THE

ARMY

BY: EKHATOR BLESSING

THE ARMY
 “Ha! Ha! Ha!” someone panted heavily while sitting on the
foot of a tree. Eyes darting left and right, right hand on chest
and left palm on mouth trying to be vigilant yet quiet as possible.
The darkness, the trees and the wind all seemed so
terrifying at the moment. Leaves falling down, the wind swaying
the branches of the trees from side to side while the darkness
gave the creep.
Still in the same position as before, a tiny mouse slowly
made its way to the sitting figure at the foot of the tree.
“Aaah!” a loud scream of fear rang throughout the whole
forest arousing the attention of some beasts who seemed to have
been sleeping.
“Ahoooo!” one of the beasts howled loudly calling for the
rest of the pack. And as fast as possible, the beasts ran in the
direction where the scream had come from. The stumping of
their feet shook the forest’s foundation and the thick mahogany
trees were no hindrance to their movements as they crushed
them with ease.
This stampede was a fatal one resulting to the death of so
many creatures. With the speed they ran, anything on their way
got crushed.
“What to do! What to do!” the same voice said in a panic,
hands trembling in terror as the beasts drew nearer. Feet
suddenly went limp for fear had taken away their courage to
move. Eyes spotted some of the beasts coming out from the
camouflage of the trees and soon the beasts had circled their
prey.
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 “Calm down big guys…… aaah!” another scream rang
throughout the forest for the second time in a night, this time not
of fear but of pain.

CHAPTER ONE

June 17th 2076, San Francisco

Walter’s eyes popped open at the sudden noise from an alarm. His still
weak limbs, moved lazily on the bed, begging for more sleep despite already
been inactive for over six hours. He removed the blanket on his body and
cleaned his eyes slowly.
When he finally got up from his bed, he put off the disturbing alarm and
moved over to the curtains to open them. It was a lovely morning. The sun
had risen from its rest and it was now shining in its full glory revealing the
beauty of San Francisco. Despite its increasing population, it still stood a
great city to be in.
“Good morning, San Francisco, I hope you bring the best to me today” he
sighed a little, before moving downstairs.
Downstairs, his mother was busy preparing breakfast. She moved from
one corner of the medium- sized kitchen, to another; removing, adding,
relocating, washing, arranging and carrying different kitchen tools and
ingredients. Indeed, she was multitasking! A pan on a burner suddenly caught
fire. The fire burned brightly from the pan but she did not seem fazed at all
neither did she worry about the meat inside, rather she held the handle of the
pan and shake it expertly. She sprinkled some spices on the meat that was
still in the fire then after some time she put off the gas and the fire stopped.
At the moment, Walter walked into the kitchen with sleepy eyes, he
dragged his feet on the ground and mumbled some words to his mother
which sounded like,

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“Good morning ma”
She looked at her son with one eye while still conscious of the stuff in her
hand. He looked really sleepy and it was as if he was going to fall on the
floor. She dropped all the things in her hand and fetched some water from the
tap and sprinkled it on him.
“Open your eyes!” she exclaimed
“wha…?!” his eyes suddenly opened wider and he was surprised his mother
sprinkled water on him. She placed her two hands on her waist and looked
him in the eye,
“You are going to be late for school again if you don’t move right now!” she
shouted at him so he moved out of the kitchen to get ready for school as his
mother had said.
“What a kid” she mumbled to herself as she watched his tiny figure walk out
of the kitchen “you have fifteen minutes!” she shouted.
Walter on the other hand sighed at her words. His emotion moved from
anger to frustration to pain to anger and then helplessness. He blew the wall
because he felt helpless but nevertheless, he moved on to the bathroom to
brush his teeth.
After several other preparations, he walked to the dining table with a
towel hanging on his waist. His mother had already filled the table with
several dishes; a large seasoned chicken, a bowl of rice, vegetables, stew,
fruits and a jar of juice. His mouth watered at the sight of the dishes, the
chicken’s neck seemed so enticing that he wished he could just dive right in,
until his mother scolded,
“Why are you wrapped in a towel?”
“mom? I’m at home! For goodness sake, I’m not outside”
“but you have to be well dressed at all times! Imagine someone walks in right
now, what would you do?”
“mom, did you forget that they can’t just barge into our house like that? They
have to knock, that’s why there is a door!”
“and so? This is not what’s expected of a perfect model you’ve become!”
“I get the point mom! I’m going to go change now”

THE ARMY
“yes, I’ll appreciate that”
“I get it!” he sighed and then walked upstairs to change into better clothes.
Few moments later, he came downstairs again dressed in a simple shirt and
trouser.
“now you can take your seat” his mother said from a chair.
His mother immediately got up from her chair and served him some of the
food. He began eating but just when the food was getting more interesting,
his mother began,
“there is an upcoming competition happening in America and you are going
to go!”
“but I just went for one last month” Walter replied and arched his right eye
brow
“I know honey, I know it seems too close but when Mr. Wilson talked about
the benefits, I couldn’t decline”
“so you want me to do it only because of the benefits?”
“not really but you know how much I love seeing you raise this family high
with your excellent performances, I want you to keep soaring and making us
proud. So are you willing to go for it?”
“you know I can never turn down your offer”
She smiled happily and then stretched her hand to a nearby table and picked
up a white envelope, she opened it and brought out a white paper,
“I have already helped you fill the form, you just have to sign it” she said and
gave him a pen from her pocket. He sighed the paper while forging a smile
throughout.
“I will submit it to Mr. Wilson once I drop you off at school” she said
happily.

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