Sometimes Repeating Causes Reinventing

One never knows if they will be singled out of something by someone who focuses their sights on them, either by intentional or unintentional means.

Living in the moment, placed in the spotlight and singled out are part of the embarrassment and shame followed by being uncomfortable and anxious. Then the moment becomes seared in the memories of all those who were there when it happened, and the rest of the audience breathed a sigh of relief.

Fear and desperation make getting noticed to be the root of all things that make one become white as a ghost and no less panicked at the very thought of being put in the spot.

John was one such person who at a very young age, was the butt of everyone's jokes and pranks. Having fought alongside most of the eligible men who were of age to fight in a war that no one was willing to participate in. None the less it was a necessity, and many lives were lost due to the insistence of a long-time battle-scarred country, wanting to grow up and take control.

John believed the hype and the propaganda the flowed over the airwaves of his parents Victrola, in his mind raced thoughts of going from a nobody to become a hometown hero, helping one and all who knew him, who had taunted him endlessly, to see John in a different light.

The very idea appealed to John as he looked around, only to see and sadness rushing in to his thoughts like a burglar on the prowl. John felt compelled to do his duty and went to nearest town, 50 miles from Gideon, Kansas, was the town of Ridgewood. It was the closest town that had a recruiting station, more like a mobile bookmobile, with upon John's arrival, he encountered a line of people, who thought like John did.

This was seen as a possibility of not only him becoming a hometown hero, but that was the idea most of those were there, they also wanted to become hometown heroes too. There was evidence that some wanted to impress their girlfriends or wives or parents or friends. It was truly a way to enter into a deal with the devil. The devil would get his due.

As the line moved forward, John walked to the end and stood there, slowly creeping forward, inch by inch, nudge by nudge, until finally he was standing over the table and looking at the man in uniform, a man named Jansen, with what appeared to be some sort of stripes on the sleeve of his jacket. Jansen looked up, staring blankly and yelled over the other people assigned to do the same thing as he was doing, recruiting.

John yelled in reply answering all the questions asked him and before long received a large paper with a tag attached. There were scribbled notes on the sides, and the writing was slightly legible. It seems hard to translate the scribble and the only thing John could read was his signature, which was barely seen.

John went left to a tent, for vaccinations and a physical. The doctors there were cold and calculated. It was like being rushed through to meet a deadline and to make sure that all would be seen or attempted to be seen. John was not sure how to respond to this and was informed he would need to spend the night, that they would start early the next morning, finishing the process as quickly as possible.

John was too anxious or completely prepared. His thoughts raced, his heart pounded and a lump had settled in his throat, like he was guilty of stealing a cherished heirloom, only to make an excuse of his deed if he was indeed caught with it. John was about to fall asleep, when at the crack of dawn, the sun rising above them over the mountains, the bugle placed off key and the many voices announcing "GET UP, GET UP, GET UP!!!!!!" ""TIME TO COMPLETE YOUR DAY WITH SIGNING YOUR LIFE AWAY!!!!!!" John was shoved towards the tent he had been in the day before. He was not even fully awake. John felt a cold hand grab his arm, rub some alcohol on it and the sharp needle piercing that arm.

John had no time to react to the needle nor was expecting the excruciating pain felt afterwards. John was more in shock from the sudden jab, and he became dizzy from all the excitement. His knees became weak and before he could fall to the ground, two people grabbed John and sat him upright in waiting chair. It was that quickly and after being sat down, he leaned forward falling still onto the waiting ground.

John must have blacked out, for what seemed like an eternity, when he woke up was sitting against a tent pole and a doctor was pointing a bright light into his eyes, first the right one then left, repeating the process several times more. John was not sure what was happening nor what had happened. He felt like a victim of circumstance. Felt like he was being considered for an experiment. If he knew the truth about this in reality, then John would have never come here in the first place. To even contemplate a thought of such magnitude would have caused fear to arrive in full force and would have sent John running away before anyone was aware that he had vanished.

John was seeing things that only one who was blindly willing to sacrifice their own lives for the greater good would do when they are barefaced lied to. Minimal information was passed on and most all those who qualified were willing to accept it as truth. John was maybe one of the 100 plus people there mimicking him and he was not upset by it either. John was able to figure out the main idea behind the events that had happened yesterday and the start of today.

Then the vans arrived. Slowly at first, then the numbers grew and the people exiting the vans were many in number as well. The people were rounded up, placed in groups of 20 or more, doors shutting and then the vans disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. The only one left was John. Looking around at the area and seeing nothing but an open field for miles in all directions. He shuffled slowly and was about to trip on an obscure tree stump.

John was in shock again and as he screamed, rose up and realized this was all a very bad dream, this had been more than his mind could absorb and John then fell back onto his bed, his head hitting the pillow.

John woke up a second time feeling restrained and unable to move seeing tubes and needles extending from his arms and legs. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry for help, but help would never come. He was delusional and not able to understand what had happened. Then the room shook violently with a force of an 8.5 earthquake and John along with his bed fell through the opening in the floor made by the earthquake, landing safely back in his own bed in his own bedroom.

This was something no one needed to know about and if told no one would believe John anyway. "Or would they?"

The world may never know the truth, since the world he lived in was a world of lies and nothing was known to be honest anymore anyway, why start now?