Too scared to sleep, she remained
vigilant to any sound, none came. Clandestinely, she peered at the face of her
illuminated watch being sure to keep it covered and out-of-sight of the opening
in front of her. Time ticked ever so slowly. Silence! Save for her cadenced breathing. Quiet!
The night sky mood became a deep
blue-black soft velvet studded with myriad blue-white sparkle diamonds so close
as to be able to reach out and touch them. Ah!
She loved diamonds!
Beautiful! Such an Awesome-wonder world! She vowed to
remain awake but failed her intent.
The soft comfort warmed her, enveloped
her, seduced her. A black hole embraced her spirit.
The sergeant awoke with a start. Her
dreamscape vanished; she was shivering in the freezing cold. Her vacated dream
had been on the Florida beach at her childhood home; she had been basking in
the hot afternoon sun enjoying the pleasant comfort listening to the comforting
surf.
She lay, unmoving, carefully controlling
her breathing, listening intently.
Nothing!
Surreptitiously, the sergeant chanced a glance at her watch. 22:00 hours! Wow! She had slept soundly for over two
hours; couldn’t let that happen, again. Good way to wake up dead.
Surprised that she had allowed herself
to let her guard down, she set aside her self-retribution aside as she realized
she was thirsty---and…suffered hunger pains. Retribution could come later.
Slowly and with deliberate deliverance,
being totally silent, she moved her arm to retrieve her canteen. It sloshed,
slightly, when she removed it from her belt, it was less than half full. The
sergeant grimaced at the slight sound redoubling her efforts at stealth; the
last thing she wanted to do was giveaway her location to any pursuer. Slow! Careful! Quiet!
The cool water soothed her dry throat,
slaked her terrible thirst. Only three small swallows; it might have to last a
very long time. She held the liquid in her mouth, swishing it around, not
swallowing until it had warmed, considerably. The sergeant relaxed, listening,
enjoying the cool relief. Suddenly, she was hungry. Quietly, she fished a
chocolate bar from her fatigues. Good!
The solid chocolate bar was delicious,
she swallowed the first bite without even chewing it; good thing that it was
small; it nearly choked her.; she stifled a cough. A quick slug of water
quelled her choking and she took a deep breath. That slowed her down. She took
careful, small bites and held the delicacy in her mouth, absent chewing, and
allowed the sweetness to melt. Ah!
Suddenly, she realized that she had
“wolfed” down fully half the bar. Well?---Not…”wolfed”.
A flashback to her early childhood days
when she had emptied the scrambled egg bowl when her family had visited her
Dad’s uncle in Tennessee came to mind; she had been only five, at the time. The
aunt was very gracious and simply took the vacant bowl to the kitchen and
whipped up another dozen eggs. How embarrassing! Now, she heard her mother’s
voice, “Don’t ‘wolf’ down your food!” Even in the cool dampness of the rain she
felt her face redden. Damn! Fine thought!
Heather rewrapped the remaining
sustenance and tucked it into a sleeve pocket for later; she tested the volume
in her canteen and noted that it was a little better than half full. Good!
Moving slowly and deliberately so as not
to make any noise that could reveal her position, she carefully took stock of
her provisions and ammunition and ordinance. She had her rifle and five full
magazines of ammo along with four grenades. Quite an arsenal for one little
girl! Also, she checked her vest pocket on her fatigue shirt---Yes! Safe and sound!...Her 3” X 5”
signal mirror.
Hopefully, she would utilize the flasher
come the morning sunrise when she expected rescue
to occur. She resolved to remain awake through the night and perform isometric
exercises tightening and relaxing her muscles to build heat and to remain
silent in the endeavor.
She began to feel better about her
circumstances until she ran out of reasons to not wonder about the rest of her troop. The water rushing in the
valley brought her back to reality, a place she did not want to visit, right
then. She and Revoir had survived the initial attack. Now, the private lay dead
and cold about twenty meters up the side of the opposite rise. The flood waters
below would have picked up and carried away any bodies in the bottom of the
ravine.
She shuddered. No way to know if anyone
else had survived. Just---wait…until morning.
Twenty minutes of silent exercising had
generated a bit of heat within her body. Still cold!
She dared another small bite of
chocolate bar and held it until it completely melted away. That action required
another quick sip of her treasured water reserve, also. Damn! Better slow down!
The sergeant busied herself pushing more
and more sand from beneath her prone body so as to build her little fortress
wall; the work also managed to warm her, a bit, and keep her mind occupied. The
sand behind and under her was still somewhat warm; she had to remain vigilant.
Sometime later, she allowed a glance at
her watch: 03:37! Damn! It’s true:
The night is long!
She tries some more isometrics, holding
the tension longer and longer until a cramp in her calf developed. Finally
relieving it, she concentrated on her sand-moving venture very soon realizing
that there simply was no more surplus of the commodity to work with, she was
down to bare, hard rock. She decided to take a break, listening intently. The
flood in the valley had subsided to only a slight trickle. That’s the desert
thunderstorm, for you, gone as quick as it comes! Silence!
Thunder echoed a
cadenced “thud” in the fog of Sgt. Heather McGonahue’s mind as a bright light
tortured her eyelids. Had she been captured and the enemy was roughly
interrogating her?
The thunder erupted into 5-shot bursts
from a 50-caliber machine gun! Help was
coming!
Fully conscious, all at once, the
sergeant opened her eyes against the risen sun! Three helicopters were above
the horizon to her east; they were sweeping in and raking the rocks above her
with stinging bees-od-death and destruction. She quickly fished out her
signal-mirror to flash. As the flying trio of black rescue angels flashed overhead of her position she caught the door-gunner
in the second ship give her a big “wave”! Rescue!---Redemption!...Salvation!
As the U.S. Army Sergeant clamored from
her fortress, the ships came around and one settled in the now firm sand and
dry river bed at the bottom of the ravine below her as she tried desperately fought
to hold back tears. She triumphantly waved a salute to each of four other
fatigue-clad soldiers as they came out of the rock outcroppings either side of the
valley.
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