Nama Peserta : Nur Atika Salsabila Irfan

Kelas : VIII B
Sekolah : SMP IT Insan Cendekia Jayapura
Judul Cerita : “The Sword of Peace” written by Pedro Pablo Sacristan

The Sword of Peace

Written by Pedro Pablo Sacristan

Once upon a time there was a precious sword. Now, this sword belonged to the great
King, and for as long as anyone can remember, the King spent all his time in his palace, enjoying
his shows and feasts. One day there was a big dispute between this King and the King of a
neighboring country. It ended with the two declaring war.

The sword’s man was excited at the prospect of taking part in his first real battle. It would
show everyone how brave and special it was, and would become famous throughout the
kingdom. On its way to the front line, the sword imagined itself to be the victor of many battles.
However, when they arrived, the first battle had already taken place, and the sword had seen the
result of the war. The sword was very shocked, because the real battle was not as same as his
imagination. There are no shining knights who are graceful, triumphant, with their weapons
gleaming in the sun. On the other hand, all sword saws are just broken weapons, and hordes of
hungry and thirsty people. Almost no food left.
Hearing this, the sword’s man realized that he did not like war or battle. It decided, it
preferred to live in peace and spent its time taking part in tournaments and competitions. So, on
the night before what would be the final great battle, the swords tried to find a way to prevent it
from happening. After a while, the sword began to vibrate. At first it let out a low hum, but this
gradually got louder, until it became an annoying metallic sound. The swords and armor of other
warriors asked the King's sword what it was doing. He told them "I don't want any fighting
tomorrow. I don't like war". Someone replied, "No one likes it, but what can we do?"
"Make yourselves tremble, as I did. If we make enough noise, no one will sleep." said the
sword’s King. So the weapon started to vibrate, and the sound became deafening. It was so loud
that it reached the enemy camp, and the guns there, equally disgusted by the war, joined the
protest.
 The next morning, when the battle was supposed to start, not a single soldier was ready to
fight. No one managed to sleep, not even the Kings or Generals. So they spent the whole day
sleeping. At night they began to wake up, and decided to postpone the battle for the next day.
However, the weapons, led by the King's sword, spent the night repeating their song of peace,
and once again none of the soldiers could rest. The battle had to be postponed again, and this
lasted for another seven days.
On the evening of the seventh day, the King of the two armies met to see what they could
do to resolve the situation. The two of them were furious because of their previous feud, but after
being together for a while they began to discuss their sleepless nights, the shock on their soldiers'
faces, the confusion of day with night, and the hilarious situation all of this had created. It wasn't
long before the two were laughing, like friends, at these little stories.
Luckily, they forgot their old strife and they ended the war, each returning to their own
land with the double joy of not having to fight, and regaining a friend. And from then on, from
time to time the Kings would meet to talk about their experiences as Kings. They now
understand that the things that unite them are far more than anything that sets them apart from
each other.

Messages:
Peace is important in uniting debates that occur peacefully. Furthermore, peace doesn't have to
wait for other people to understand about us, but we have to find peace ourselves. We must
remember that everyone wants peace, joy and happiness. War is not a solution for problems.