The White Coffin

Another harsh day of training rolled by. Never in my life would I have guessed being a soldier was such a frantic job. Of course, I expected the strenuous activities, the crap I have to take from the higher-ups, but I never thought it would be more requiring than there are hours in a day. Thankfully, Scotty took over down at the hanger, freeing me to wander back here. My bunk room was an absolute mess. I'm sure you're very surprised that a military bunk wouldn't be as tidy as an English mansion. Well, I promise you, we'll have it all cleaned up before inspection. It was dreadfully late at night. In fact, I could literally see the morning sun breaking over the fort. Slinging myself into my rock-hard mattress, I lay like a statue, as I have been instructed. The silence in my ears gives me a strange sense of victory. Eyes open, I scanned the room, as I normally do before admitting to the vulnerable state of sleep. As first, I thought I saw Shane in his top bunk, but the contours of the shape were rigid and blocky. I seriously doubted it could have been a bomb, but good soldiers are cautious in all situations. Silently, I twisted onto the cold bunk room floor, as I gazed up at the object. The closer I approached, the more the shape was familiar to me. I had seen this very object weeks before. My heart broke regular pace as I marked the object as the coffin that my brother had been buried in. Abandoning all preconceptions, I rushed up the metal ladder to obtain a better angle. Yes, it was the same coffin. I pried back the curved lid, unsure of what I would find. But I never graced my eyes with the knowledge of the contents, because everything stopped. I couldn't move, think, see, or even breath. Time itself seemed to have taken a break. Piercingly, I awoke in my bunk, just as I had been laying before peering the white coffin. Gulping a terrified breath, I comforted myself in that fact I had been dreaming. But something froze on me. My brother's coffin had been black.