Entry #65

War- What Is It Good For
by Sury Narayanan


I lay there on the ground for what seemed like an eternity. Do I still have my legs or are they just paralyzed. I had just landed on a mine and I was thrown 30 feet away. Few would call me lucky for surviving this, but I need more than just luck to get back home and see my wife and my son. I do hope it’s a son. I really cannot remember the last time we both had a pleasant conversation.

God, my whole body hurts like hell. I badly wanted to smoke. Heck, I cannot reach for my backpack to get it. I knew I had to go through all this when I signed up for the Army, but today I would just give ANYTHING to get back home... ALIVE... What a sight it would be to see my wife again, play with my son, teach him baseball and see him become a star just like his father. Please God, please please please take me back to my family.

Every please of mine was punctuated with the sound of a bomb blast some place distant. I was sure I would have some company when I enter hell. Just then I realized something warm near my chest. I could see my shirt slowly drenching with blood.

In a distance above I saw the silhouette of an eagle eagerly waiting to prey on me. I laughed and I said for the last time aloud “WENDY I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED YOU”