My second day in the desert

Heat, paranoia, the incoming danger that follows when you are behind enemy lines. My squad was deployed in the middle of nowhere which the knowledge of any time they will attacked. Setting up our positions, hiding, keeping for the most time radio silence. That feeling of dread, each time I remember it. It pierces through me, eating away my false sense of security.

We were all trained by the best of the best. But that's training, this is real. Any mistakes, any sneeze, even a murmur can compromises the mission. All I had will we waited for a single mistake from their part, was that jingle. The jingle I memorized as a kid. The Candle Cove jingle, it soothed me in that desert wasteland. It keep me focus, it keep me safe. As if I was watched by a guardian angel. Now that I reminisces, it wasn't an angel that was guarding me. It was that thing from my childhood. My imaginary friend, the faceless one, ha, ha,ha. I need to find a better name for it, if even it has one. I feel sorry for all its victims. Past, present and future.

No way out. Feels different when you know, you are no longer on the top of the food chain. Even though, I don't know if it eats. Getting off track here. It was a waiting game. I could hear that tick tock in my head. Slow and loud tick tock. Tick Tock. Then a boom.  They knew. They used a RPG. Crap. Fuck. That's all I could think of. One of our sharpshooters shoot. Head shot. I started to give support fire. All routine for a war zone.

Everything becomes a blur. Only pure instincts follows. Oh, no. I remember something. He and a girl was there. D and that little girl. It looked that they were playing. D was more like a older brother to the little girl. The girl was dancing in a joyful manner. They both were having fun.  I only got a glimpse of them, but it had to be burn in my memories. Why they were there? I know, I talked to D before. In that bar and I seen him in my childhood. I see no reason why he was there?

D can't be that accountant, unless he's a vampire or something. I did my research about Dante. He checks out. He has a past, he had parents and have a brother. That's normal. Dante could looked like D, but he isn't. He is just a red herring.

The end of my second day in that desert, we won. We lived. None of us could hurt. Only for that glimpse, nothing out of the normal. I don't know, maybe it's a detail somewhere deeper in my past or more into the events in my desert that holds answer.  My squad died, that's what Brandon said. Or more specific, I said in one of our past, I don't know what else to called it, incarnations of our sessions. Maybe, just maybe.

My first day in the desert

I'm in a temporary leave from work. I wasn't fired, I'm coming back next week. They said, I needed a vacation. Since I was looking stress out, especially having those two other incidents. Well, it's for my health, I guess. Sitting alone in this big place, I started thinking about my past. My first day of being deployed.

 I remembered the feeling of being stuck in that plane. Feeling the heat inside that hunk of metal. Sweating, feeling uncomfortable. Knowing that I'm no longer home, the feeling of being miles and miles away. Thinking of what I left behind, I remember thinking about a girl, I used to date. What would I say when I come back. If I come back, would I be the same person she fall in love with? Small things are always precious, sometimes we just take it for granted.

Then that uneasy feeling when you know after  you get out of that plane, you are walking into, simply  putting it, hell. At least, the training teaches you to hold your emotion in check. But that uneasy feeling it almost hard to shake it off. It always buzzes in the back of your head. I meet up with my CO, to have our orders.

I felted relief when I found out, we are only setting camp that day. No insurrections today. No storming a village, just setting up. Which it's weird really, but I prefer not to question it. I started to talked to the other fellow members of my squad. Knowing their ambitions, their desires. We talked all day.

Nice group of fellows, some maybe out of their minds, but still reliable. Hmm, is like we slowly become this weird, demented family. I talked about Candle Cove to them. Of course, they never heard of it. I explained to them, how is about pirates trying to capture inspiration. They thought that was a cool concept, that I should write it. Since they don't believe it truly existed. Now that  I think about it, my recollection of people remembering Candle Cove was either in my childhood and now. At least, if I remembered correctly.

The next day was a different story. My first mission or my first real orders. I don't know if I should even mentioned it. Maybe another day. I will say one thing though, the night sky in the desert, it's one of the most beautiful thing you could ever see. Hmm, nirvana if it wasn't for the heat.

Desert Dream

During one of my mission in the Middle East, we were deployed on this town. That town, if you could call it that. Looking at those families, the children looking at us. Scared, at looking at us. We were  there to defend them, but they didn't know. It hurts when you don't know their language, their culture, anything about them. Only that we were there to do our job.

 Whoever is reading this, this wasn't the recent conflict on the Middle East. It was just normal procedure, a normal mundane day. Until a shot was heard, we took cover. Me and one of my partners went inside one of the houses. A house with a family of four. The parents screams, my partner who spoke a little of their language tried to calm them down. I turn around and I saw their children looking at the TV.  Lo and behold, it was my favorite show as a kid. Candle Cove. I was mesmerized.

Nostalgia got the better of me. My partner who heard gunfire, tried to get my attention. I couldn't. I needed to get inside. I was a child again. I went toward the kids, who they were entranced the same as I was. The voices of their parents, the guns and my partner were muted. It was one of my favorite episode. When Janice needed to find the muse of the cove, but Horace Horrible wanted for the Skin Taker. After that, I black out. All I heard was the soothing sounds of children's laughter and those woods.

Only one figure stood there with me. My imaginary friend. I woke up. I was back at the base. My team congratulating me on saving their asses, as they kindly put it. I didn't want to say, I didn't remember, so I accepted it. Then we went out for a drink, but I feel I have talked too much. Post it some other time.