The Last Grain of SandA Story by C-Trainer
Previous Version This is a previous version of The Last Grain of Sand. The Last Grain of Sand by Craig Trainer I
never thought that this would be the way that it would end for me. Two tours in Iraq, a car accident, and this is the way I go out? Today was supposed to be a welcome
home, relaxing, fresh start to a new life, not the end of it. I don't know if it's because I have
been close to death for a big chunk of my life, but I'm not even afraid. Even through the crushing pain, and
darkness closing in, all I can think about is how this will be affecting my
family and my friends that came to enjoy this day. My mom and dad were afraid that they were going to lose me
on a battlefield in some s**t hole third world country. Instead, they get to watch as it
happens in front of them, here at home on Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. It's ironic that this is happening on
the Cape Fear Coast, because fear is all that anyone on that beach will
remember. *** "So
where exactly are we goin’ bro?"
I asked. "We're
goin’ to get some weed, then to the party at Annalise's house," Marc
replied. "Is
that the girl with the big tittes you've been talkin' to dude?" Chris asked from the back seat. "Yeah,
but you better cut that s**t out Chris, can't be talkin' like that around
her," Marc said, turning around to smack Chris in the head. I
started laughing as my two friends slapped each other like little girls. I felt
my right eye start squinting like a bright light was shining in it, so I turned
to see what it was. "Oh
s**t!" I screamed. Marc
whipped his head around and saw what had caught my attention. A truck was flying through the
intersection that we were about to cross.
The brakes screeched louder than the bass was bumping, as Marc locked
them up an turned the wheel to avoid an accident. The rear of the car began to slide out to the side and we
were drifting through the intersection like a car from The Fast and the
Furious. We missed the truck, but
we were still headed toward a telephone pole. Marc turned the wheel, lost control and hit the cable
support on the pole. The car
somersaulted through the cornfield like a gymnast doing a floor routine and
crushing like a soda can on every flip.
Inside, the three of us were screaming like adolescent teenage girls
watching a horror movie, and then it was quiet. The
car had finally come to a stop upside down in the cornfield, and the only noise
was made by the smoking engine, and the glass falling around us, sounded like
gum balls bouncing off a tile floor.
I couldn't see either one of my friends, and began feeling for my seatbelt
buckle. I tried calling their
name, but nothing came out of my mouth, I could barely even open it. My fingers stumbled across the buckle
release, and i fell painfully to the roof of the car, and began crawling to the
opening where the windshield should have been. I don't know how I was even moving, I could feel that my
head was cut open an bleeding badly, and some bones had to be broken. It must have been the adrenaline that
helped me get out of the car, or the fear of not being able to find my friends. I pulled myself from the wreckage, and
with the last remaining ounce of energy left in me, I stood up to the best of
my ability. There they were, I
could see my friends, and after seeing them, I wish I hadn't. Marc
was a bloody mess, sitting up next to the car, throwing up. his right arm was hanging, clearly
broken, and was profusely bleeding out of his face. In the close distance, I saw Chris. Even through the blood in my eye and
the dizzy aftermath of the crash, I knew I was looking at his lifeless
body. I took a half-step in his
direction to see if there was anything that I could do. The next thing I remember is blackness. A mixture of sounds were the only thing
I could hear, nothing was clear, it was like having six radios on different stations
all playing at the same time. Voices,
traffic, sirens, different speeds of footfall, and a loud chopping noise all
made up the unrecognizable soundtrack in my ears, which was the only sense out
of the five that was working. Every time my eyes opened, it looked like someone
had thrown a flash grenade; everything was blurry and distorted, which made me
nauseous. The
next time I opened my eyes, I was staring at my feet, and was hooked up to a
bunch of wires. "Where
am I?" I asked myself. "New
Hanover Hospital," a voice said from across the room. "Marc?,
Is that you," I asked. "No
sir, Mr. Hunter, I'm one of the nurses taking care of you," he said. "Where
are my friends?" "I
am sorry to inform you that one didn't survive the accident, and the other is a
few rooms away. He has been placed
into a medically induced coma to save his life," he said. I
couldn't handle what I was hearing, and instantly began crying. The nurse stepped out of the room after
saying something I couldn't hear over my sobbing. It's crazy how fast your whole life can change in an
instance. As I laid in the bed,
all I could think about was how one of my good friends was dead, and the other
was in a coma. I also wondered
what effect this would have on my future, I had just signed a contract with the
Army, and I didn't want to be discharged before I even entered. The doctor came in and he explained the
extent of my injuries. "Damien,"
he said, "I don't need to tell you how lucky you are do I," he asked
me. I shook my head no as I
whipped the remnants of the tears off of my cheek. "Your injuries are minor for the type of accident you
were in. You have two severely
sprained ankles, three cracked ribs on your left side, and twenty-seven
stitches on your forehead. We
still have to do another CAT scan, as we monitor you for a concussion," he
continued. He kept talking, but my
mind tuned him out thinking about how lucky I was. As his mouth stopped moving, my family came into the room. "Damien!" My little sister screamed in excitement
to see that I was awake. "Can
I touch you? I want to give you a
hug." "Yeah,
come on up here Cam." Camryn
came up and gave me a light hug, laid down and took the remote and turned on
Hannah Montana, or something like that.
