Joseph Stephens and the lonely road

It was dusk, light was quickly escaping from the sky. Joseph trudged through the mire as he watched the sun slowly setting beyond the horizon. His sword hung loosely from his hand, his clothes were covered in mud, his face was covered in sweat and his sword was covered in blood. "Its been a long day without you, my friend" Joseph said out loud with a sigh. This world was hard and unforgiving but it didn't always seem that way. Joseph thought about the days when the road was less hard and journey was filled with laughter. That was before Joseph lost his way and had to travel alone.

Joseph wanted to go to sleep but there wasn't any dry land to sleep on for miles, so on he walked. it was one of those days that he wished would just end, but seemed to drag on without thought or consideration of Joseph's feelings. The water in the mire began to ripple all around Joseph. the tall grass shook and the earth rumbled. a giant human shaped creature emerged from the swamp waters. It was over eight feet tall and easily five hundred pounds, it was so large that it must have been sleeping in the mud under the water. the water from the mire wasn't over a foot high.

Joseph let out a hard and tired sigh and drew his blade, bringing it up in front of him. He assumed his battle stance in front of the swamp giant. Its skin was muddy, yellow brown and looked hard as stone, its hair looked like it was made of swamp plants and covered most of its face and head. Bright red eyes shone out from under the tangle mess of plant hair on the creatures head. the beast roared and lifted its over sized hands, clenching them into fists.

Joseph brought his sword down low and charged forward, in the corner of his eye he could almost see his friend the wizard floating over the muck and mire, grinning at his dirt covered friend. Joseph sloshed through the mud and sliced the giant's leg as he ran passed the creature. The swamp giant slammed his fists down, splashing dirty water everywhere and missing Joseph completely. Jaye the wizard would have been blasting this create with every lighting spell he knew if he were actually here fighting. Joseph smiled at his friends overzealous nature and continued to move quickly through the murky water, slashing the swamp giant across the legs and arms and dodging the beasts giant fists as they slammed down around Joseph. if the swamp giant landed even one hit, the strike would be so strong that it would shatter bones. Joseph had to keep moving, despite the muddy water being hard to run through and the fact that the swamp giant's skin was almost as hard as stone.

After every time Joseph slashed the giant, he would have to immediately have to dodge the next on coming attack. Each time the swamp giant swung his fist it grew closer and closer to actually hitting Joseph. "I can't do this alone" Joseph muttered. He imagined his friend fighting there with him. the giant's fists never found their mark because two quick moving humans were too hard to hit. Jaye would send out blinding light and burn the beast with fire and electricity. the battle would be won and it would be added to the vault of memories that they both shared, but Jaye wasn't there and Joseph had to survive long enough so that he could see his friend again some day.

the swamp giant's fist struck right next to Joseph and the force sent him flying. Joseph always imagined his death would be a last stand against an overwhelming army or at least dying in a blaze of glory while possibly also being on fire, but dying to a swamp giant ranked pretty low on ways to leave the world. "What are you some kind of chump? Gonna die to a big dumb giant like a big sad baby?" echoed Jaye's voice. Joseph almost laughed out loud when he heard these words. Jaye hadn't shown up to save the day, but his memory did. "Lets waste this fool" Joseph said with a smile. "you're dumb" Jaye replied also smiling.
Joseph charged up all of his energy into one strike. His body began to glow and his sword's blade bursts into flames. . "X Strike!" Joseph shouted as he ran forward, the heat of each step sizzled the surrounding water. Joseph ran so fast that flaming sword sliced through the air and his feet parted the water. The memory Jaye the wizard charged with electricity and charged forward with equal speed and force, both friends charged through the swamp giant with the force of a tornado or an earthquake. the attack pattern looked like the letter X with the swamp giant in the middle. Jaye flew through the Giant  releasing huge amounts of electricity into the creature. At that exact moment Joseph was slashing his fire sword through the beasts chest. they both ended with their backs to the monster. The swamp giant let out one last roar before collapsing back into the mud. Joseph coughed and felt woozy from exhaustion but kept the smile on his face. Jaye's memory smiled back at Joseph.

Joseph was able to defeat the swamp giant on his own, but it took the memory of his friend to encourage him and bring out his inner strength. Sometimes the road gets hard and sometimes it gets lonely, but if you can find a friend you can enjoy the time together and look forward to that time when you are apart. When you find a real friend they never leave you and no matter what has happened they always will have your back.

Soldiers Memory

            The rain poured down oppressively. The sky was dark and a small girl named Jill stood in the pouring rain. Jill was eight, wore a nice spring dress and had bare feet. She danced through the rain, ignoring the gloom of the day or how drenched she was getting. Her mother called her name “Jill its time to come inside and wash up” Said her mother, who had her head poked out of the upstairs window to their house. Jill looked out and surveyed the backyard during this rainstorm like it was a great wilderness or some kind of tropical jungle. A look of amazement filled her eyes as her mind pieced together the ‘missing pieces’ of what her eyes left out. “Jill, Now!” Her mother said. Time must have passed between Jill’s warnings, but the girl was so caught up in the wonderment of nature that she lost track of herself and time.

            “Jill!” yelled a voice with extreme urgency. Rain poured down in buckets. The ground was more mud than dirt at this point. A heavily armed soldier ran over to Jill, a look of fear and desperation filled his eyes. “Jill! Answer me!” Jill opened her eyes and looked up. “Mom?” Jill said. “Get it together!” Said the soldier. “Jill shook her head. and her vision cleared. “Sergeant Myers!” Jill replied. Myers nodded and smiled “Lets get you up soldier, we need you on your feet” He said. Jill shakily stood up. As she stood her memories came rushing back. They were in battle and a bomb went off, the explosion sent her flying and the shockwave knocked her out. “I think I’m ok” Jill said. She was also heavily armed and carried the same standard weaponry as her fellow soldiers.

            Gunshots were fired and bullets whizzed passed the two soldiers. “Get down” Said Myers. They both dropped down into the mud and readied their weapons. “Jake, Thank you for coming to get me. I just want you to know you have been a great friend and commanding officer” Jill said. She held her gun steady and aimed unwavering. When she spoke to Sergeant Myers it was with a professional tone. She didn’t know if either of them would survive this battle, but she wasn’t going to fall to pieces either. They were both trained soldiers. “Its Still Sergeant Myers, Private. And we will be fine” Myers replied.

            Rain poured down, thunder rang out and lighting struck off in the distance. The fighting grew more intense and it seemed like hell was crashing down around them. Between the weather and gunfire Jill could no longer hear Myers giving orders. She kept shooting. Enemy soldiers lined up into her sights and she picked them off, one by one. As she watched each body fall, she tried to ignore her memories as they conflicted with her harsh realities. “If I survive this, I’ll deal with it then” She thought. Jill needed to stay focused.

            The battle raged on, but despite chaos a deep seeded memory lingered in Jill’s mind. This full grown woman, who had so many life experiences, joined the military, killed and watched her friends die, she was once just a little girl. She was a little girl who like to play in the rain and mud. She was curious about nature and like wearing pretty dresses.

            When moments like that pass, when people change and times get tough. It is important to reflect on those precious moments and remember who you are. To keep a piece of your true self regardless of what life throws at you.