5.12.12 On the Shuttle to Nowheresville

We briefed before takeoff.  Just like in training.

I had never flown before; blood pounded in my head when we lifted.

(I gripped the seat like a kid, I admit).  The cities were tiny lights lost in black.

This was it.  This is what I wanted.  To be a soldier ready to save the world.

A grand adventure.

But now we’ve landed and I see the truth.  It’s barren all around us.  A desert. 

No markings, no life.  I ask myself what exactly am I here for?

This is war, my friends.  Far from home and death my new companion.