The air was filled with smoke. The ground was covered in shell casings. People were running and yelling in all directions. I couldn’t hear them though. All I could hear was a colossal ringing in my ears. I put my head down and ran with all the strength left in my legs. To stop would mean death. As I ran, I was granted a surprising moment of clarity. Suddenly I was in a beautiful green pasture upstate. I was no longer running through a field of fallen comrades, but daffodils. Instead of running away from a failed breach, I was running to my parents and baby sister, to the picturesque picnic scene. Then I was back in high school, hanging with my friends Robert and Justin, sitting under a tree, watching the gorgeous sunset. We shared a laugh, reminiscing about grades, girls who broke our hearts, and everything in between. After that I was eighteen, taking Katie Morgan to the dance. We were on that floor for what seemed like a few seconds. Her daddy had no idea. She had to climb down the fire escape. After walking her home and helping her up the fire escape, she hopped through her window. As I turned to leave, she grabbed me by my suspenders, pulled me in and gave me the sweetest kiss I've ever received in my life. The she whispered, "Goodnight, Philip Lane." And with a smile, she closed the window and walked away. I saw years fly by in the blink of an eye. I was walking up to Katie's father, asking for his permission to marry his baby girl. He looked me over several times, then he looked at the family photo on the wall. Then we were at Christmas dinner. Katie was showing off her ring to anybody that would pay her any attention. Flash forward to the wedding. A beautiful ceremony held at the tiniest church possible. We didn’t have a lot, but we had love. As we walked down the aisle, we were suddenly walking into our brand-new apartment. Seven hundred square feet sure isn't a lot, but boy, did we make do. Then I relived the absolute longest nine months of my life. After all that time, and a whole lot of effort, none of which I will take any credit for, my beautiful baby girl was born. We named her Maddy Mik Lane. Then I was at the recruiting office. I signed my name to the roster of the United States Marine Corps. I graduated from boot camp as Private First-Class Philip Lane. As I was about to board my ship to Europe, I turned around to say goodbye. Standing there were my beautiful wife and little girl. As I kissed them goodbye, the tears began to flow. I'll never forget the last thing my little girl said to me. "I'm always with you, right here," she said, touching my heart. I cried and gave them both one last hug. As we pulled away from the shore, I waved to them. I waved goodbye to my whole world on the deck of that boat.
Then I hit the ground.