Enchant Me, Please

So I was so unimportant that it never occurred to him to mention me? Well that's fine with me. I never mentioned that I had a younger brother while in boot camp. Actually, I did the exact opposite of what a brother should of done. I said I was the only child.



We had a couple visits today by some soldiers from the army. To be honest, I thought it was pretty cool. I have always wanted to be in the army when I was young. I kinda still want to be in it but eh, I'm not so sure about it this time.

"Listen up. You will go through a couple exercises that these proud soldiers go through everyday. Now, I'm not saying they're going to be easy. And I'm defiantly not saying that we're doing them indoors."

Some kids groaned. Does that mean we're going to go outside? Where its raining? Like in those movies where people look super tired and worn out? Awesome!

The sergeant had us all line up and made us march outside, along with the soldiers but they were up in front with him. The first thing we all noticed was the different things that were set up outside. It really did look like those movies. Everything was muddy and wet. I smiled, excitement seeping through my body. I felt like a rocket about to take off.

"Now, before I let you go practice, I want you all to know. If you break something along the way, suck it up! Now go! Go! Go!!"

Now, if we were somewhere else like in a school or playground, we would all run to where we wanted to go. Here, we needed to march. So that's exactly what we did.

The first thing they made us do was run in place. Isn't this a little to easy? Not until they made us touch our knees while we did that. After a while, I felt a rising pain behind my thigh. Ouch. One of the soldiers must of noticed and explained to all of us.

"You guys must of thought this was going to be easy, huh? Well actually running in place works out your hamstrings, which is the muscle behind your thigh. Do you guys feel a burning there?"

We all nodded. It hurt, a lot.

"That feeling is coming from the fat that you're burning off. Its also working out your hamstrings. The things about the hamstring is that its not just one muscle. Its three. You wouldn't really notice that because they're a big muscle group. Its made up by the biceps femoris, the semitendinosus, and the semimembranosus. But of course for short, we call it the hamstrings."

What the fuck is this guy talking about? All I feel is one muscle. Eh, whatever. It's not like I'm actually going to need to learn this stuff when I'm older anyways.

"Guys, get ready to do some squats. Now squats are very easy. Painful after a while, but very easy. First you need to stand straight up and then bend down, as if you were going to sit down on a chair. Put your arms in front of you to help you see if you're doing them right. If you're hand goes beyond where your toes are when you bend down, then you are not straight enough."

We all looked at the way he was doing it and then tried. It was kinda hard but if they can handle it, then I can too. But wow was that dude right! It hurts!

"In a while, you'll start feeling a sudden pain. This helps work out your quadriceps, which is the giant muscle in front of your hamstrings. Both help you move your knees and obviously your legs but both of them do different things. The hamstrings straighten the knees while the quadriceps bend them.



"Wow I'm poofed out!"

I looked at my new friend, Jakob, and smiled. He had thrown himself on the floor right after the soldiers told us that we were going to have a break. I sat down next to him and sighed.

"That was pretty cool, don't you think Oliver? My mom said it was going to be a bad place here but so far, its awesome. I mean sure it hurts a little bit but exercise hurts even when you're not in camps. At least that's what the soldiers told me."

"I heard it was going to be terrible here too. Maybe its just a way to scare us so we can act good at home."

"Maybe. I miss my mom though. She can be kinda mean sometimes but I miss having her around. Oh and my little sister. I can't believe I miss her. She's always crying and whining and grabbing my toys. Do you have any brothers or sisters Oliver?"

I looked at Jakob. Yah, I have one brother and it was his fault to why I was here. But I'm not going to say that. He's not my brother anymore. Brothers wouldn't do that to other brothers if they really did care for them right? I mean, this place isn't bad but maybe it is later on.

"No, I'm the only child in my house."

"Oh, well that must be very lonely. I know I can't get along with my sister at all but I still need her around so I can have someone to talk to other than my mom. She's always busy so I have my sis."

"I think its...cool...being the only child though. I don't have to deal with annoying brothers or sisters. Your sister sounds nice but I just can't deal having other kids in my house like that."

Why don't I feel bad lying about this? Do I really not like Christopher this much?

"Eh, you never know. Maybe one day you will have a sister or brother and you'll like having them there."

"Maybe..."



I sighed and looked over at Christopher. He was smiling and laughing along with Vicky and Claud. Do I really dislike him as much as I thought I did? I mean, Jakob does have a point even if we were just twelve when we had that conversation. Should I of lied about not having a brother?

Damn these weird feelings!

"Oliver, are you alright?"

I looked over and saw Vicky, standing next to me with concern in her eyes. The other two were still talking happily about who knows what.

"Of course I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well maybe because you're looking at Chris with a sad expression. Look, I'm sure he didn't mean not to mention you to us. It is kinda our fault for not asking. I mean we must be some kind of friends for not asking about his life. Best friends should always ask about that stuff. So please don't get mad at him. And don't be sad."

I looked at Chris and shrugged. I shouldn't even be feeling this. He's the reason why I went to boot camp, right? Right?

"Hey, we bought the tickets for the movie. Are you guys coming or not?"

Vicky and I smiled, well Vicky did, as we walked into the theater. My mind was full of a lot of things right now. I should of stayed home.