Musical Interlude

There are a number of writing challenges out there.  Some come as suggestions in an email.  Others can be found on websites offering authors the chance to post the results.  Occasionally they seem to come out of nowhere.  

I was having a conversation with my sons about boy bands.  A pun was made that included the names of a couple of popular bands.  This ignited a spark of inspiration.  It came to me that I should try to write a story that included the names of some bands hidden in the tale.  To fit the narrative, I did alter some band names to the way they are pronounced and not the "official" names.

It is a time of war.  The government was giving massive incentives to citizens in order to get them to join the military.  So much so, there was a big time rush to recruitment centers to sign up.  The media was proud to broadcast numerous stories of victories.  The exact nature of the enemy was never announced.  Nobody seemed to want to know who we were fighting as long as we were winning.

It seemed like everyone was willing to fight and risk dying to maintain the upper hand over an enemy they didn't know.  The people came from all walks of like.  Hard workers from the backstreet.  Boys from rich neighborhoods.  Girls who had only been competitive on the pageant runway.  All for one purpose, signing up and getting their incentive.  It seemed like you only had to point a finger.  Bang, you had a new recruit.

Regardless of their background, all of these raw recruits were sent to train at boot camp.  As soon as the fresh arrivals, the new kids on the block as it were, got a quick lesson in military discipline.  In order to field the best fighting force, they would all be equally transformed from boys to men.  After a few months of intense training and combat practice, everyone would be shipped out.  Once at the battlefield, they would be given only one direction.  Win at any cost.

It would be only after a day's hard combat and numerous losses that the true enemy would be revealed.  There was no real enemy.  The troops were being commanded to fight each other.  Survivors would be sent back to the battlefield again the next day.  Regardless of who won, victory could be claimed by the leaders that kept sending recruits in to fight themselves.

Did you see the names for all 7 bands?  Can you write a sentence or phrase with another musical group's name?  Let me know what you think in the comments.