Midnight

Laurie Bisman

Midnight was born without much fuss at exactly midnight one warm autumn night in 1916. There was so little fuss that nobody knew about it except Midnight and his mother. It was his mother that named him Midnight. She loved her baby boy, he looked so handsome and he was strong too. He was up and walking around in an hour or so.

Midnight soon got to know all the other donkeys at the farm and loved to jump and run and play with the others his own age. Sometimes they used to try to make the older donkeys run and jump and play as well, but usually the older ones just stood still and looked wise and said things like: Don't run around too much Midnight, people are watching.

Midnight didn't know who the people were, or why they were watching, but he kept running and jumping and playing with his friends because it was such good fun.

One day, one of the people came and put something over Midnight's back and around his neck. It was uncomfortable and Midnight tried his best to run away and make it fall off, but this wasn't to be.

Soon, the people came and attached a cart with wheels. Midnight was used to the things on his back now, but the cart was heavy. He didn't like the cart. He couldn't run and jump and play with his friends anymore. He just pulled the cart around the paddock and soon he forgot all about how he used to run and jump and play.

One day, the people brought the cart and filled it with rocks. Midnight didn't like pulling the cart that day, the wheels got stuck in the mud and the people were yelling and making loud banging noises next to him. Midnight was scared and he couldn't see any of his friends or his mother anywhere. He tried to get away from the cart but everywhere he ran, the cart followed him.

Soon the people were coming with the cart every day. This cart had a long thing sticking out the back. He could pull the cart now, it wasn't too heavy, and the loud noises didn't scare him anymore. The people that were watching Midnight today did something to the cart which made it make the loudest bang Midnight had ever heard in his life. Midnight was very scared, but he stayed still and didn't run.

Every day, the people came with the cart which made the loud noise and soon Midnight couldn't hear the noise very well, in fact he couldn't hear his friends talking or his mother very well either. Midnight just walked slowly around pulling the noisy cart for the people who were watching.

One day, the people watching came and took Midnight away in a big truck. Midnight was scared and called to his mother and she came close to him but the people pushed her away. Midnight was very unhappy, but he just stood in the truck as it took him to the big water. Once they arrived near the big water, Midnight was taken up a wooden path into a large building floating on the water and put into a cold dark place. Midnight was very scared. He went to sleep thinking of his mother and his friends and the warm, sunny paddock which was his home.

It seemed like forever that Midnight had been in this cold, dark place when he was pushed out again and down a wooden path onto the shore. The shore wasn't the same one he remembered, he was scared but he just stood quietly.

After walking for what seemed like days, Midnight arrived with the people, at a place where banging sounds were all around. These banging sounds made Midnight think of his mother and the paddock where he lived. He felt very homesick and very very scared.

 All around, people were running and jumping and yelling and making loud noises with long sticks. Midnight wondered if they were playing. Midnight wanted to play too but the people had put the things on his back and around his neck again and attached a funny cart with a long thing on it.

Midnight was taken across a paddock which was just like his home, except there were a lot of people laying down and not moving. There was a lot of smoke and noise.

As Midnight moved across the paddock, he saw another donkey, he was happy to have found a friend and he walked close to the other donkey. The other donkey was laying down too and not moving. In fact, the other donkey only had three legs, there was a lot of blood around on the ground and Midnight was scared.

A few days later when Midnight was walking across the paddock, he heard a whistling sound and the people who were holding him ran away and jumped into a hole. Midnight was very scared, but he just stood there quietly and did nothing.

After the explosion, one of the men turned to his friend and said: "Damn! that's another bloody gun donkey we need now..."

The people just left what was left of Midnight on the ground. Midnight and the other donkey were only separated by one bomb crater, but they both weren't scared anymore.