Slice of life: The Resurrection
© 2008. All rights reserved.
IT WAS FINALLY here - the moment he had been waiting for his whole life. He had been through this very instance a million times in his head but hardly ever had he gone through the kind of jitters that were plaguing him now. It was as if a million butterflies were laying a million more caterpillars in his hungry stomach. It had been a long and weary day out in the merciless sun yet he was finding ways to keep himself focussed
The buzz of a noisy mosquito snapped him out of his reverie as he proceeded to ensure his gun was functioning and ready. He looked at it in pure admiration – an emotion that almost brought tears to his eyes. His thoughts went back to his village. He thought of his mother who had nurtured him with so much love and care. He remembered his friends who had always believed in him. He fondly saw his childhood love, draped in rustic ornaments and a shocking orange flower behind her loose strand of hair, smiling back at him and wishing him good luck with a mischievous wink.
‘Hey! Lost in dreams already, brother?’ said his partner who lay a couple of feet away from him with a similar looking gun in hand.
‘What?’
‘The bullets will fly any minute now, brother. Keep your head in else the captain will definitely lose it! Think patriotic thoughts only!’ said his partner whose face was smeared with camouflage and grease.
‘Yes…yes…I am ready…’ he responded straightening his position and taking aim.
‘We have to listen to the captain’s orders. Once he says ‘Fire!’…we go in…’ murmured his partner as he took aim at some swaying trees in the distance.
The following couple of seconds were devastating. There was a deafening explosion just a few meters away from where the men were, sending rockets of flying metal all over their uniforms. He shook off the smoldering debris and just like that he knew – it was here.
‘FIRE!’ rang out a high pitched shrill as clouds of smoke obstructed his vision. Without a choice he ran into the smoky curtains wrapped in intense heat with his gun set to roar.
‘Careful! Watch out!’ yelled someone as he swung around and sprayed bullets towards an approaching soldier. But before he had the chance to duck out of the way, the soldier had returned the favor. It felt like a thousand pinches at once – excruciatingly painful for a second but then followed by the vanishing ache. He fell on his back as his helmet came loose and bright red spots appeared all over his chest and stomach. A thunderstorm of more gunfire continued in the background and around him as he lay there still – with a wide grin receding from his fading face.
And then there was silence. It was as if all that had been one long nightmare. But to him it had been the most peaceful sleep he had ever been part of. He would have probably been there a few more minutes had his partner not come over and whispered in his ear ‘Fine fine…you did a wonderful job. I am sure your people back home won’t miss your seven second debut appearance in this cheap B-grade movie. Now get up and get ready. We are shooting at the next studio in an hour. We get to play construction workers this time. Who knows, you might even get to say a line if we are early!’
..ShaKri..
© 2008. All rights reserved.
IT WAS FINALLY here - the moment he had been waiting for his whole life. He had been through this very instance a million times in his head but hardly ever had he gone through the kind of jitters that were plaguing him now. It was as if a million butterflies were laying a million more caterpillars in his hungry stomach. It had been a long and weary day out in the merciless sun yet he was finding ways to keep himself focussed
The buzz of a noisy mosquito snapped him out of his reverie as he proceeded to ensure his gun was functioning and ready. He looked at it in pure admiration – an emotion that almost brought tears to his eyes. His thoughts went back to his village. He thought of his mother who had nurtured him with so much love and care. He remembered his friends who had always believed in him. He fondly saw his childhood love, draped in rustic ornaments and a shocking orange flower behind her loose strand of hair, smiling back at him and wishing him good luck with a mischievous wink.
‘Hey! Lost in dreams already, brother?’ said his partner who lay a couple of feet away from him with a similar looking gun in hand.
‘What?’
‘The bullets will fly any minute now, brother. Keep your head in else the captain will definitely lose it! Think patriotic thoughts only!’ said his partner whose face was smeared with camouflage and grease.
‘Yes…yes…I am ready…’ he responded straightening his position and taking aim.
‘We have to listen to the captain’s orders. Once he says ‘Fire!’…we go in…’ murmured his partner as he took aim at some swaying trees in the distance.
The following couple of seconds were devastating. There was a deafening explosion just a few meters away from where the men were, sending rockets of flying metal all over their uniforms. He shook off the smoldering debris and just like that he knew – it was here.
‘FIRE!’ rang out a high pitched shrill as clouds of smoke obstructed his vision. Without a choice he ran into the smoky curtains wrapped in intense heat with his gun set to roar.
‘Careful! Watch out!’ yelled someone as he swung around and sprayed bullets towards an approaching soldier. But before he had the chance to duck out of the way, the soldier had returned the favor. It felt like a thousand pinches at once – excruciatingly painful for a second but then followed by the vanishing ache. He fell on his back as his helmet came loose and bright red spots appeared all over his chest and stomach. A thunderstorm of more gunfire continued in the background and around him as he lay there still – with a wide grin receding from his fading face.
And then there was silence. It was as if all that had been one long nightmare. But to him it had been the most peaceful sleep he had ever been part of. He would have probably been there a few more minutes had his partner not come over and whispered in his ear ‘Fine fine…you did a wonderful job. I am sure your people back home won’t miss your seven second debut appearance in this cheap B-grade movie. Now get up and get ready. We are shooting at the next studio in an hour. We get to play construction workers this time. Who knows, you might even get to say a line if we are early!’
..ShaKri..
2 reflections:
It was a pradigm shift at the end of the story.
Nice story.
:)
@Innocent Warrior
Thank you. :) Good to see you back.
Cheers,
SK
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