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"Swimming for Bullets" - pg 2
The boys regularly rotate the bullets on the log in order to get a better angle for the blow - though the bullets are often pointing right at them as they strike, or sometimes, right at us. If we notice in time, we stop filming, and turn the bullets away from potential victims. In the middle of this bustle of activity, one particularly mischievous worker successfully de-pants two other boys in the space of ten minutes. Everyone laughs, and then goes back to pounding. The bayonet is the most effective hammer, and all the boys want to use it. It takes several direct hits, but gunpowder soon leaks from the battered casings and the bullets roll loose.
When all the bullets are prepped and tossed into the plastic bags again, the boys gather their flip-flops and slip their way up the bank to the path above. They retrace their steps to the bridge and the man's hut with a pile of bullets below. One of the boys slides a portable scale from underneath the hut and they pile their bullets onto the scale, clamoring over one another to see how many kilos they have gathered. The boys weigh and calculate while the adults smile and laugh at the kids ingenuity. After several moments and a short conversation with the owner of the hut, it appears the price of metal is better at another buyer.
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The boys turn and stride down the dusty road, swinging bags of bullets, and profit, in their hands.
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Read more Notes From the Field:
• Bombs, Mortars, and Cutting Torches
• Kompong Thom |
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