First Short Story

         I found myself wondering what my life would be if I could tell Sam that I thought she was one of the most gorgeous women I have ever seen in my entire life. She is in my English class. I saw her the first day of class when I was doing the typical guy thing and checking out the women in the class. She was by far the best looking girl in the class but as usually for me I figured that that is just where it ends, looking but never doing anything about it. But it was weird I was leaving class a few weeks in and a guy came up to me who I’ve talked to a few times named Brad. He was an engineird in the national waste of money (otherwise known as an engineer and in the national guard I’m just kidding simple army humor). He stopped me in the hallway and told me that he overheard that Sam thought I was hot. He then told me how he heard after our break one class he walked in and Sam was laughing with this other girl and when he asked what they were laughing at, he thought they were talking about him because he overheard something about the Army, they told him nothing. Then after a second or two the other girls told him that Sam thought that I was hot. So he told me about it and to joke away the awkwardness I felt I said great maybe I should trip her to show I like her what is this junior high. He laughed and we walked away from each other. But for the next week I could think of nothing else. But of course what did I do NOTHING BECAUSE I HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO HANDLE ANY OF THIS. Why you may ask cause I have never had any real experience with anything like this every girl I have ever liked has been way out of my league. The only person I told any of this situation to was my friend tom at the gym while we were benching. Just laughing it off of course never letting him know that I was serious, because that would be letting someone into my world a little more. I find myself doing this over and over wanting someone to get closer to me but then when I get scared they are too close I distance myself with any number of excuses. I could never figure out why I do this. Maybe it is part of some long seeded issue seeing my parents getting divorced or a therapist might come up with some other psychotic issue after I pay them thousands of dollars and waste years of my life on the couch. Who knows all I know is that for some reason a few days after the class where I did nothing I had a dream that was to real to ignore. I went to sleep that night just as I always did not really wanting to wake up because I had to go to class the next morning. For me if the class doesn’t involve tactics or weapons training I don’t see it as useful for me. By the way I am in the Army Reserve as a Military Policemen. Basically we are just like the cop you see everyday on the street except we do that stuff for the army. But anyway back to the dream. I drifted off some time around eleven. All of a sudden I am standing in line in a huge white tent with a weapon on my back (if your in the army you would know this as chow slung). But anyway this place is not something unfamiliar to me, then I look around all I see are people in uniform. Then the lines moves and I don’t notice, when I don’t move the guy behind me taps me trying to get me out of my dazed state. I turn and tell him sorry I’ve just got off an eighteen-hour shift at the command center. He said “no problem sarne”. As I walked forward those words kept in my head sarne, what did he mean by that I’m only a PFC? After I had gotten all of my food I went looking for a seat then a real familiar face waved to me. It was Tom, wait Tom, Tom isn’t in the Army. As I sat down next to him, he could see that I was confused.
He looked at me and says “whats up sarne”. There it was again I had to look down my ACUs and there I was. I was a sergeant in the dream. I chalked this up to a call I had gotten the week before from my team leader telling me that he was going to try to get me promoted from PFC early and that I should be a sergeant with in a year and a half. That with the rumors of us deploying within the year most have been the inspiration for this dream. So I just let the dream progress from there. So Tom and I talked about life, work mostly, but also stuff going on at home. It was weird I knew all of these things from home from emails and stuff from home. This was the strangest dream I’ve ever had because I have never felt this into a dream. But anyway after we finished eating we left, he asked if I wanted to go work out but I told him the first thing I wanted was a shower then sleep after the shift I had just had. So I went to a shower then after that went back to my bunk to try to get a few hours of sleep before I would get woken up to go back to the command center to get a briefing for a mission. Laid down closed my eyes then Tom came and woke my up to go the command center and get a briefing. I groaned and started getting out of bed. With Tom standing right there just laughed and said “that’s the price of being in charge I guess” he started laughing then left. I then got dress and grabbed my rifle and walked to the command center. There was my first sergeant and after all the military type greetings he got down and told the other NCOs from my squad and me the route and everything we needed to know for the mission and kick off time. Which was in two hours so that meant no sleep for me. So I left found Tom and told him to get his gear and meet at the humvee we had a mission in two hours and that if he saw anyone else tell them the same. After telling him that everyone would get briefed at the vehicle he left and I went to get my gear and get everyone else. When we were all at the humvee I started the briefing with just my team while they got everything on the vehicle ready to go. It was a simple protection mission. We