You by Val Amant

The short story that I enjoyed the most was ‘You’ by Val Amant. This short story is
about a woman who is in the army and is explaining her experiences during the
war.
The opening line states ‘You sprint across the field and drop to a roll when their
mortars fire.’ This is an effective opening line as it conveys tension and
excitement which draws the reader to continue reading. The genre of the short
story is already clear from this first sentence- action.
The next few sentences explain the action during the war. Many shots are fired
and she watches as her fellow soldiers drop to the ground. At one moment, she
even questions herself and asks her why she is even here.
Just as she tries to go to sleep at 3 am she hears shots firing at her. She sees
someone’s head and a gun at the staircase and shoots him. Another comes at her
but she sends three shots at their body. She goes down the building to find her
team. However, fire blasts from the second floor of a ruined building, but it’s
aimed at the others. They don’t see her across the street. She takes the shot. She
looks around her to see bodies strewn everywhere. The lieutenant comes towards
her and informs her that she’s the only survivor.
We are then taken six years later to the future when she is a Lieutenant Colonel.
A young soldier comes to her and salutes her. The Lieutenant knows why she’s
here: she needs time off to go home as her mother had died yesterday. She gives
her two weeks off. As she leaves, the last line states ‘That’s you, Donaldson, ten
years ago, you think. A tear rolls along your cheek and drops to the floor’.
There are many reasons as to why I liked this short story. Firstly, the story was
written in 2nd person view. I liked this aspect as it made the story unique, as not
many stories are written in that view. It also made the story more realistic as it
makes the reader feel like they’re the character. Secondly, the author uses many
types of imagery in his/her story. Visual imagery is seen many times throughout
the story, one of the examples being ‘You peer into the dust to find dead bodies
littering the field’. I found this image very vivid. An example of auditory imagery is
‘Their 50 caliber machine gun comes into play’. Tactile imagery is used in the
quote ‘A grunt escapes your lips as the bullets hit your Kevlar vest. It feels like a
thousand jolts to your gut and chest’. Onomatopoeia is also used in the short
story. Some examples include ‘Bang’ and ‘grunt’. Lastly, the author uses many
pauses throughout the short story. An example is seen in the sentence ‘Nothing.
Silence.’. This evokes a sense of suspense in the reader.
To conclude, I really enjoyed reading the short story ‘You’ by Val Amant for
numerous reasons.