Hello guys and gals. I was a soldier once upon a time, and I deployed to Afghanistan in 2002 and then Iraq in 2003. Inspired by a relationship I had during the Iraqi deployment, I recently wrote the following short story.

I am in the process of revising the sequel (titled: A Million and One Hellos) and I was thinking of possibly expanding the story into a novel. I found this website while researching the development of the girlfriend's character and figured I would share the original short story with you.

On one last note, I wish my girlfriend at the time knew about this support site. I am sure it would have helped her through the obviously difficult months.

Enjoy ;)
Ryan

A Million Goodbyes

***


He was in bed freshly awoken, snuggled under the covers, just like a typical morning, but this morning was different. The blankets began to stir, and her arm came from under them and across his chest. She peeked out from under the covers. Their eyes locked, and they smiled.


The day began just like any other Saturday. They had breakfast, watched a little bit of TV, and relaxed on the couch cuddling under a blanket to keep warm. The day was winding down, and the moment they dreaded was rapidly approaching. It was an awkward, yet familiar feeling. A goodbye for them was just another hello waiting to happen. A million goodbyes for a million and one hellos was what they used to say. He got dressed, grabbed his bags and headed to her car.


It was a short drive, just down to the end of the road. She had only been there once before. The clock in the car read ten p.m. That gave them two hours. They held hands and sat in the empty parking lot looking at the stars. The stars meant something special to her. She told him, that no matter where they were, no matter how far apart they might be, they could look up at the stars and know that the other was looking at the same stars. They sat there in silence as the time passed by.


He started thinking about the day they met. Their first kiss. The awkwardness before the first kiss. That night was a typical night, except there was a little flirtation going on. It was so childish. Though he badly wanted to, he hesitated on making the move. The moment just wasn't right. They sat through a whole date, and then a movie before he had the courage to make the move. When he finally did, it was magical. Her lips so tender, touch so soft. It was a moment he could never forget, and it was going through his mind at that moment.


The clock struck midnight. They promised each other they wouldn't cry, though they both knew that wasn't possible. He leaned over, hugged her and gave her a kiss. It was just as soft and tender as their first kiss, except this time there were tears rolling down their cheeks and onto their lips. He leaned back, stroked her chin ever so gently and leaned in for one last kiss before he exited the car.


He closed the car door, flung his bag over his shoulder and started walking away. He looked over his shoulder and their eyes met for one last time. They tried to smile, but it was hard. He blew a kiss to her and turned back around and kept walking. He wiped away the tears, regained his composure and walked inside the building. He was awaiting his orders to board a plane to Kuwait.


__________________________
p.s. Sorry for the sappy tear jerker of a story.

Oops! It appears that there is a thread for stories. I thought this story would fit into the deployment thread.

I guess it is up to the Admin to move it.

I wish you the best of luck!!! I know more than a few of us have been in that exact moment...

Very pretty. Can't wait to read more. :)

ooo i want to read more very cool!

Im with the other girls, good luck and its was great.

I'm in tears :( Who here can't relate to that painful moment of saying goobye knowing it will be several months before seeing their loved one again...hoping the end of your story brings tears to us as well but in happy tears!

Oh it made me cry! (Not that that's hard these days)

It was very sweet.

I am slowly but surly working on this story. I would like to write the next part of the story focused around the girlfriend and what she is going through. A lady friend of mine agreed to sitting on an interview with me to help me understand what she went through.

Enjoy ;)

A Million Hellos (part 1)


Kuwait. March, 2003.

He watched the sun set across the horizon of the Kuwaiti desert. The sky glowed orange, pink, and purple as the sand swallowed the orange sun. A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead and into his eyes. It was warm there, a lot warmer than he was used to that time of year. He reached into his shirt and pulled out his dog tag chain. On it, he kept a charm she gave him for Valentine's Day. He ran his fingers across the engraving. It read, "I Love You."

He sat there watching the sun disappear thinking of her. He thought of her bright blue eyes. He loved the way she squinted them slightly when she smiled. He thought of her bright smile. She had one of those contagious smiles. When you saw it, you couldn't help but smile back. He thought of her laugh. It was a laugh that tickled his soul. Then he thought of the tear he wiped from her face just days before. It was the tear that he hoped he would never have to see again.

The sky slowly turned from orange to purple. He looked up at the few bright stars. He thought that maybe she would be staring at the stars in a few hours. Maybe glaring at the stars can make the 6,000 miles seem a lot closer than it really was. He felt alone, though there were all of his fellow soldiers just a few hundred feet away in the tent. They spent time away from each other before, but never has their love faced the test of war.