were to meet a small convoy of two cars and take them from the security from one unit and then provide security until we passed them onto another unit. Just before I finished my squad leader came up to me and told me that he wanted my team to take the rear security since we were down a person and we had been worked the most in the last week. But I was told that although he tried to get us out of this mission we were to valuable to keep out of this one. Although I am sure he did try overworking was a standard practice in the Army for good soldiers. I then remembered something my drill sergeant to us in basic training. He said “there are two kinds of people in the Army those who look good and those who do the work” he then went on to say” those who look good get promoted real fast but those who do the work just get more work”. So I told my squad leader that and he laughed and left. I went back to my team and told them the changes. Right after this I told my gunner, Tom, to make sure he had plenty of ammo, because I was getting a bad juju feeling from this mission. He laughed and me and told me he would go pull some more drums of ammo. Then I went to talk to my driver who for some reason I did not recognized until this moment when it was just the two of us. It Kendra, a girl from training who I kept in touch with and talked almost everyday. While we were in training and just out of it when we talked the most I liked her a lot but then my head came in and figured out that it just wasn’t that way we were just friends. But in this dream world she was in my unit and my driver. We started talking about some of the field exercises during basic and some other stuff just like we always did. Then Tom came back with the ammo and loaded it in the humvee. Then we just lay under the humvee, cause it was a little cooler, talking. For some reason the topic came up about my love life or lack there of is more like it. They told me that when we got home in two weeks that we would all go out and get me a girl. I thought it was odd that my dream was taking place at the end of my tour, but hey it’s a dream so whatever. Then someone kicked my feet, and I said “what asshole” not the best worlds in the Army when you couldn’t see who it is.
I knew who it was right away “soldier I’m gonna chalk that up to combat stress”. Fuck was my first thought as I got out from under the humvee and went right to attention. Because it was my platoon leader, lieutenant Smith. I knew him from training also. After saluting he started laughing at me and said “if it wasn’t for basic you’d be getting smoked in front of your team until your missions starts ad ease”.
To reply to it I said “you coming with us on this one sir or do you have to make and drink some coffee some where with the rest of the officers”.
“Haha very funny no I get to sit in the TOC and listen to the radios so if you run into some shit out there I can call in the big guns to unfuck you”. After a few more jabs at each other he left and I went back under the humvee. Kendra started laughing at me “who answers a kick to the foot like that in a headquarters company”.
“You know what they say there are those who look good and those who do good haha”. Then we got the word to mount up. So my team started getting in the vehicle while I went to talk with the other team leaders and went threw some last minute details then it was time to get on the road. As we left the gate I got that feeling that you get when you walk into a room when someone just had a fight. It has that weird feeling in the air. The mission proceeded as planned until we had to meet with the convoy. All of a sudden we started taking fire from a building about 50 meters off the road. Platoon leader called me on the radio and told us to hold back with the security convoy that had the mission before us. We stated and I told Tom to start throwing everything he had at the buildings first floor. Then I told Kendra to pull security on the front and opposite side of the humvee, while I went to link up with who ever was in charge with the other convoy. I found a corporal when I immediately recognized him as Olsen from training and asked him who was in charge. He looked at me and said, “well since you’re higher then me I guess you are”.
To which I replied “you have to be kidding me you’re the highest-ranking soldier in your convoy”.
“Yea our squad leader got called on a PSD mission for some general and I had sonority,” he told me.
“Alright give me two of your shooters to cover the rear of the convoy and two others to watch the flank not facing the building then rearrange your vehicles so that what ever gun can be dismounted and fired is second from the back”. I felt that he wanted to start writing things down. “Then pull the gun from the humvee and have it watch the opposite flank from the building, then give me those two shooters who were watching the flank to go up and cover the front”.
“Roger sarne getting a move on”. It was still very weird being called sarne. I then watched to see if he was doing what I asked and he was, must be high speed like me haha. Then I went back to my humvee and found Kendra, “anything yet”.
“I don’t know the traffic up ahead is looking funny people aren’t leaving their hangin out like this is a movie or something” she told me.
“Ok well I got two guys coming up here to help you out I got that bad juju feeling bout this, your in charge of the front I don’t care what they say got it” I said.
“Roger sarne” she replied. Then I went to on the inter team radio to see how Tom was doing with the building. “What you got on the building tom,” I asked.
“We got a whole bunch of people moving in and out the right side I think I’m getting that bad juju feeling your always talking about” he told me.
“I gotchya just keep up the fire and let me know when you have two belts left” I told him.
