The night was growing darker, the wind was getting stronger. The whole atmosphere was cooler. The corporal shivered, She breathed heavily, but as quietly as she could. Then she stopped. She held her breath. Had she given herself away? Someone was coming…
The trees behind her rustled ever so slightly. A twig snapped. Still Sarah didn’t dare breathe. This was it; this was what she’d been waiting for. The last week had been building up to this very moment. She closed her eyes, not willing herself to turn around.
“You ok corporal?” Sarah let out her breath and opened her eyes. She couldn’t believe it, how could she have been so stupid? She should have known I would only be the sergeant checking up on her.
“I’m fine thanks! Has anyone seen anything yet?” She whispered, louder than she should have done, as she was trying to hide her embarrassment,
“No, just a few false alarms. Nothing much, I expect they’ll be here within the hour though!” And with that and a brief ‘Good Luck’ Sergeant Rawden was off, and as she watched him disappear, corporal Brown was left alone with her thoughts once more.
By now the sky was getting close to black, though the moon shone out, like a crystal ball suspended in the sky. The air was still cold, and rain slowly began to make its’ way down to the ground, where it lay in small puddles on the mud.
Sarah’s insides fluttered with anxiety and growing excitement. She’d calmed down and lost worry since the sergeant had been to see her, and was now looking forward to the attack, stupid as that may have sounded to anyone else!
Corporal Brown was beginning to get hungry, so she slowly reached down to her front webbing pouch to get her jelly. Trying to be silent at this point was beyond her, as opening jelly quietly is an impossible task!
Feeling invigorated and even more excited after her snack, Sarah once more dug herself further into the soft round and tried to ignore the pattering of the rain, as it got heavier by the minute. Right now she didn’t care when she was going to be attacked, or whether shed remember what to do, she felt warm inside and a strange feeling of happiness swelled up like a balloon filling with helium!
The corporal scanned her arc, looking for any signs of movement. As she made figure of eights with her eyes, a movement in one of the bushes to her right caught her eye. She focused on the bush. There was definite movement at the bottom. Was it them? It had to be. Isn’t it amazing how quickly feelings can change? The balloon of happiness rapidly deflated! She braced herself. If it was them she’d have to call ‘contact’ so everyone else could help. Was there time? She didn’t know. What ever it was, if it was the enemy, they were getting closer to the front of the bush. Was it??
Then, without warning, but with great rustling from the trees, came… a large flock of birds. Sarah Brown hung her head in shame and unbelief! This was the second time in the past hour that she’d been fooled. Just think, what if she had called ‘contact’? Not only would t have given away their positions if the enemy were near, but she would have looked so stupid in front of everyone! Especially the sergeant!
Breathing a heavy sigh of both relief and shame, Sarah continued to scan her arc. The enemy had to be coming soon. She would be ready. She wasn’t going to fall for anything else. She’d only react to the real thing!
The sky was now pitch black. Thick clouds had covered the moon, so the only thing enabling the young corporal to see and watch for movement, was her night vision! The rain beat down heavier now. Drops the sizes of peas were beginning to fall, and a storm was almost inevitably going to break out. With the temperature somewhat below freezing, Sarah shivered. Her toes were numb and her hair was soaking. She just prayed that the rain wasn’t washing off all her cam-cream, making her too visible. The surroundings made her feel like she was a small child, trapped inside a large black block of ice. But she wasn’t alone in the block, someone was watching her, she felt uncomfortable and vulnerable.
Sarah suddenly stopped in her thoughts. She knew she wasn’t wrong this time. That was the enemy. She could just make out the outlines of one...two, no three peoples faces where their cam cream had run off. She could see them making field signals to each other. No mistakes this time she thought. This was it, the moment of truth. As the enemy drew closer, she took a deep breath, made one last prayer, then shouted the three most important words, ‘Contact, contact, contact!’ This was it, now or never…
The next few moments were a blur. There was a lot of shouting, gun shots every second, and everyone stumbling and falling over one another. Sarah’s mind raced with confusion. Was she doing it right? Would she pass? But she had no time to worry. The interrogation was beginning, and this time she was a victim!
Beeeppp! It was over. End ex! Now she’d done it, it was all over, no second chances now; she’d completed the weekend. Whether she’d passed or not, whether shed demonstrated what she knew and what shed been taught she didn’t know. She’d done it in her mind. She had self-satisfaction. But now she didn’t need worry. She could just go back home, have a bath and sleep!!! She only had two weeks left, and then shed know if she’d done it …
