After All These Years

3. Things Change

18 Years Old

"Come on recruits if you still wanna be marines! Then move it!" I felt like my legs were going give out from underneath me. I gulped down and pushed my self even more. I've wanted to do this since I was a kid. There's no way I'm giving up now.

"Move it recruits! If you wanna quit ring the damn bell and put your helmets down!" Our Sergeant yelled at everyone as we hustled to climb over the wall by using the rope. We're running the course. It was hard. It was very hard.

It was was day five of camp and there was so many times I wanted to ring the bell. But I didn't cause no matter how hard and how painful this was, it's what I wanted to do. If this was the things I had to do to make my dreams come true. Thirteen long weeks of pushing my body over the limit. The hardest I've ever pushed body will be in these thirteen weeks. Cause I don't plan on quitting.

I'll do it.

*

"Six times three."

My whole body was shaking cause of the cold water.

"S-s-s." My lips were quivering so much I couldn't say the answer. It's so cold.

"Hurry up, hurry up."

"E-Eighteen."

"Oh there we go." They wrapped me up in a blanket as the rest of the recruits were tested in the very cold lake. It was three in the morning so the cold breeze made my body shake even more. I pulled the blanket tighter to me.

This training was hard but I could do it.

I could do it.

*

"I going to introduce you to something, something called 'not being able to breath'." We all stood next to a 50 meter long pool. We were all in shorts and a tight shirt.

"Now this is usually a seals training but it has been tested to help with stressful situations. The goal here is to stay relaxed. No matter how cold you are, how tired you are you gotta stay relaxed. Let's begin."

You'd think that being in water in the afternoon would be good. You'd think wrong. Swimming underwater, going from one end to the other holding your breath for almost forty seconds long it was hard. But then again I had to stay calm and swim.

That didn't go as planned.

"Y/N! Come back. Come back to the light. Or don't go into the light." I felt someone lightly slapping my cheek. I blinked rapidly trying to get air into my lungs.

"D-Did I pass?"

I heard her as she let out a small laugh. "You touched the wall before blacking out." She sat me up putting me on my hands and knees. "Yes you passed." She patted my shoulder and stood up helping others out of the pool. At least I wasn't the only one to black out.

*

"You sure you wanna be here?" The marine instructor yelled at me. I held up the heavy boat with the other recruits in the cold water. It was 1:30 am.

"Yes sir!"

"Are you sure."

"I'm positive!"

*

"What ever you have to do. Just find an excuse to win!"

"Move!"