My parents came over and kissed me on the head. I was happy to see them, but all I
wanted to do was to see my friend, talk to him, and tell him to wake up. Marc is practically my brother, he is
my best friend, and I would trade anything in the world to switch places with
him. We did everything together,
if one of us got in trouble, you could bet that so was the other. We have taken blame for each other, got
into fights for each other, and have always been there when the other needed
it. And now, he was laying
comatose in a bed down the hall, and there wasn't a damn thing that I could do. "Can
someone get my man nurse," I asked. "Why!
What's wrong," my mom answered worried. "Nothing,
I need to ask him a question." "Sure
thing pal," my dad said, and went to go find him. Camryn
and my mom looked at me, waiting for me to say why I wanted the nurse. My dad came back in and told me that he
would be in the room in just a bit.
There was so much tension in the room, I felt like I could pull the IV
needle out of my arm and use it to cut the tension. Man nurse entered the room and finally spoke the first words
and ended the deafening silence. "What
can I get for you, Damien," he asked. "I
wanted to know if I could go see my friend, I know you said my ankles were
pretty torn up, so if I could get a ride on a wheelchair or something, I really
want to see how he is doing." "Let
me check with your doctor, but I don't see why that would be a problem,"
he said and walked out of the room. "Has
anyone gotten his name?" Everyone
looked around the room at each other, then we all started to laugh because not
one of us knew his name. Laughing
made me remember that my ribs were broken, as the pain shot through my entire
body. *** I
had forgotten how much broken ribs hurt.
It sucks the life out of you that's for sure. I have been a fighter my whole life, but I quickly came to
the realization that fighting will do nothing but kill me faster. And with the condition my ribs are in
at the moment, I can barely even move.
All I can do is stare through the eye and into the soul of the
blackness, as it pulls me deeper into the darkness. Being
in pain is one thing, but being helpless and in pain is so much worse. I feel like Marc's car, being crushed,
and the more I move, the faster the life is draining. *** Pieces
of hot metal, and an orange ball of fire came hurling toward the station that
Marc, Reaper, and I were in. A
thunderous bang rumbled and shook the surrounding area. We all dove to find some sort of cover
until the fireball was gone. We
grabbed our weapons and ran out to see what the commotion was. "What
the f**k just happened," Reaper yelled across the alley to the rest of our
squad. "Road
side bomb, keep eyes out," someone yelled back. I
looked back to see where Marc was.
He was holding on to his chest, and breathing heavily. "You
good?" "Man,
every time one of those god damn things go off this close to us, all my scars
from the accident start hurting," he said. "Damn
dude, don't scare me like that, I thought you got hit," I said,
"Man-up b***h, we got a job to do," I said to him jokingly. I
was scared shitless, and having my best friend there definitely helped me
mentally. Plus, we have both been
so close to death that could it really happen again? I knew I needed to stay focused, but my mind was wandering
off until Reaper's voice cut in. "…..back,…down,
get the ….. move," he was screaming, but I couldn't make out what he was
saying. I looked up over my cover,
there were three rapidly moving vehicles approaching our location. Reaper was sprinting and waving his
hands for us to fall back and get to cover. I was like a moth to a flame, my eyes were glued to what
they were seeing. The dirt in
front of me started having small explosions, as everything slowed down in my
brain. A hand grabbed the back of
my flak jacket pulling me to the ground. "Mother
f****r are you stupid?" Marc
was yelling, "get to f*****g cover, the s**t is on." It
finally hit me what was going on.
