2024 Nonfiction Winner: "Killed in Action" by Dawson Veitch
KILLED IN ACTION
December 2, 2016
1118 W Davin St.
Reno, NV 77815
Dear Master Dawson Veitch,
It is my painful duty to inform you that a report has been received from the logistics office notifying the death of Dream No. 135, Becoming An Animator, which occurred in Mrs. Pratt’s English literature class on October 12, 2016. And the death of Dream No. 15, Becoming a Videogame Designer, which occurred in Mr. Hardy’s algebra class later that same day.
This report is to the effect that they are [KILLED IN ACTION]
It dedicated its life to becoming and embodying what it means to be a dream, it was a true honor working alongside a visionary such as it.
Becoming An Animator, while serving in the pool of future dreams, distinguished itself by creatively enhancing several projects of self-expression and vouching for total creative control over one’s ideas and work regardless of how commercially or artistically successful. This dogma of freedom against authority was welcomed and was adopted by the entire regiment following Mrs.Pratt’s harsh grading on the labor corps’ half-hearted rip off of The Phantom Menace. A move which has been officially labeled as “total bullshit.”
Late into the lifecycle of a procrastinated paper’s production, Becoming An Animator’s body was found lifeless and overworked along the margins, where the labor corps realized it had terrible handwriting and fine motor skills, thus, lacking any future in the field of traditional art. The body was found in a half-finished drawing of your original character (OC) which was just you, but cooler and liked by everyone because he was so cool. Becoming An Animator was only 3 years old with 1 year of service. It dedicated its life to becoming and embodying what it means to be a dream, it was a true honor working alongside a visionary such as it.
Becoming A Videogame Designer was one of the toughest and boldest. It created the creed we carry out today, “passion and ambition guide us.” It pushed the playground of pretending into a free market of ideas which would eventually be used to develop more hobbies and enlist more dreams. Without Becoming A Videogame Designer, the department would look very different. We cannot overstate how much the loss of Becoming a Videogame Designer has hurt the entire service. In the words of Becoming A Videogame Designer, “If we wish to be made true, we must all learn to live alongside our monsters.”
Within Mr. Hardy’s classroom, the mathematics-dependent platoons were caught in an ambush by a pop quiz, which by all accounts were expected to appear later in the week, Becoming a Videogame Designer was sent out to preserve the labor corps’ confidence in its mathematical prowess. Though it was found expiring between problem 13 and the blank problem 14, where the numbers established a strong foothold when the labor corps forgot how to do long division without the supportive presence of a calculator. Becoming a Videogame Designer perished pushing the frontlines. Its sacrifice allowed the platoon’s attention to be drawn to the sheet next to them, where the problem was already solved. Becoming A Videogame Designer was 6 years old with 4 years of service. It went well and beyond the call of service, exemplifying the traditions and code of servicethoughts before it.
It pushed the playground of pretending into a free market of ideas which would eventually be used to develop more hobbies and enlist more dreams.
ALL GAVE SOME – SOME GAVE ALL
We are sure this time of grief will disrupt your 7th grade studies. We have taken the liberty to ensure that everyone around you is aware of your situation by giving curt responses, nihilistic complaints levied against the school tasks you are expected to perform, and filling every space you occupy with a brooding aura to kickstart the development of seasonal depression. We are deeply sorry for this loss and wish you all the best in this time of need.
Years prior, on the day I met those two, I swore I’d do everything in my power to follow their example. I’m still trying.
– Lieutenant General,
Becoming A Writer
Dawson Veitch is a junior in Strategic Communications with a passion for telling stories. When not in class, he spends most of his time doing video editing or writing. When in his free time he likes to run, play D&D, sing, and cook. Dawson wants to write for television and continues to work on his own stories hoping they'll be on the big screen one day.