The Reaper
The Reaper by Swadha Rawat Co -First Place Winning Piece at the 2019 Writer's Guild, Modern School Flash Writing Contest for Grade 10 Photo by Anete Lusina from Pexels Even as the drums of war reverberated in the caged city, A shroud of mourning muting the fallen kingdom, The Black Market glistened With precious swords and stolen stones The tinkle of golden bangles on slender wrists and golden coins trading hands. In the tangled web of crooked alleys Awaited a wizened old woman Whose eyes shone in the dark with the wisdom of a thousand suns. The newly crowned invaders swarmed the market Dark hands covered in blood reaching for even more After burning their lore and crushing their defeated souls. The Red Knight General of the conqueror’s force Swept into an alley in his bloodred cloak And looked down upon A crippled, wizen woman with a headband of beaten gold His gloved hand snatched the glittering circlet away. Her yellow teeth bared, the fo