We grabbed our guns and headed for the buildings. Their bullets danced around our feet as
we dove into the building.
Explosions were rapid, and getting closer to where we were. Our sides M-16's and M-4's began
spitting back at the attackers. "Hunter,
Collins, get over here!"
Captain Price yelled.
"Rally up with Stevens and flank these a******s. We'll be covering you from the
rooftops, drawing their fire. Get
it down, now!" We
ran to meet Stevens in the back alley.
My heart was thumping heavily.
Marc and I bumped heads like we always did before going into a fire
fight situation. "You
ready for this s**t," he asked me. "You
bet your a*s, buddy," I said. We
ran down the alley like kids on Christmas morning with nervous anticipation of
what we were about to find. My
right index finger was itching, and the trigger was its scratching post. We heard our boys on the roof beginning
to lay down cover fire as we rounded the back of the building. Stevens rounded the corner first, and
fell back immediately after the sound of two pops. They were anticipating us flanking them. "Stevens'
down," Marc yelled. "I'll
flash-n-grab, you hit 'em." He
nodded. I ran up to where Stevens
was lying, tossed a flash grenade around the corner and heard our targets
yelling to each other. I pulled
Stevens out of harms way and began to check him out. He grabbed my hand and started talking with blood bubbling
up and splashing out of his mouth.
Marc was screaming like a wild man as he picked off the retreating
Taliban soldiers. "Hunter…"
Stevens said through a bloody cough, " … make sure… make sure they know…
my parents, I died … brave." "You
ain't gonna die Stevens, you're gonna be fine damnit! Stevens.
Stevens!" He died
holding my hand. "God damn
it, I'm gonna kill you mother fuckers!" "I
already did, now let's go we got a job to finish," Marc said. We
closed Stevens’ eyes, and then continued on our mission. Gunfire and explosions filled the sound
waves as we began to get into position.
The Taliban soldiers began getting back into their vehicles to retreat,
we began picking them off. Screams
of confusion began coming from their way.
Shouts of "Die" were coming from ours. Machine gun fire from the rooftops left
a trail down the dirt road hitting one of their jeeps, setting the engine on
fire. Their return fire began to
die down as we kept picking them off until it was quiet. An eternity that lasted only a few
minutes went by before we were given the signal to return back to the
squad. Marc
and I started back when I saw a trail of smoke headed our way. Everything slowed down, and the grenade
seemed to be stalking me, like a shark does its prey, as it was propelling
uphill toward me. I could see it
rotating, trying its hardest to stay in a straight line. I
turned to scream to Marc, "RPG!
Get dow…." The
rocket missed us by about fifteen yards, but the explosion was massive. My body was thrown up into the air and
back a few yards, hitting the ground hard and in an awkward fashion. Pain, was all I could feel down the
right side of my body. Shrapnel
tattooed my arm as I covered my face while yelling to Marc. Laying on the hot desert sand injured
and screaming, at least I think I was, the explosion made me lose my hearing
temporarily. I began to bargain
with God. The thing was, I was a
non-believer at the start of the war, now there I was, begging him to spare
me. Marc came running up to me, I
could see his mouth moving, but all I could hear was an extremely high-pitched
ring, it was the worst sound that had ever entered my ears. I didn’t stay conscious for much
longer. When
I opened my eyes, I was staring up at the ceiling, hooked up to a bunch of
wires. “Again,
really? I gotta stop making a
habit out of this,” was all I could say as once again I awoke in a
hospital. Except this time, my
little sister wasn’t going to be running through my door and turning on her
favorite Disney Channel character’s show.
