WE WILL MISS YOU. (R.I.P)

Linda had a huge smile plastered across her face as she transcended the hills and valleys of her mother land; the place she was born and sworn to protect. The news that she had been accepted to military school excited her beyond measure and she could not keep the bubbly feeling to herself. News travelled like bush fire and the whole village knew she, a woman, was about to report to camp.  So much was said about military academy, the good and the bad, but for her, it was more, something so much more than the pros and cons of being a soldier. Guns and ammunition had always fascinated her and this golden opportunity meant that her dream to protect and fight for her country by hook or crook was about to come to life. Yet another item was struck out of her bucket list. She wanted to do something for human kind, something she would be remembered for, by her family and clans men at least.

Times in the wilderness and foreign lands were not easy. The jungle didn’t care what time of the month it was, whether she took a shower or not or if her nails were manicured. There was simply no special treatment, the key was survival; survival for the fittest as Charles Darwin puts it. She had to survive like her male counterparts. She had to camouflage and morph into something different from who she was. The ambush routines particularly took a toll on her but she knew she had to be fit and alert emotionally, spiritually and physically for her countrymen at all times. Times like those led her into missing her family; she longed to see them, hold them close and be a mother, wife, sister or aunty to them.  Linda pushed away the thoughts of giving up, got accustomed to the jungle and its harsh conditions made her skin tough. She becomes a warrior.

The alarm goes off. She jumps off her sleeping bag, puts on her combat gear, firmly straps her helmet to her head, loads her 13kg rifle and straps more armor onto herself. She is a woman who doesn’t take chance, so she fills her pockets with grenades too. She then steps out into the battle field ready to take down whoever was trying to cause chaos to her motherland. Her country cannot be razed down, at least not under her watch. Every time she went to the war front, she knew she might not come back alive. She knew the odds of getting out alive were pretty slim but she did it anyway. It’s a military thing that she swore an oath to; she swore to do her duties to God and her country and to help other people at all times. She prayed that she gets back home to her family and countrymen but if she came back in a body bag, she would have done her best before God and man.

Linda sees rising dust, a lot of it and the only thing in her mind are bullets; bullets flying all around her. There is a part of her that is convinced that that could be it. So she mumbles a short prayer to God on behalf of the other soldiers and herself. She prays for her sick mother she left behind, she prays for her children and her husband, she also prays for her siblings. She asks God to comfort them so they do not grieve much over her demise, that they should live knowing she died a hero. She also prays for the country men she swore to protect.

Boom! Boom! Bullets strike close to her heart. Her eyes become cloudy, images get blurred and she sees a bright light. The light draws closer and closer. She knows it’s her time to be called home by God, so she smiles. She smiles because she accomplished her mission. Her work on earth is done. Even though she dint win, she knows the other soldiers took them down. She folds her left hand into a fist, places it on the right side of her chest and pulls her gun closer. The last image she sees are sergeants Mathew and Alex giving her first aid, her smile broadens even more knowing she died a hero to them even if the country might not get to hear her name or notice her absence.

She had sworn to come back home alive.