Gutsy
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The Frontline Ghost
The Puppy
The Puppy
It was a quiet morning for Captain Peter Henderson, slumbering in his bed next to his comrades in the US Army facility in San Diego. Without a single warning the horn sounded for everyone to get up, in the morning it was the loudest sound you would ever experience, a recruit would eventually become crazy because of the loud noise, but for a seasoned soldier like Peter it was a morning like any other. He quickly got out of the bed like everyone else and suited up for the day, he put on his training outfit and took down the whistle from the hanger next to his bed before he proceeded into the bathroom where he quickly cleaned up and shaved his beard clean off. He then took on his boots and opened the door into the hall where the rest of his platoon was situated. Everyone was standing next to their neatly cleaned bed and they were all wearing their full outfit for the day and their dog tags hanging down on their chest as they wore them proudly. Everyone in the base knew Peter; he was one of the instructors on the US Army base for new recruits, while on the field he was known as Ghost, one of the most efficient Designated Marksmen in the US Army.
Cpt. Henderson: “Alright men, today is your final exam, you will be tested to your utmost and pushed to your limit, from this day forth I will no longer be your platoon commander… You will move on to become a part of the US Army and join the platoon assigned to you…. It has been an honor instructing you on your way, I salute you”
Platoon: “YES SIR!!!”
Cpt. Henderson: “Corporal Jackson! You will be taking command in this final test”
Cpl. Jackson: “Yes sir, will you be observing our test, sir?”
Cpt. Henderson: “I will not be attending your final exam, Corporal, I am going on vacation”
Cpl. Jackson: “Yes sir… Men move out!”
As his former platoon and the new platoon commander, Corporal Jackson moved out, Peter stood in the door watching as they walked down towards the training fields for one last run. This was one of the most successful platoons he had ever trained and he was happy they were finally getting the chance to be full-fledged Army Marines. Peter proceeded to finish his coffee in his office before packing his clothes and took on his ceremonial military outfit and proceeded to walk to the main office to sign out for vacation. Peter took his time on his way, watching the recruits and their instructors doing their daily exercises while the wind was blowing through the trees, the sun was shining bright down on the base while you could hear the shots from various weapons coming down from the shooting range. When Peter finally reached the main building, he walked up the stairs and into the office of his superior, Brigade General Thomas Granger, he was sitting in his leather chair behind his large desk holding a piece of paper in his right hand while wearing his usual round glasses so he could read the letter.
BG. Granger: “Captain Henderson, please enter… your request for a vacation away from the army, it is something rarely seen from you…”
Cpt. Henderson: “I know sir, but now that I have a family, I would like to spend some time with my wife and my daughter”
BG. Granger: “I understand that you wish to be with your family Captain, but seeing the circumstances of our current situation in the Middle East and the hostility from North Korea, we cannot spare many good soldiers…. ”
Cpt. Henderson: “But sir…”
BG. Granger: “Captain let me finish… nevertheless I will grant you a vacation of two weeks with the possibility of an extension if you so wish and if we can allow it”
Cpt. Henderson: “Thank you sir”
BG. Granger: “Now you can stop with the formalities you are on vacation now…. You and I, we used to be good friends why are you not just calling me Tom or Thomas anymore?”
Cpt. Henderson: “Because of your status… you are a Brigade General… we are supposed to do that…. Tom”
BG. Granger: “Is it because of what happened last christmas….”
Peter stopped talking as he looked Thomas straight into the eyes with slight annoyance in his eyes while then grabbing the signed paper and picked up his suitcase and stormed out the door before Thomas could interrupt him. Peter continued down the stairs and walked straight for the gate where he was met by Private Jefferson and Thomasson. They checked his paper and smiled at him before they gave him the regular salute and off Peter went. He went out to his old Mustang which had a faded maroon red color. He angrily opened the door to his car and threw his suitcase on the backseat before turning on the engine which almost sounded like an airplane flying by before he drove off, home towards Point Loma.
When he finally drove through the streets up to his little house with beautiful white walls and a garden filled with flowers which his wife, Jennifer, always took good care of, he could not wait to get inside to see his beautiful wife and his little princess. He let his suitcase with his military uniform stay in the car, as he walked up on the porch to the door and placed his hand on the handle of their dark brown wooden door. But before he could open the door, his nine year old daughter opened the door and jumped right into his arms while yelling and smiling happily to see her dad again after several months, while his wife Jennifer was standing in the doorway leaning against the door with her arms crossed making her breast look bigger while she smiled at him.