“Roger sarne” he replied. There it was again but this time I got a bad feeling from hearing it. I tried to focus on what Olsen was doing. I found him and the first thing he said to me was some joke about basic and how this was a world away, but he was interrupted by mortars that were just starting to rain down 40 yards past us. My training took over in an instant I ran back to my humvee and called smith telling him that we had mortars coming down and were gonna need the building blow to shit by artillery. He came back to me and said that no arty but was sending me two helos to “ fuck their world up and find where the mortars were comin from and endem”. “Roger that kilo one one this is green two two out”. I then told Kendra to monitor the radio and if anyone came on for me to raise me on the team radio. “Roger sarne” now I was getting a bad feeling in my stomach about hearing it. Just then one of the two unknown to me soldiers yelled to me telling me we had a vehicle coming to us. I told him to get Olsen ill take care of this. I put three rounds over the roof they didn’t stop. So I told the other soldier and Kendra that if I didn’t get this asshole to stop with a round or two in the hood to fuck him up when I told him. “Roger sarne” now it made me want to throw up. After I told Kendra the plan I put three into his hood nothing, so I gave the command “FUCK HIS DAY UP”.  After that all three of us just unloaded about 3 magazines each into the car it exploded so big that it blew me off my feet. “Well I guess we know have suicide vehicles comin at us” I said as I was getting back up. Just then the other soldier and Olsen came up. I didn’t even let them speak, “The QRF should be coming anytime now so when they get here you make sure you get them briefed on the situation and get them into a perimeter with extra coverage on the rear and front of our gaggle here”
“Roger that sarne” this time I felt like I had to puke but didn’t knowing that I wouldn’t want to see my leader pucking right in the middle of a fight. Then I went on my team radio.
“Browning I need you to get on the radio and find out where my helos and the QRF is, if both are a few minutes out do what you can to get smith off his ass and get them here five minutes ago” by this point I was using all my senses at once to try to comprehend everything going on. But I wasn’t panicking, which was strange to me.  I think training just took over. It was at this point that I realized again that this was just a dream and that I could wake up at any time. But this was the most exciting thing I have ever experienced dream or not. Just then Kendra came back to me on the radio.
“The Helos are right above us and they will let loose with what ever they got and the QRF is about two minutes away” hearing this I ran to my humvee and garbed the radio and let the helos know what was what. I guess I was still a little deaf from the car exploding because I didn’t even hear the helicopters coming or when I looked up and they were right above us. The choppers put I don’t know how many machine gun rounds and about ten rockets into the small two-story house. After that the house stopped firing at us, so I got the gunners to point their guns different ways to cover the perimeter better. But I kept two on the area where the house once stood. Then the QRF pulled up and Olsen directed them just as I had asked. I was then greeted another friend from training. It was Bickers, but just like smith was a lieutenant in my dream. We shook hands and he asked me if we had wounded. In all the confusion I don’t know if we had anybody so I told him to come with me and we found Olsen. I knew my team had not taking any casualties but I had no idea about Olsen’s unit, he had not told me but I had not asked. When we found him he told us that he had one soldier with a minor gunshot wound. So between the three of us we came up with a plan to just bring everyone back to our FOB and get the man treated since it was the closest base to us. After some time to get everyone lined up we pulled out. As we drove away I told Kendra that I was sorry that I was a little short on the radio and pretty ill tempered. She then told me “that all right everyone becomes an asshole when they get a little rank on them”. We both started laughing, but what stopped us was the IED that went off right next to our humvee on my side. Our vehicle was destroyed but I was the only one wounded. I knew this because I got out of the vehicle and immediately went to check on Kendra and Tom. They found me first Tom just jumped out of the top after it happened and Kendra got out easily since the blast wasn’t on her side. They both gave me a look of shock when I came up to them it was then that a medic ran up to me and laid me down. I was pissed and started yelling at him telling him to check my team first and that I had just ran out of the vehicle to find them, and how I was fine. It was then that I looked at my body for the first time since the blast my whole chest and legs were covered in blood. It turns out I took a lot of shrapnel from the blast. Tom helped hold me still so the medic could work and Kendra was just trying to comfort me. But to no avail because I died right there. The last thing I heard was the medic saying “hes to far gone”. Then my alarm went off; when I got up I was covered in sweat. I went to the shower and just stood there in a state of shock. My first thoughts went to what does this dream mean? I have had dreams in the past where things came true or events in the dream were really close to what happened that gave me the deejay vu feeling. Does this dream mean I am going to die in Iraq? If I am does it mean my friend Tom is going to join the Army and my unit and Kendra is going to be in my unit? What does it all mean? It became very clear to me when I was in class, not listening to the teacher because my thoughts all went to the dream, maybe the conversation when the three of us were under the humvee?