He gathered his composure, tucked away his dog tags, and headed towards the tent. He stepped around a few sleeping bodies as he made his way to his spot. No one had cots yet. They all slept on the ground. He rolled out his sleeping bag wondering how he was going to fall asleep. He took off his boots and shirt and crawled into "bed." He tossed and turned trying to get comfortable, but nothing helped. He tried fluffing up a pile of dirt to use as a pillow. It helped a little.

As he lied there, he thought of the nights he spent with her. The cold nights were the best; they would have to sleep close to keep warm. His thoughts trained off for a while, and he finally drifted off to sleep.

He woke with a deep breath. He sat upright looking around confused to what was going on. He started breathing heavily. His pulse raced. "What was that noise?" he thought. "Was that an explosion?"

Suddenly a siren sounded three short blasts. This siren sent a clear message to him and all the nearby soldiers.

Gas. Gas. Gas.

It was a sound he dreaded hearing outside of training. Instinctively, he closed his eyes, stopped breathing, and pulled his gas mask from its carrier. His heart rate sped up even more. He slapped the gas mask on his face and struggled to get it fastened. His hands were shaking. His palms began to sweat.

For a moment, he thought about what the Army taught him about nerve agents. Nerve agents affect the neurotransmitters that signal the body's muscles to contract and prevent the muscles from relaxing. The initial symptoms are a runny nose and tightness in the chest. Then difficulty breathing sets in. Drooling and nausea soon follow. As the loss of bodily functions continues, the victim will suffocate himself due to convulsive spasms and involuntary vomiting. Thinking of that only made matters worse.

Butterflies fluttered in his stomach. He managed to fasten all the straps. He blew the air he had left in his lungs out and took in a deep breath. The filter to the mask had a small hole, the size of a nickel, to let air in. Oxygen just wasn't coming in fast enough. He felt like he was suffocating. His heart started to beat faster, struggling to get what little oxygen was in his lungs into his blood stream. He took a moment to try and catch his breath.

With his mask finally on, he looked around for his gear and chemical suit. He grabbed them and headed towards a bunker where he would meet with his squad. The hundred yard dash there, to him, felt like a marathon. Already nerve racked and struggling to catch his breath, he was nearly panting by the time he got there.

In the bunker, he struggled putting his chemical protective suit on. His boots got caught up in the pants' legs. He braced up against the wall to get better leverage. His zipper got caught in the fabric. At least it was caught in the fabric and not something else. He struggled for another breath. He put on the coat. Already sweating, he was getting hot and itchy in the suit. He wrestled the rubber over-boots over his combat boots. "Damn friction," he thought. Finally, he slid the rubber gloves on and fastened each snap, button, and zipper.

Isolated in his own world of rubber and charcoal, he looked around at the other soldiers. It looked like a scene from a movie. Not an inch of skin was exposed. He looked at an unknown soldier next to him. His face was covered in rubber. Two large circular eye lenses covered the top half of his face. The filter apparatus covered the bottom. The unknown soldier looked almost alien.

He sat isolated in the bunker, frightened of the unknown, invisible dangers that lurked outside the sanctity of his suit. The only thing he could do was wait. Thoughts of her went through his head.

"Is this how it ends?" he thought. "Will I ever get to see her again? Feel her soft touch? Hear her beautiful voice?"

The Army taught him that his suit was only good for 24 hours in a chemical contaminated area.

"I haven't showered since I been here," he thought. "The Army didn't plan for enough food and drinking water for the soldiers here. How could they possibly have replacement suits for all of us here?"

In his mind, time was ticking down. He had 24 hours left, and he was going to spend it in this dry, hot, sandy pit away from his darling. His senses were heightened, though there was no immediate danger. He felt every drop of sweat roll down his body.

"Was this the end? Am I just prolonging an inevitable, horrible death? Would my fate be drowning in my own vomit?"

He sat in the bunker listening to the Darth Vader-like breaths around him. Memories of her soared through his head. Good ones, bad ones, it didn't matter, as long as they took him away from the desert. He sat there for what, to him, felt like hours just day dreaming of her, counting down to his demise.
...to be continued...

AAHH!! :scared That's great - what happens next??!!

*sniffle*
*sigh*

gosh, I'm such a girl.

hehe, I wish I knew :P

oh im hanging in suspense!!!!!

omg! my heart is pounding..in both parts of that story, i could seen nick...it breaks my heart...