I deployed at 1100 hours, and as the base disappeared from sight I wondered if I would see it again. I found my thoughts drifting to my loved ones as the vehicle moved along the road, those for which I deployed today; Those people for whom I rode into battle. Would they appreciate my efforts, indeed, would they appreciate my sacrifice? I had to think yes was the answer, otherwise what hope was there.
I focused my mind, pulling my energy within and aimed it towards the task at hand and the inevitable clash that would come; Deploying in this environment without focus and firm resolve was a fools errand, and dangerous. I looked out the window of the vehicle, my eyes squinting in the bright sunlight despite my dark Oakley sun glasses, and turned my mind to battle...
...That was a couple hours ago as I left my office. I was on my way to enter the fray that is Christmas Shopping in Rundle Mall, the retail centre of the city in which I live. Based on previous experiences I had expected to drop into a nightmarish battle of shopper versus shopper, an obscene cacophony of noise, in which it was extremely likely I would not survive...But survive I have.
I'm sitting at a caf茅 right now, sipping an iced coffee and I've just finished consuming a tasty chicken, cheese, avocado and sun-dried tomato toasted sandwich. That's not your typical battlefield food of course. I'm watching the other shopping-combatants scurry about and decided to do a live action for you. It's all rather civilised, and nothing like the hellish, chaotic field of battle I had expected to be inserted into. I haven't even had to kill anyone.
I'm here to finalise the last of my Christmas shopping, the last thing for Faith, my wife...I decided lingerie was the right thing to get so I spent a little money on some thin and filmy fabric held together by string - She'll probably think it's uncomfortable which, I suspect, is Victoria's Secret, that is to say, "this shit is so uncomfortable! Our friend Victoria needs to keep that a secret or no one will buy it though! Still, uncomfortable or not, it'll look good. 馃槈
Not your typical battlefield.
I picked up a couple of fragrant body sprays from Victoria's Secret also and whilst being in a store full of stuff for women makes me feel uncomfortable, it certainly wasn't the battlefield I'd expected. To the contrary in fact, it smelt nice in there and the staff were...Friendly.
A mate of mine met me for lunch which was cool but she's gone back to work now. I'm just finishing up here and will do the same; I'll leave feeling fortunate my deployment went smoothly, and that I survived it. This doesn't mean my ordeal is over though...Now I have to wrap up the gifts I bought today and over the last week...I've been putting off that nightmare for a while...Trust me, gift wrapping is not my best skill.
Have y'all finished your Christmas shopping yet? Have you even started? It's all very commercialised these days, Christmas I mean, and we normally don't buy into it but this year we decided to. How about you? Tell me about your Christmas shopping deployments.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.
Be well
Discord: galenkp#9209