Of course I had been thinking of Sam before I fell asleep and my subconscious told me that it is pretty easy for me to go to Iraq and die without ever knowing if I had a shot. I then decided to no more regrets I was going to actually live my life like there was no tomorrow because for me, even more so then the average person, could be my last. Luckily this realization didn’t have to wait long to become real, because my next class is the one we had together.
When I walked into the class she wasn’t there. I then became a little panicky. Did she drop? Did she get a new boyfriend and missed class to spend time with him? Way is she not here? Then I told my brain to shut the hell up. What was I so worried about class still had time before it started. I have never been much of a worrier but this situation was making me lose my mind and causing my stress level to raise ten fold. Just after this realization she came walking in. My stress went up again mainly because I didn’t know what to say to her. But fate intervened on my behalf. Our teacher was assigning a group project and guess who wound up in a group together, Sam, Brad, and yours truly. This is it my chance. The gods have done something in my favor for once. This will give me a chance to spend time with her out of class with no one else around. After we got a few minutes to exchange contact information we had to go back to normal English class. I don’t think the smile left my face the rest of class, which is a new one for me being it was an English class. Before we left for the day Brad stop Sam and I and asked when we could get started on the project. We figured out that we could spend about an hour and half right now. So we went and found a table in the building and got to work. Well the rest of my group went to work I was trying to be charming and funny. It looked like it was working because I kept getting Sam to laugh. All of a sudden Brad got a phone call and told us he had to go and pick up his little brother. So it was down to Sam and I “working” on the project. She yawned all of a sudden. So I used this as my chance to get the conversation away from the project to casual things. “Long night” I asked.
“Not really just a combination of hunger and boredom” she said.
“Well I know how to fix one of the problems but I did not mean to bore you” I said with a little smile.
“Your not boring, your exciting, this project is boring” she said with the cutest smile I have ever seen.
“Well then I move we adorn for a dinner break” trying my best to make it seem like general concern not asking her out.
“I guess we could take only doing a little bit of work today considering we have three weeks to do this” she said as we packed up. “So where are you taking me on our date”.
I was blown back mentally and physically “is this a date?”
“Well lets see you’re a good looking guy and I look damn good today we are going to be spending a lot of time together in the next couple of weeks, so we might as well make this a weekly or many times a weekly thing” she fired back at me.
Never in my life had I meet anyone who made my head blank without some sort of come back to say. Thinking on my feet is kind of my thing, but with every word she spoke I just kept drawing blanks. But I thought I finally had it, “well since you are a very modest person I guess we could make this a usual thing”. I guess this little bit of fate had turned into someone amazing. After we decided who would drive we got in my truck. “So where to it is ladies choice”.
“How about Philly’s, they have awesome combo sandwiches” she said.
“Philly’s it is” I said being shocked that any women knew about the amazing power of a good combo sandwich. As we drove there we made small stupid talk, we had to talk about music first due to the fact that it was a vehicle so what background noise should we have. Again being the gentleman I am I let it be ladies choice. I handed her my ipod to see if she liked anything on it. She then picked out something that I did not think anyone heard outside the dj community like. She picked out uneasy listening by DJ Z-trip and DJ P. “I love this” she said, this was one of many times that she would surprise me that night.
In my head all I could think is she is perfect. What woman in the world loves Combos and Z-trip how is this possible? We continued to make small talk until we reached Philly’s; we got out and went in. We got to the counter and she started to order.
“Yea hi can I get a large combo wet with a large fry and a large drink”
“Wow make that two,” I said.
“Ok here is your number your food we be out to you shortly,” the clerk told us. We decided to sit outside since it was a beautiful day. Where we made small talk until she brought up the project again. We bounced ideas off each other until we had finished the meal it was then that I noticed it. I noticed it right as she finished the last of her fries. She saw that my mouth was open and asked what I was looking at. I then blurted out the stupidest thing I think I have ever said, “will you marry me”. Hearing this she was blown back just a little bit.
“What are you on drugs?” she said.
“I have never seen any other person let alone a woman eat a large combo and a large fry that officially makes you the perfect women” I replied to her. She then started laughing at me. What planet is she from that she just laughs off that kind of comment? After that we got talking like there was no tomorrow. It was no longer small talk. The conversation turned to what we look for in the opposite sex. After I just basically described her, she asked if someone had told me about the comment she made in class the other day. I had to admit that I had and it was the main reason I was flirting with her. She started laughing a little. “Well that was not the reaction I was looking for but thank you for killing my spirit and then throwing it off a cliff” using my amazing wit as a defensive mechanism.
“I’m sorry I don’t mean to laugh but I cooked that up as a way to get you to ask me out” she told me.
“You know you could of just asked me out yourself, if you didn’t think I had the guts” I said.
