Soldier Girl

Catherine Blake, a woman in her thirties who went by her nickname "Cathy", sat in the passenger seat of the green-brown camouflage vehicle that rumbled across the golden sands of Afghanistan's Registan Desert. None of her comrades knew her very well, none of them could bond with her because Cathy was always as cold and distant as the dark side of the moon. Cathy had created this severely negative personality as a self-punishment for the selfish choice she had made when she had turned 18.

When Cathy was growing up, she was forced to bear witness to her father leaving her mother for another woman. The experience caused her beloved mother to become numb, as if her joy had vanished along with her husband. As for Cathy, she began to carry an intense loathing of humanity for the pain her father had caused her mother and herself to bear. Both of them had to contend with a wound of the heart that would never fully heal.

As time went on, Cathy's abhorrence worsened to the point that she began to seethe with cold fury. Her mother could do nothing to help her daughter, for she was entrenched in her sadness. Cathy, no longer able to cope with her mother's suffering and the cruel memories of her home, fled to the nearest Army Recruiting Center the night she turned 18, leaving her poor mother to suffer alone.

As they watched Cathy progress with ease through her training, her commanders rapidly realized that her lack of pity, coupled with her immense hatred of humanity, could turn her into a ruthless killer. Eventually, she became just that, a heartless slayer of her enemies, mainly the terrorist group known as the Taliban. Throughout each gruesome struggle she endured while serving in Afghanistan, Cathy cursed her father for his choices as well as herself for abandoning her mother.

The years of endless fighting continued, and Cathy had to suppress thousands of tears as she watched her comrades die, one by one, their final wails of despair forever echoing through her entire being. But thankfully, after more than a decade of bloodletting and tragedy, Cathy and several other soldiers were, at long last, ordered to return home.

Though she refused to show it, Cathy was very eager to return home, so that she could profusely apologize to her mother for leaving her to fend for herself. Cathy looked out of the window, over the sands of the desert, acknowledging the irony of how she would miss Afghanistan's geography, even after playing a direct role in many of the monstrous battles that had taken place. She could hear her fellow soldiers in the vehicle murmuring excitedly about their return to a loving home. Cathy noted glumly that her return home would contain only more sadness, though hopefully forgiveness would also play a part.

Her daydreaming was interrupted as the vehicle hit a large bump in the road. Before anybody could question what they had hit, Cathy's world suddenly erupted into chaos as roaring flames, the horrific screams of her comrades, and a sudden flash of piercing agony in her abdomen dominated her consciousness. She was sent flying through the air, landing hard on the desert floor.

Cathy groaned and blinked several times, unable to comprehend what had just happened. She attempted to sit up, but the pain in her abdomen stopped her immediately. She looked at her stomach and had to fight the urge to scream as she registered the jagged piece of metal piercing deep into her body, a large piece of shrapnel from the incinerated vehicle. A pool of blood was forming at her side, turning the sand a grim scarlet hue. Cathy looked around her and took in the many charred corpses lying among the rubble of the vehicle. She began to weep bitter tears as it dawned on her that they had gone over a landmine, a trap nobody had expected.

Two twin rivulets of hot tears ran down her cheeks to mingle with the blood-soaked sand as Cathy's emotional barriers shattered away. She sobbed, her chest heaving from agony and sorrow as she became aware that she would now be unable to apologize to her mother for abandoning her. Despite knowing that her efforts would be futile, Cathy stretched out her hand as far as her wound would allow, and began to chant a mantra of grief: "Momma, I'm so sorry." She repeated this as she continued to weep at the injustice of her situation, of her inability to amend the wound of the past. Then, all of a sudden, something appeared before Cathy that made her gasp in shock.

A pillar of pure white light opened up before her, hovering a few feet away from her broken body. Inside, to Cathy's surprise, an image of her mother came into view, the pillar of light fading into an aura that surrounded her form. Her mother looked exactly the way she had the day Cathy had fled the house, tragically beautiful, the effects of her traumatized life evident in the mournful frown she wore. She gazed into the distance, looking to the left of Cathy. Cathy whispered "Momma?" tentatively, not sure if this vision was real. Her mother started in surprise, and slowly turned to behold her daughter's crumpled body, her bleeding stomach. A heart-wrenching scream escaped her mother as she recognized her mortally wounded daughter.

"Oh my God, Cathy what happened to you?" her mother wailed as tears began to pool in the corners of her eyes. Knowing that she had merely seconds left, Cathy told her tearful mother "Momma, I'm so sorry. You were suffering horribly because of Dad, and I selfishly added to your pain by leaving you to deal with your sadness alone." Her mother shook her head hard, tears dancing away and quickly responded "No, no sweetheart, that's not true, I still love you no matter what, and I-" Her Mother gasped in horror as Cathy's body spasmed in severe agony, Cathy wincing as she realized that her time had come. She gazed up into her mother's dreary eyes, told her "I love you, Momma" and collapsed onto the sand, fading into oblivion. The last thing she heard was her mother screaming her daughter's name in despair.

(Meanwhile, thousands of miles away...)

Julia Blake, her withered hand stretched out towards where the vision of her daughter had appeared in her living room, realized with a pang of horror and sorrow that her beloved daughter was now gone, forever. Julia collapsed to the floor in grief and began to whimper "My baby...my baby..." as her tears stained the wood below her. After several long minutes of unending agony, she closed her eyes and felt herself float away, as she died of a broken heart that could no longer cope with the traumatic tale that had been weaved for her. A soft rain slowly began to fall upon the lifeless house, as if Nature herself was mourning the terrible tragedy and the cruel life that Fate had given the two anguished women.