My parents weren’t going to be there to reassure me that I was going to
be fine. I was left in the
scariest place in the world, alone in my own head. Thinking about how close I have came to death and how I was
still alive. Why am I still here? I guess I am just lucky. I
was discharged from active service not too much after that. My 4 years were almost up at the time
of the accident. They sent me to a
base in Germany where I did my rehabilitation from the RPG injuries. I had surgery to remove the shrapnel
from the right side of my body, mostly from my arm and leg. I also had broken my leg when I hit the
ground, and the put screws in it, which was the reason for needing the rehab. I
stayed in Germany until my time was finished, and Marc and I traveled home
together. A lot about us had
changed, witnessing some good friends die, and seeing a lot of other things
that will leave a haunting image in our brains, forever. Through it all though, we were still
best friends, and we were finally going home. “Yo
buddy, my parents want to have a welcome party for us at our house in
Wrightsville, you down?” “Yeah
man, sounds good to me,” he said, then did his ‘I’m going to a part’
dance. “When are they planning to
have it, you know were gonna need a few days to adjust to being back home an
all.” “Um,
Sunday the 24th I think she said.” “I’m
there man, It’ll be a start to a new life.” “A
start to a new life, I like the sound of that,” I said and went into la-la land
thinking about what my new life would consist of. We
got home and were greeted by our family and friends. Got to tell all of the stories we were allowed to talk
about, and relive some terrible events in the process. Talking about how my parent’s biggest
fear almost became a reality was hard for me to talk about, especially with
them all sitting in the same room, eyes on me. A
week had gone by, and I didn’t think adjusting to be home would be as difficult
as it was panning out to be. Marc
was telling me how he was having the same problems, but how we were looking
forward to our party. “You
have no idea how much I’m looking forward to tomorrow man,” he said, “I’m tired
of answering questions about what it was like, and how many people I killed and
s**t.” “Same
here man, I don’t wanna talk about that s**t anymore, it doesn’t have a chance
to go away when I’m always talking about it,” I said. “Oh
dude, guess who called me the other night, and who I’m bringing to the party?” “No
clue?” “Remember
Annalise?” “Yeah,
she’s the one with the big t*****s, right?” “Ha,
dude, that’s not funny either, but yeah, she wants to start hanging out an
s**t, I guess I’m finally getting a chance since that stupid accident messed it
up the first time,” he said with an excited tone in his voice. “That’s
cool man, I’m happy for you, but yo, I gotta do some s**t before tomorrow, so
I’ll see you then.” “Definitely
D, see you tomorrow.” I
spent the rest of the night thinking about what I wanted to do with the rest of
my life. I didn’t really have
anyone I could see getting into a relationship with, or what kind of career I
wanted to get into. Oh screw it, it can wait ‘till after
tomorrow. Finally,
our ‘New Life’ party, as Marc and I have been calling it, was finally
here. Our parents didn’t want us
to get there until they had everything set up and ready to go. We spent the morning playing X-box 360
and bullshitting like we usually did.
Marc talked about how he thinks he could have something with Annalise,
and how excited he was about that.
My
parents called and let us know to be there at 3:30. We got our stuff together and headed up to the beach. No one had really seen the scars I had
gotten from getting blown up. I
know Cam is going to get upset, she hates when I get hurt, and even though I am
fine now, she will still cry. My
mom will get upset about it too when she actually sees all of it. But none of that will keep me from
enjoying the day. It’s an
87-degree day, the sun is bright, and my friends and family are all going to be
there, how bad could it be? We
pulled up to the house, and it was decorated with balloons, streamers, and
welcome home signs everywhere.
Inside was the same thing, but the kitchen was the best sight either one
of us had seen in years. A huge
buffet of our favorite foods, and 5 coolers packed with beer. We walked out back onto the beach where
everyone was, and as soon as we exited the house, they all started cheering,
clapping, whistling and causing a commotion that caught the attention of the
entire beach. It was like we were
celebrities walking down the red carpet, minus the red carpet. There were about twenty-five people
there on the beach, all lined up to shake our hands and give us hugs, thanking
us and welcoming us home. Marc
and I over-stuffed ourselves with hot roast beef sandwiches, baked ziti, potato
salad, pigs-in-a-blanket, and of course beer. We played football, horseshoes, and did a little skim
boarding. Camryn was trying to
teach me how it was done, because I fell on my a*s both times I tried it. “No
Damien, your’re doing it all wrong,” she said, “you’re standing up too
straight, bend your knees like this.” She
tossed her board onto the little bit of water she needed, ran and jumped on to
it and flew across the water like a snowboarder would do on the snow. She even threw a 180 at the end to
prove she was better than me. “Cam,
you’re a show off!” I yelled to
her. I can’t let my twelve-year-old
little sister show me up. “Watch
this, I’m gonna get it this time.” “Yeah
right D,” she yelled back laughingly. I
waited for the wake to be at the right level, ran dropped the board, jumped on,
and was booking down the beach. I
tried to mimic her 180 spin, and fell, breaking the fall with my face. Laying there defeated and embarrassed,
I began laughing. This is how life
is supposed to be, no more tension, wondering if I’m going to catch a bullet
with my head tomorrow. Camryn ran
up and jumped on me, telling me how much I sucked at skim boarding. “Maybe
you can teach me some more tomorrow?” “Sure
thing D. I’m glad you’re home, I
missed you so much,” she said. “I
missed you too Cam. I’m home now
though,” I told her and messed up her hair. “Can you go get Marc, I want to go out in the water before
the sun starts going down.” “Sure,”
she said and went to get him. I
walked out into the water up to my waist, turned around and fell back, letting
the warm water embrace my body. I
forgot how good it felt to relax in the water, not a care in the world. For the first time in a long time, my
mind was clear, and I felt at peace.
