Living in the dream

It was a bright and sunny morning in the summer of 1962. Ralph woke up with all the excitement in the world! It has been a while since he was part of a military training academy stationed in a peaceful neighbourhood in the city of Nowark. Armed forces were not called for any action for a long time and he was getting quite bored with the mundane life at the academy. To make things worse, being the most junior commissioned officer he was always the butt of the jokes from senior folks around.

The day promised to be different. He was finally getting introduced to the Kalshnikov, one of the most widely admired piece of weapon used by all major armies across the world! The training was scheduled for early morning. He reached well before time which gave an opportunity for the seniors to make him do a bunch of sundry duties. Hiding his displeasure he finished all what they asked him to do by keeping his mind focused on the AK-47 rifle that was placed on an elevated stand nearby. It was a long cherished dream he was going to live soon!

The moment of truth came and he finally got to touch the beauty. He had read all about the power of this beast and how he should be careful handling this mean machine. But even before he could apply his learning, he was called again by the seniors for another round of senseless exercise. This time he couldn’t help but to let out a grunt which was duly registered by Sergy, the Commander-in-charge. He spared no wrath on the poor chap. Devastated will be an understatement to refer to his state of mind by evening. Kalshnikov remained a distant dream.

He entered his bunk tired, but more so, dejected. Shortly after he let the comfortable bed receive his depleted self, he could feel himself walking the border of the kind of sleep which only comes with absolute exhaustion. All these years of hatred against the high ranking officers was taking a toll on him. Without his conscious mind even being aware, the disgust in him was turning itself into a monster. He could barely see the Kalshnikov still standing high at a distance through the window of his bunk.

He started feeling quite strange. The rifle appeared to turn itself in the direction where he was lying and started nodding its head as if beckoning him. All the images of his tormenters started doing a parade in his mind. He couldn’t hold his anger any longer. The next moment he was out of his bunk heading to the stand. Just before he got out, he saw his reflection in a mirror that was hanging on the wall. His face appeared quite different and features distinct. He was a new man!

Fraction of a second and the rifle was in his strong hands. He held on to it as if this was his last resort to regain his life. He went around the academy and unleashed his fury on all those figures marching in his mind. He kept a count. 11 in total. All that was left was just one more round of ammunition in the rifle and one last man to be addressed.

Ralph turned around and faced his worst fear! Sergy was standing right there. The moment of truth. The final opportunity to finish off what he started. He aimed at the Commander and fired expecting the body of the officer to land on his toes asking for his pardon post his death. Instead he saw Sergy reaching out for his own revolver. The muzzle of the Kalash got jammed! An unheard disaster for this legendary rifle. Even before Ralph could attempt anything a severe blow from Sergy with the revolver knocked him out and he hit the floor head first!

As soon as his head touched the floor, Ralph woke up and sat straight on his bed. For a few moments it was a state of absolute delirium before he could realize how terrible a nightmare it was. The clock struck three in the morning. He emptied the bottle of water in the room and giving himself a whack at the back of his head, went back to whatever remaining of the sleep he could catch.

Voices of chaos woke him up the next day while the sun was beginning to seep through the cracks of the bunker. He got out to see a state of commotion around the academy. His eyes caught the headlines of a newspaper lying on the floor which read “Unknown man attacks military academy: 11 dead, Commander missing”. There was even a picture of the attacker.

It looked exactly like the face he saw in the mirror in his nightmare!