“Well that is just weird I couldn’t just come up to you and ask you how would I know if you even had a slight interest in me?” she asked.
“Lets see you are astoundingly gorgeous and from what I have experienced today an equally amazing person so I would have to say who would not be interested in you?” using my sarcasm as usual.
“You know I think that we will have to do this more often because you are the best thing for my self esteem since I got boobs” as she proceeded to grab them. I did my best not to look and was struggling and she knew that because she kept her hands right on them.
“Its ok just look I know you want to” she said as squeezed a little more.
“O thank god I thought I might just pass out if I did not look,” I said as I looked then put my head in both hands and smiled.
“You know I think you might be the goofiest person on the planet,” she said.
“You wanna get out of here and just go somewhere,” I said hoping to maybe just drive for hours and have an amazing conversation with, up to this point, the perfect woman.
“Is this one of those hey you wanna go park somewhere lines from a 50s TV show?” she asked me as we got up, I have to say her quick wit matched my own perfectly.
“No actually I just wondered if you wanted to just drive around for hours and have an amazing conversation about how to solve the worlds problems with the most effective thing ever invented the U.S. Army Military Policemen, but parking somewhere does sound much better” I said as we got into my truck.
“Well I think we should go with what you said”.
“No no no you wanted to park somewhere and get comfortable so lets just do that if my training has taught me anything its that always trust your in stinks and do what you feel is right so to park somewhere it is” as I moved my arms like some kind of battle cry.
“Just shut up and start driving to no where” she said as she laughed a little. Then we did just what we said, drove for hours and did nothing but talk about everything and anything. I do not remember most of what we talked about but it was some kind of strange movie sequence of perfection. All of a sudden my truck started making noise and then I looked at my instrument panel. WE RAN OUT OF GAS. How stupid of me. All I could do is laugh and pull off the road. As I was doing this I looked at the clock, we had been driving around for four and a half hours. “Well I have good news and I have bad news,” I told her.
“Tell me the good news first” she said.
“The problem with the truck is a very easy problem to fix,” I told her.
“So then what is the bad news?” she asked.
“Well to fix the truck we have to get gas and the nearest gas station is about two miles back that way,” I said as I pointed down the road.
“Well then you better get walking so we can get back to my car sometime before we have to wake up” she said.
“Ooohhh no no no I am not leaving you here all alone in the middle of nowhere so deliverance can happen in the modern day” I said.
“Well ok even thought I do like banjos you’ve convinced me,” she said laughing. As we got out of the truck and started walking I did the gentlemen thing and offered her a piggyback ride. “You know I haven’t had a piggyback ride in years and these shoes are not the best for walking,” she said as she jumped on my back.
“Well then away we go,” I said as we started walking. It seemed like it took an hour or two to get there and we talked and joked the whole way. I went in to the gas station got a gas can and filled it up while Sam got us something to drink. Mainly me, being a little tired from the walk but try to be a badass and not show it. We were then about to start our trek back when I asked her,” well time for you to mount up my lady”.
“No that’s ok I think I will try to walk for awhile you seem a little tired” she said.
“Ooohh thank god I’m a little dead from trying to put on a show,” I said laughing. She started laughing. As we made our way back we started talking again about nothing really. Then we got back to the truck filed the tank and drove to the gas station to fill up the rest of the way, us talking all the way. As I finished filling the tank I asked her where she wanted to go now.
“Well I think seeing as I have to be up in six hours and I still have to get to my car and go home I think I should start doing that,” she said.
“I do see some practicality to that,” I said. We drove for actually a short time, because we drove for so long nowhere that we actually ended up close to the school. When we got to her car it was to say very awkward for us. “Well tonight was great I should get your phone number incase I have any project related things or if I need someone to come with me and eat a large combo” I said.
“Yea project or food that’s all its for, well if I don’t have a call tomorrow I will be pretty upset is all I know” she said.
“Well then you should not be upset in the least tomorrow,” I told her. Just then our heads began to move towards one another and we kissed. It seemed like a second or two, and then it ended just as soon as it began. I then did the gentleman thing and opened the door for her and she started her car then rolled her window down. “I will call you tomorrow” I said.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she said with a smile as she drove away. I drove towards my house but had to make a stop first. When I got home I took my dogs out to the backyard and lit the cigar that I had bought on the way home. I don’t know why but smoking a cigar even a cheap gas station one just calms me and makes my world at peace. As I sat on the steps and looked at the stars my mind drifted towards the day and what had happened. I finished my cigar and was going inside when all of a sudden I heard a buzzing sound. It would not stop at first I thought I was something in a passing car but it kept going on and on. Then I woke up to turn off my alarm.