Smashed Up

Germany, target practice, the summer of 2002. The day was humid, making my throat dry. I had to stop every three rounds in order to replenish my throat, with the thirst quenching Landapple juice. There were four different ranges for firing, at this particular shooting range. I went for my last round of bullets and I put the M1 Grand up to my shoulder took aim, then I hear someone shout out “Stop rechts”, which in german means stop right there. So I miss fire and turn to see who it is, but they were talking to some guy who had gone out into the range. As I turn to fire my next bullet, I set up and take aim, to my dismay I see no bullet mark in the target. I think to myself “Hey that’s strange, but I probably just got distracted and misfired.” I set the but of the rifle to my shoulder once more, and then I hear a strange rumbling to my side, I ignore it and assume someone to my left is having some problems and I simply shout “Ruhe nach drüben”, which means quiet down over there. Then the rumbling rises in sound, like an orchestra hitting a cresendo. I ignore and shoot my final bullet, it’s the last thing my hands felt in Germany. I wake up in the hospital, that smelled of disinfectants and medicine. I look around and I hear my stomach growling angrily at me. I see a burger and fries to my side, and I think “Typical American food”. Go to lift my hands to eat it but they are chained down, so I look around and see no one, and I go face first into the fries, the burger was tougher, getting only two bites in, but my stomach thanks me for answering its growls, and I try and figure out what on Earth I am doing in a hospital. I think to the last thing of the firing range, I remember firing the last bullet and keeping my form after the recoil of the rifle. After that everything was one big blur of screams and colors. A nurse walks in, her hair is a canvas, with different colors painted across. I think “What a freak”, but she is a nice nurse, and treats me well for the month I was in the hospital. Luckily she speaks English, a bit broken, but English none the less, and she begins to explain to me what happened from eye-witnesses who told the hospital what happened. It seems that the bullet that had misfired, had ricocheted and hit a overlooking rocky cliff, and somehow a boulder came tumbling down. It just so happens I was the left most person on the shooting range, which made me laugh when I thought someone to the left of me was making the noise, and I yelled at them. The boulder came tumbling down and bounced rite before hitting the floor and came straight down on my rifle and hands. My M1 grand, was broken and shattered, no longer possible for repair, the one gift my Grandpa gave me before he passed away. He had used it in WW2 and he taught me how to use it. Now I had no souvenir of my Grandpa, but memories, and I couldn’t use my hands. I spent the remainder of my vacation, rehabilitating and recovering from the accident. I still go to the range ever now and then, in New York, but I haven’t been to Germany since. Now if you touch the top of my hands, u can feel the bone right away, because no more flesh is left on my top part of my fingers, and there is very little left on my hands. I have some on the bottom part now, but that’s all that has come back since 2002, so in 7 years, maybe in like 14 years, I’ll have some on the top part of my hand. 

Zeena

I hate her, i fell like she uses Ethan. She cared for his mom, and they both knew Ethan wouldn't be able to take care of himself, so she took advantage of the situation. She becomes sickly when ever it pleases her, in order to ruin Ethan's hopes and dreams. If i was Ethan i would have just left her and followed my dreams. Who is she to hold someone back, with no gain of her own. She gains nothing in having a loveless marriage, and she is just sucking the life out of Ethan. Ethan is ruined because of Zeena, and his own stupidity for not leaving. He could have left and become an engineer at anytime he wished, it was not a marriage of love, it was just a lifeless living with another person.