Peter: “How is my little princess!!!!”
Melanie: “Daddy daddy daddy!!!! You have to see what I made!!!”
Peter: “Alright alright… but I first have to say hello to your mom, can you run inside and find the thing you want me to see? I will be right there okay”
He put down Melanie after giving her a huge hug and kissing her on the forehead, she ran off into their home as he walked up to his wife smiling. He instinctively placed his arms around her waist while pulling her closer kissing her on her red lips, letting his arms get carried away as they fell down around her butt. She did not stop him at first, but it was in brought daylight and out in the open, she did not want anything to be seen by the neighbors, even though Peter was disappointed at first he knew he could wait. She took his hand and led him into their house where he found Melanie sitting by the table with a bunch of paper and pencils; she had drawn a picture of herself and her family.
Peter: “That’s beautiful you are a real artist”
Peter smiled as he sat down beside her while studying her drawings closely while listening to the TV that was running in the background, it was the news. President Barack Obama was speaking to the nation about the current situation in the Middle East and North Korea. Peter did not care; he was on vacation, now he was going to enjoy the company of his family. Then he suddenly noticed something special in the drawing.
Peter: “What is that?”
Peter asked with great interest while smiling and pointing at what looked like a four legged animal.
Melanie: “Daddy can’t you see that is a dog…”
Peter: “Of course it is a dog… but we don’t have one sweetie”
Melanie: “But mommy said we might get one”
Jennifer came into the living room with three sodas while teasing Peter with her rocking body, in his eyes she looked like a real super model. He watched her as she came closer and leaned over placing the sodas on the table while he could see right into her shirt; she simply smiled and turned her attention to Melanie.
Jennifer: “Sweetie… don’t ruin the surprise for daddy, he loves dogs”
Peter: “So we are getting a dog… did you guys find anyone?”
Jennifer: “We are actually going downtown to one of my friends… she has a dog that just got puppies”
Peter: “Oh my god I am going to act like a real child… I love puppies”
Peter’s eyes were filled with joy knowing they were going to get a dog. Last time he had a dog was almost 5 years ago before he joined the Army, his old friend from home that died just a year after he left.
Peter: “So when are we going”
Jennifer: “Haha Honey, we are leaving in about one hour if you are ready”
Peter: “Of course I am ready, and I bet our little princess will be happy to have a new friend in the house”
Melanie: “Yay mommy can we go now”
Jennifer: “Sweetie, daddy needs to relax for a moment and change before we go…”
Peter: “I will go take a shower and change now and then we can relax for a moment before we leave”
Peter proceeded to walk upstairs leaving his two girls down in the living room. He could not wait to get a little puppy in his arms, so he rushed into the shower throwing his clothes all over the floor, turning on the water, not caring what temperature it was and just jumped in the shower. He finished his shower like if he was in the army, just a few moments and he came out again quickly cleaning his entire body and went into the bedroom finding an old T-shirt from his time in college where he met Jennifer and a pair of jeans and then went downstairs. He sat down beside his wife sitting in the couch while watching Spongebob Squarepants on the TV with Melanie. When it was finally time to leave the house, Peter grabbed Melanie up from the floor, turned off the TV and rushed out to the car placing Melanie on the backseat while Jennifer was still on her way out of the door. The two of them sat in the car both excited singing songs about dogs until Jennifer entered the car.
Peter: Alright honey… lead the way”
Peter gestured out with his arms pointing in many different directions, waiting for Jennifer to respond while he just smiled at her.
Jennifer: “We are going to my friend, Stephanie’s house… you know where it is honey”
Peter: “Sure thing… let’s go!!!”
They drove through the streets of San Diego while listening to some good old rock music from the 80’s and 90’s. All three of them loved rock, which Peter enjoyed very much instead of all that modern music. They drove down a small street filled with beautiful trees and grass, they saw an older couple coming down the street holding hand in hand and further away a man came almost running down the street together with several dogs. They turned onto a small parking place and left the car to walk up to a small wooden house with beautiful flowers in the windows.
