Rain falls upon the once great city. A lonely soldier walks across the decimated terrain. His mind tries to bring joy with memories of once stood, but his eyes cannot unsee what is before him. The store where he met his wife of ten years, now nothing but dust and ash. Jake's bar, where his friends would meet after work; destroyed. The soldier walked slowly through the rubble, wishing this was a nightmare he would soon wake up from. But, unlike a nightmare his body seemed content. His breathing was slow and steady. His feet were not looking for an escape. He was not longing for freedom from a monster that was at his toes. Although, the soldier could not tell if this was a feeling of content or shock.

All his thoughts shifted when he felt a step did not land on the ground. Something soft, it was. Carefully, he moved his foot and picked up the item, looking it over with care. A doll. Stitching, so careful yet inconsistent it must have been made with love. He could imagine it belonged to a little girl like his. He knew no owner could be found in this destruction, although he imagined that the girl made it somewhere safe. The soldier heard crying in the distance and ran to it. There sat a mother holding a small child in her arms. The child did not seem to be breathing. The soldier offered his services to the mother only to be denied. "Why? Haven't you done enough damage already?"