Staring up at the sky, the blue was starting to change as the orange sun
began to fall to take its place on the other side of the world for the night. A
familiar feeling then took my mind out of its peaceful state. Danger, close by. What it was, I wasn’t sure, but the
feeling I would get in Iraq before a firefight was shooting through my entire
nervous system. I felt as I did
when the RPG was shot at us, something was stalking me from below. I started back for the beach, and was
hit on my left side. It pulled me
below the surface, a red cloud was all I could see. Then, through it I saw what it was. Beatty black eyes, squared nose,
serrated teeth, and a striped pattern, it was a Tiger Shark. It bit down, and broke my ribs in the
same place as the car accident did.
The shark brought me back up to the surface, to get a better grip with
its jaws. “Stay
out!” I screamed, trying to warn the people coming into the water. “Shark, stay out!” I managed to get out
before it drug me under again, thrashing me around at its will. I
never thought that this would be the way that it would end for me. Two tours in Iraq, a car accident, and this is the way I go out? Today was supposed to be a welcome
home, relaxing, fresh start to a new life, not the end of it. I tried to punch the shark in the nose,
but had no strength. The thrashing
stopped for a moment, as our eyes locked.
I stared deeply into the soul of the blackness, having a moment with the
animal that was feeding on me. It
started swimming deeper, repeatedly biting me, and I scream in pain. Water began to enter my lungs, is this finally the end? The
surface of the water began getting darker the more it pulled me down. I saw things up at the surface that I
couldn’t make out, as the last bit of life was leaving my body. There was suddenly a lot of commotion
around the shark. It twisted
around violently, like it was trying to escape. It released its jaws from my flesh and felt like it swam
off. Something else grabbed hold
of me and began pulling me through the water. We broke the surface of the water, and I could see faintly,
it was people. “I
think it’s gone, get him outta here,” voice one said. “I
got him! Come on let’s go, hurry
up,” voice two yelled. It
sounds like my dad and Marc, but I can’t tell. I managed enough strength to throw my arm up and grab
whoever had me. “Don’t let Cam…
don’t let her see me, please.” I
felt the last breath exit my body.
The pain was gone, for me anyway.
Somehow, I could see what was going on. Marc was the one who pulled me out of the water, the last
person I talked to. My mom was
taking Camryn inside. Everyone was
on their phones calling the paramedics.
Then I looked at my lifeless body, on the beach. Flesh and muscle tissue hung from my
ribs, bouncing up and down to the rhythm of my dads CPR attempt. Blood was pouring out of the hole in my
ribs. The
last grain of sand had fallen from my hourglass. Forever, Cape Fear will have a new meaning for everyone who
was there and witnessed the end of my life. I couldn’t handle watching the pain
on the faces of the friends and family that came to enjoy this day, and let
whatever force that had control over me, take me to where ever it was that I
was going to spend eternity. © 2010 C-TrainerAuthor's Note
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2 Reviews Added on February 20, 2010 Last Updated on February 20, 2010 AuthorC-TrainerPlainfield, INAboutHello. I am a 24 year old from New Jersey, and I have just moved to Indiana. I would like to get to know some local writers too, so if you are from Indiana, I'd be happy to meet you. I'm new to the.. more..Writing
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