaching out to them.
"Come with us", said the light, "There are no boundaries between people in heaven; no nations, no races, no genders, no rich or poor and so no war, no hate, no suffering just peace and love".
So the children, hoping the best for childkind but resigning themselves to their fate took hold of the glowing hands and entered Heaven's light.