They were met by Jennifer’s friend Stephanie in the door while several small puppies came running out through the door jumping up and down on the legs of Peter, Jennifer and Melanie, while sniffing their feet and their tails waving like crazy. Peter and Melanie could not resist crouching down and saying hello to the small puppies. They were all Collies, sweet and beautiful small puppies with brown and white long hair. They played for almost fifteen minutes before they took the puppies inside and sat down in the living room while Melanie ran around playing with the puppies.
Stephanie: “So Peter how is it all going?”
Peter: “Oh you know it’s all well… just got vacation and will return to the Army in about two weeks”
Stephanie: “Wow that’s a short vacation; at least you will have a cute little puppy for Jennifer and Melanie while you’re gone”
Jennifer: “Haha yea… both Melanie and Peter love dogs so I thought it would be a great idea to get one”
Stephanie: “Well you can have anyone you like”
Jennifer: “Great, honey why don’t you go over to Melanie and help her pick one while I talk with Stephanie”
Peter: “Sure thing…”
Peter quickly rushed over to Melanie and the puppies and crouched down together with them and began to chat with Melanie while petting all the sweet little puppies.
Melanie: “Daddy can’t we have two puppies!!!”
Peter: “Now now… we can only pick one… so I will let you choose the one we are going to take home and make part of our family”
Melanie: “Alright daddy….. hm….. What about this one… it’s so sweet!!!”
Peter: “Yea this little guy is very sweet let’s take him… honey I think we made our decision”
Jennifer: “Alright honey I will just finish up then we can leave… you can take the puppy and all the things needed and go to the car, I will be right there”
While Melanie was carrying the puppy, Peter picked up all the puppies toys and different stuff and then walked out to the car together with Melanie and the little puppy. They placed the puppy in the car and rolled down the window while standing outside looking down the street and into the sky.
Peter: “So do you have any idea what name we should give this little guy?”
Melanie: “Daddy I think you should give the dog a name”
Peter: “Are you sure…. I’d like for this little guy to be called Aero…”
Melanie: “That sounds weird daddy… but still its coolio…”
As they stood there Jennifer came walking out seeing them looking through the window on the little puppy, she walked up and slapped Peter on the butt and proceeded to open the door and sit down on the front seat.
Jennifer: “We gotta go honey… I need to get home and make dinner”
Peter: “Alright honey… sweetie can you get in the back seat then we will be going on and you can play all you want with Aero”
Melanie: “Yay!!!!!”
When they finally came home, they quickly went into the house while Jennifer drove off to buy in at the grocery store for dinner. Melanie ran around the house playing with Aero while Peter got everything situated for the puppy, and then he just sat down on the couch while turning on the TV, but before he could even get time to relax the phone rang. He slowly reached for the phone calmly not really in the mood to talk but did it anyways.
Peter: “Yea this is Peter….”
General Shepherd: “This is General Shepherd of the US Army…”
Peter: “Sir why are you calling me?”
General Shepherd: “Captain, I know you just got off on vacation but we have just been informed by the President of the United States that North Korea has bombed one of our facilities in Alaska and they are preparing another offensive towards the United States”
Peter: “WHAT!!!! How did they get past our security system”
General Shepherd: “This doesn’t matter… the President has issued that he will be addressing the nation tomorrow at 02:00 PM and our intel tells us that he will be declaring war on North Korea after this attack”
Peter: “What do you want from me sir?”
General Shepherd: “I want you to return to the army with the effect of immediately… you will be going on a mission to North Korea captain…”
Peter: “Sir when do I report?”
General Shepherd: “Tomorrow evening at 01:00 PM sharp!”
Peter: “Yes sir”
Peter rushed around the house collecting all his needed belongings and his uniform packing everything he had, including a picture of his beautiful daughter and wife and a new photo of their little puppy, Aero. He walked around wondering how he would tell Jennifer what was about to happen and that he was going to go away for an undefined period of time. He sat in the couch holding his head up by his hands while looking at Melanie and Aero thinking about the mission at hand who might become the most terrifying and dangerous mission of his life, it would be nothing like the Middle East. He waited for almost an hour before Jennifer walked through the door with the groceries and the first thing she saw was Peter sitting in the couch tripping while looking at her nervously and almost eager just to run off and not talk about it, and when she noticed the suitcase on the floor fully packed her mood turned completely.
