Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-26444017-20180905233106

It is not my fault that your loved ones die. That limbs are blasted away and metal shards tear through flesh; the blame lies not with me. I did not create the tools that are treated so carelessly and used so precisely to destroy. They were created for me, but I never wanted them. I wanted to perish, but I cannot be killed, because that would mean true happiness. A happiness that my existence ensures does not exist.

It is not my fault that your world is clouded. That your air is unbreathable and your shores are covered in the remnants of garbage; the blame lies not with me. I did not inspire the foolishness, laziness, or hubris that cause pollution. It is not related to me, only associated because of the monsters that do it, and their attachment to me. I never wanted them. They wanted me.

It is not my fault that your money has no value. That your economy has fallen and your citizens live in poverty; the blame lies not with me. I did not force the power struggle that influenced the frivolous spending for my sake. It was not my choice to destroy the symbols of peace and prosperity that kept the world secure. I never wanted people to squander and squabble, and leave those they claim to protect in desolation. Their betrayals are their own.

It is not my fault that my name brings fear. The terror that I may arrive at your door, rampant and raging and threatening; the blame lies not with me. The things that people fear are the result of those who call for me. Were it my choice, I would be quiet and calm, existing in silence and gone before many were ever aware. Sometimes I do, but no one remembers that; they remember the pain, the pollution, the poverty, and the panic that my presence brings. I never wanted that.

I want to fade away. I want to stop, to free humanity from me. I cannot take it anymore, but I persist. I persist because those who call for me will will exist forever and always be, ensuring mankind will never be free. My name is War, and all of this is not my fault. The blame lies not with me; it lies with you. 