Picture challenge #13: Child's play

[redblood]

INFO: They say that a picture can tell a thousand words. How many can you find?

Each week a new image will be posted, and your challenge will be to write whatever the image inspires you to write. It can be anything as long as it relates to the picture. A plot, a scene, a short story, a poem, a character, etc. You can write as much or as little as you wish. It's not the length that matters, it's what you put into it. There is no time limit to these challenges, so feel free to jump in at any time.

(Source)​

 

[Mglo]

How time passes unperceived,
when so long ago he "slayed" me in the ruins of his home,
Now it's me who stands above him watching his future dissolve,
we once waved our wooden weapons with bright smiles for the roles,
how is it that those smiles became enemies of war?
he was once my best companion a brother of my choice,
and now I've given him the death I'd never wished on him before.


I don't write poetry, but I was bored so I thought I'd give it a go (lies! I was just too lazy so I went with vague and short D:)

 

[noodle]

It had all started out so innocently,
Two kids,
Playing soldier.
Waving swords of wood.

It had all started out so innocently,
Two kids,
Playing war,
Rolling in the dust and dirt.

It had all started out so innocently,
Two kids,
Best friends,
Never to stray apart.

Innocence never lasts,
Two adults,
Soldiers of life,
Waving swords of words.

Innocence never lasts,
Two adults,
War-torn and bitter,
Rolling in misery and despair.

Innocence never lasts,
Two adults,
Worst enemies,
Falling apart at the seams.

 

[PoetLore]

Amid crumbling ruins
Two young boys pretend
Waving wooden swords
the kingdom to defend

The enemy finally falls
Victory is proclaimed
The kingdom is saved
A new knight is named

The call of a name from afar
Ends the duo's revelry
Until next they meet
To devise some other devilry

 

[Doctor Jax]

"Raaaaah!" Egon shouted above his head, raising the sword in victory over his opponent. "I, the Mighty Maydred, have defeated you, simple peasant!"

"Hey! I said I was Mycon the Invincible," his younger brother Dorbid reminded, lifting the edge of the three-times-too-big helm away from his overshadowed eyes. "Not just 'a peasant.'"

"Well, I'm the victor. I got dad's sword. So you're a peasant."

"Am not! Eggy, you said I could be Mycon!"

"I said that maybe you could be Mycon," Egon stated with a lordly countenance as he put his foot on his brother's chest.

"BOYS!"

The two immediately turned their heads in attention to the sound of a woman's voice shouting through the canyon walls, and the two scrambled to heed their mother's call. Around the many bends they went, following a badly-worn path back to the house nestled in the shadow of a canyon wall. Their mother paced in front of the door, their father sitting in a rocking chair on the porch, as the boys skidded to a stop in front of the house.

"I knew it. They had it this whole time," their mother sighed, gesturing to the bits and pieces of armor the boys had pilfered.

Their father - weary, gray, but amused - smiled at them as he slowly levered himself up out of his chair. The boys' eyes darted between their mother's gaunt face and their father's oddly windless countenance. He knelt before them and held his hand out while giving Egon a knowing look.

"I'm gonna need that," he said, and Egon reluctantly handed over the sword. "You know better. How many times has your mother told you not to dig around in my chest?"

"Like... seven ti-- ow!" Dorbid muttered sharply as Egon dug an elbow into his brother's side.

"Gloves, too," their father said, holding his hand out for the gauntlets Egon had on. Egon looked puzzled as he took them off. The sword was the only thing they had to dig out of the chest.

"And I'll be taking this back, as well," their father said, taking the helm off of Dorbid's head.

By this point, the boys were shifting uncomfortably. Typically, their father didn't care to let them play with the old set of armor, from gauntlet to boots. Were they in especially big trouble this time? They looked to their mother, but she was chewing on her finger as she stared at the man getting up out of the dust with his missing valuables. He walked past her with the last of his armor set and sword, and he kissed her forehead before going into the house.

"Come on, boys. Wash up for lunch. I need to sit down with you," their mother said, her laugh lines transformed into deep furrows as she frowned. The boys reluctantly walked up the steps, glancing at each other in confusion, as they went into the house.