Jennifer: “What the hell is that!!! You have been home for one freaking day!”
Peter: “Honey please… let me explain”
Jennifer: “Alright explain to me… no to your daughter why the hell you are leaving after just one day… you are on vacation!”
Peter: “Honey… General Shepherd called… the President is declaring war on North Korea… they want me to go on a mission”
Jennifer: “Honey I don’t care if he is declaring war, you are my husband and you are on vacation!”
Peter quickly stood up and rushed to her grabbing around her as tears began dripping from her face; he held her close hugging her before he wiped her tears away while looking her into the eyes while smiling.
Peter: “Honey I know you really want me to stay home… but my comrades need me… and if I don’t go I can’t protect what I love most…. You, Melanie the puppy… please let me go….”
Jennifer: “A…. Al… Alright… but please come back alive”
Peter: “I promise you and Melanie that I will not give up until I return… I will not let anything happen to you or Melanie… I won’t let anything happen to myself”
Jennifer: “Su… sure… can you talk to your daughter about it please”
Peter: “Sure I’ll do that”
Peter hugged Jennifer one more time before she walked into the kitchen and began cooking dinner, he knew she was mad and sad that he was going away after just one day, but no one could see it coming that the President would do such a thing out of nowhere. He slowly walked up to Melanie’s room finding her playing around with the puppy.
Peter: “Princess… can we talk”
Melanie: “What is it daddy?”
Peter walked up to Melanie and sat down on the bed with her as she looked at him, and he placed his arm around her while feeling really bad about this, since she had only seen her dad for one day and he was already going away again maybe for months or even years, he did not like the idea at all.
Peter: “Sweetie… I know I have not really been home… but daddy has been called to work and I have to go tomorrow”
Melanie: “but why…. You just got home!”
Peter: “I know it is difficult… but daddy has got to go out and work to help people…. Right… daddy needs to go out and protect the two girls I love right”
Melanie: “I want you home”
Peter: “I know… I promise I won’t be away for long… I’m just taking a little trip to Korea on the other side of the Ocean… I will be right back sweetie”
Melanie: “You promise you will come back?”
Peter: “I promise I will come home, I will come home to you no matter what happens”
Melanie: “Alright daddy…. I wanna be alone a little and play with the puppy”
Peter: “Alright sweetie.. I will go downstairs and talk to mommy”
Peter left the room in silence and walked down the stairs and went straight into the kitchen slowly walking up behind Jennifer wrapping his arms around her waist while having his head bend over her shoulder looking at her in silence for a moment as the food is cooking and she is cleaning the knives. He knew she was mad at him for doing this but he did not really have a choice and knew that he would not get any action tonight or for a long time for that matter, and to top it all off he made his little daughter sad for leaving.
Peter: “Honey… I talked to Melanie… it’s all going to be alright, let’s just have a nice dinner together and we can enjoy our favorite show tonight and relax until tomorrow…. alright”
Jennifer: “Alright… you know you’re going pay for this… Melanie dinner is ready!!!”
Peter gave Jennifer a kiss on her cheek before letting her go and went into the dining room and sat down on one side of the table with Melanie at the end as Jennifer came in with the dinner; nice pork with potatoes and a nice sauce and salad to accompany it. He looked at the food with a slight lust in his eyes but contained it a bit in front of Jennifer while smiling at Melanie.
Peter: “Alright let’s dig in everyone”
Melanie: “Yay I want pork”
Jennifer: “Of course sweetie… here you go”
During the rest of the dinner there was no sound at all except for Melanie singing while eating and the puppy running around on the floor enjoying Melanie’s food as she handed some of it to him, even though she was not supposed to, it was a delicious dinner as always, yet it was uncomfortable after all the commotion in the home. After the dinner Peter put Melanie to sleep in her tiny little bed and kissed her goodnight before he went downstairs to watch an old show from the 70’s, it was their favorite show, That 70’s Show. Peter sat in the couch and even though they had this little fight, Jennifer leaned up on his shoulder and they both laughed their hearts out and enjoying each other’s company for the rest of the evening. After all they still loved each other and they drank some wine and kept watching the show until late after midnight that is when Peter fell asleep on the couch and Jennifer walked upstairs and went to sleep in their bed. Peter began to dream about his return from the war already, to have his wife and baby girl in his arms again when he would return home.
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