"corporal Makee!"
this is how i got my limp and sent home from the war in iraq.
my ears were ringing, my whole body hurt, it hurt to breath, my leg above the knee felt warm.something was tapping my foot, i tried to move away from it but it hurt too much. i could hear voices and then someone started to tap on my helmet.
"corporal Mackee!" it was my sargent, i could see his mule face and ears through my blurry vision "get your goddamned horse head in gear and move!"
"My whole body hurts sarge!" i gurgled and tried to sit up.
"You took a damn door off a damn hummvee when it exploded! its a wonder your alive!" my sargent said and pulled me to my feet by the front of my uniform.As soon as i got to my feet my left leg went numb and i fell again, i looked down at my leg and saw three jagged shards of metal sticking out.
"sarge!" i said getting worried now "look at my leg!" panic hit and i got that funny feeling in my gut as panic and the pain mixed.
"shit" my sarge mumbled under his breath and hauled off and punched me.
I woke up in a hospital with my leg bandaged and a letter that told me i was going home.A heartwarming feeling since i haden't been home in six years. It was also a saddening feeling since i had watched my friends die and in some cases blown up right next to me.i was also going to be leaveing the handful of friends that i still had behind.
My brother was silent as he drove me home from the airport, which was about a four hour drive from our tiny home town.It was good to be home but the events of that day kept playing over and over in my mind and everytime a car got to close to us on the highway i tensed up.i was looking for the same things i was told to look for in iraq.there weren't any.
Home was a cheery log home nestled in the valley with barns and out buildings surrounding it.the place looked the same as it did six years ago.when we pulled up i tried to be tough as i limped with crutches towards the house, mom was crying as she emerged from the house and dad followed, his pipe falling from his mouth.
It was one of those "i haven't seen you in six years and now this?" mixed with "holy shit you almost died!" and "i guess you home to stay now?" moments.i almost cried, i choked up, there was a time that i didn't think i'd make it back to the ranch.
My room was untouched, literally, there must have been three inches of dust on everything from my bed to my guns.heck, no one had touched my guns in six years! i wondered if they would still work! Then i saw the picture of jessica and i, god she was hot in that picture with her jeans and western shirt on.Her long black hair and her long black tail.she was a dazzleing black and white paint, very refined and athletic.she was the opposite of me in more ways than one, she was tall and athletic, i'm short and tire easy after a quick burst, she was black and white and i'm brown and white.she was pretty and i'm all scared up from the hard life.
I put her picture in my dresser drawer so it wouldn't depress me more, she had married the town deputy zeke, a tall, skinny, weak guy with bad teeth and a tangled rats nest for a tail about a year ago.
I looked out the window towards the west and watched the sun set and though about how sane and safe civilian life is.