Veterans typically find it
difficult to reintegrate into society after fighting for so long. One such
veteran is named Omar. He wears his old army jacket, pants, and boots. Despite needing
food and water, he carries around a newspaper, a pack of smokes, a lighter, a
combat knife, and the dog tags of his friends along with his own. He goes back
to the places where he and his friends drew graffiti on the walls with his name
and the name of his friends still on the wall. The school he used to get is being
repaired a large hole on the second floor still prevalent. At the playground he
used to frequent even his teenage years, the chalk outlines of bodies are kept
there in honor of what recently happened.
In his tour of memories, Omar visits
his house, which is a hollow shell of its former self. Every part of the house
has been scorched by the fire. While looking around the perimeter of the house,
he sees that a letter is under the front door. He goes past the police tape to
get it. The letter has his name on it. It says,
“It's
time to stop your mourning
It's
time to wake to a new morning
Because
this is a warning you should know
So
you can be saved from your woes
You
know what causes you despair
Your
time for mourning has been fair
Now
rise from your sadness
And
taste the sweetness of gladness
The
Undertaker of Sorrows is coming after you
He
knows what you've been through
He
wants you to succeed
But
if you fail, he will do more than make you bleed
Your
ways have caused others harm
And
the state of your soul is cause for alarm
So
let go of what causes you sorrow
Or
the Undertaker will not let you live after tomorrow”
Omar remembers this rhyme from his
past and anything from his past causes him pain. He remembers his time in the
army. The intense firefight and the feeling of taking another person’s life is
still fresh in his mind as if it just happened. Feeling a need to pray for the
dead, he goes to the graveyard. Once there, he prays before his family’s
gravestones. Beside their graves, are the graves of his friends who fought
alongside him. The weight of his sadness is too much to bear as he begins to
cry.
The sound of someone walking in
this empty graveyard at this hour of the night stop Omar’s tears in their
tracks and catches his attention. He looks over to see the Undertaker of Sorrows
praying for the dead alongside him. This startles the veteran so much so that
he runs away. Omar runs all the way until he reaches the underside of a bridge.
Still nervous about being followed, he looks around every corner until he
begins to calm down.
This calm doesn’t last long as he
is reminded of his woes when he looks at the graffiti of soldiers fighting in a
war on the walls underneath the bridge. Omar covers his head as if running through
a hail of gunfire, but instead of being shot at by bullets, he is being assaulted
by grief. He keeps running until he runs into a column. After writhing in pain
for a little bit, he opens his eyes to see the Undertaker standing over him.
This makes him jump to his feet and put a little distance between them.
Knowing that he has nowhere to go,
Omar takes out the dog tags of his friends and presents them to the Undertaker.
The Undertaker takes them with a hand that comes out of the mouth in his eye
then tilts his head to imply that he’s still expecting something. Omar takes
out the newspaper that details a few events that deal with his family. The
school that his brother and sister were at was blown up by a disgruntled
student. Eyewitnesses told the police that Omar’s siblings tried to talk their
fellow student out of blowing himself up. Another brother closer to his age was involved in a shootout in a playground where the officer managed to save
the lives of others at the cost of his. Their family’s house burned down because
of a criminal’s relation to the person shot by his brother in the shootout.
Everybody got out okay, but they’re living in another town now.
Despite Omar pledging to protect
his family as a soldier, three of them were killed and their house was burned
down as a result of his absence. This seems to be a running theme in his life
because of him letting his friends die in battle. Omar hands off the newspaper
to the Undertaker whose hand in his eye takes it. Still expecting something, the
Undertaker makes it more obvious what he wants Omar to let go by having his family’s
and friend’s killers and appear beside him. The killers appear the way they
were before with marks of their deeds on their heads and body. A skinny
version of Omar appears alongside him. The same trouble making one that caused
his family grief in his younger years.
Filled with rage, Omar takes out his
combat knife. He looks back and forth at the people unsure of who to take his
revenge on first. The Undertaker watches in anticipation of what decision he’s
going to make. Omar screams as he throws his knife down. Sick and tired of
killing and being angry, he gives up his hate for himself and others. The people
then suddenly surround Omar in silence. He gives them all a hug as one
disappears after the other. Once they’re gone, a weight is lifted from his soul
as he falls to the ground to cry.
The Undertaker consoles Omar with a
hand on his shoulder. Omar looks up at the Undertaker who appears to be more like
an angel rather than a monster. As the morning sun rises, the Undertaker
disappears into the light with tears of happiness running down his face. With
newfound strength, Omar gets rid of his cigarettes and makes his way to the
town where his family now is where they are eagerly waiting for him.
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