In Between

 Two armies in a field, facing each other, and in between, whyever  they were there, ambling about, sitting down, chatting and so on, were quite a few people, maybe, who knows, however they might have managed it, not having noticed the armies either side of them. Maybe though, which is much more likely, they did notice the armies but presumed in their innocence that this was all merely for show, a chance merely perhaps to dress up, and so naturally there would be no fight. But even if there really was such a desire to fight, perhaps they felt their civilised, calm presence in this field would have some kind of overpowering influence - the mere sight of them in the middle of the field would be enough in itself to keep the peace; whilst perhaps even if, inconceivably, the worst did come to the worst and fighting did actually break out, those doing the fighting would of course be polite enough to work around them, so to speak, out of respect and of course also to ensure their necessary preservation for whatever future would arise.

Unfortunately though, all these expectations didn’t meet with reality, and once the fighting began, which it did, their preservation proved it seemed not all that necessary to anyone; and so those in the middle, or at least those who weren’t quick enough in their scattering, quickly, amidst all the madness, came to grief.