An original story about myself when I was a kid and how the life was when my country was in the middle of war. It's the second series that I am writing, but it focuses on a child living in the midst of war, that's why I called it Between Life & Death. The first series "Rejected Since Childhood" focused on my life at schools with classmates it was written from the first point of view while this one I have written it using the third point of view since I have found it easier to narrate the story.
My motive is not to grow sympathy for me but instead, I am just showing the reality as it is for children whose living with war condition in their countries. Consider circumstances to be even tougher than mine that I have experienced in my life. Hope reader will get out with something to carry on after reading this story.
If you missed the first three chapters you can click here & here & here
The father ranked as a Major in the army. He has a good experience for years practicing to become a soldier that capable to protect his country and the nation. To climb that rank is not easy for everyone. You should be ready for death to catch you anytime even when you are only practicing for real events and not the actual field.
One of the practices was the one where every soldier had to jump from a plane into the river. In their country, they don’t have a sea, but instead, they have a river and that what they used to practice their activity as a group. It was so high above the surface for them to through themselves when the father was still a regular soldier he had to do it. One of his fellow soldiers had to go before him; he stood to face the water above him. He was shaking all over, and his leg couldn't move away from the spot. The commanders said with an angry voice that if he didn't jump into his well; they will push him instead to the river. If you think about it, the way you jump is so important, and it would decide if you would drive the gravity pressure so he will hit the surface of the water just like hitting a wall. If he did it wrongly, he might die or injure himself so badly and might end up with a disability at most.
The guys couldn't afford to be pushed forcefully by commanders and instead decide to throw himself out the plane. The man jumped and wasn't preparing himself physically to land on the water. His body was lying horizontally while falling and unfortunately, his chest opened up because of the pressure that it took from hitting the surface. The guy died immediately on the spot, and no one could do anything about it.
Well, before they figure out what happened to the soldier, the father was the last one to jump. He saw what happened to his fellow soldier and couldn't allow the same scenario to be applied to him. He knows that his body will get injured if he didn't position his falling shape properly to match the speed to the point where he hit the surface. The father placed his hands on his chest and took a deep breath then he jumped. His body was vertically fixed and ready to touch the water just like a bolt that penetrates a target. His landing was a little painful but acceptable and was good enough to reach the ground safely. The shock there was when he saw his fellow soldier floats on the surface with his chest open. It was an unsettled and hurtful moment. It was probably the kind of death that he witness for the first time in this field but the way was still long to learn.
Another practice that been done to them was when they had to fight with a dirty savage female dog. That dog was dirty, and the place that it was in is even more disgusting and full of mud. The men had to enter the cage to bring a package from there and return with it to the commander. There was no way out; it's either you fight the dog or get whipped by the man in charge of the training, so either way, you will end up hurting. The father was standing, and he knew that he should be ready for any sudden attack from the dog. He sneaked little by a little while looking directly into the eyes of the dog. He never let his fears to comes out of hand so that the dog doesn't smell his weakness and attack him. He entered the cage with confident, and the dog was looking straight to him, it even walked toward him as he senses something wrong. In the end, the dad was able to pull the package out of that nasty place. While walking in or out half of your body would be filled with mud, but as long as you are safe, it doesn't matter to you at all. All this training is necessary to soldier to build their strength and capabilities that will be used during the actual war.
Back to reality, right now the army is ready to the war or in another word they should be willing to defend the land. They were traveling within the land from place into another gathering the needed supplies to use in the war.
The fight was a little hard and they enemy is attacking from the sky with planes. The father was placed with his crops in a particular area and ready to shoot those planes. He was able to do so, and he ends up dropping and destroying a couple of them. Then they switched places again and tried to practice shooting with the guns and weapons they had. It was shocking to him since the ammunition was mostly empty or doesn't work. The supplies looked poorly prepared for the army. It sounds like something wrong was going around. The father went to the commanders and addressed the issue in hand, but the response wasn't a pleasant one. It seems like they knew what was happening and they didn't want anyone to complain about it. He was stuck with his thoughts since without supplies how they are going to defend the land and themselves in the first place. In another word, as if they are telling them to go to their death.
The father couldn't know what to do under such a circumstances. The atmosphere was getting more strange with time, and the war has only in its second month. The army was falling behind and losing the fight against the enemy especially when they start dropping soldiers from planes to the roofs of the buildings. It becomes hard for them to defend even themselves as if the whole process was predicted to end up this way. There was a last meeting with the commanders; they were sitting down and talking that the war is meant to end like this with such a poor materials they had. It was said and disappointing to see everything falling in front of their eyes, and they couldn't do a thing about it. Then as the last word to left the army with, the commander said:
"Leave the crop and go back to your family, there won't be anything to be done anymore."
The father understood that they should at least escape reaching their family before they get caught and killed by the enemy. It was a short period, but it was rich with painful moments. Now they had to try surviving the current situation. They know that with such corrupt movement been done their life secretly will be endangered. That's mean the target for the enemy know is to eliminate all soldiers who've participated in the war. So, now other adventures of surviving starts and the father need to find a way for him not to be exposed to the enemy and lose his family.
Thanks for reading :)