Soldier

That was the moment it happened. My throat choked, my lips quivered. I tried to push out a scream, but I merely moaned. My vision blurred and my body went limp, I lay there unable to speak or see.
The voice was screaming, louder and louder, and was the only person who could hear it. Loud noises, talking, and booms, it almost sounded like a war. Ear piercing voices and noises.
All of the sudden it was like I was somewhere else. I was in a desert, a desolate place. I was surrounded by soldiers and green army tents, I hear hellicopters, and gunshots.
I sit up to look around me, I am no longer in America. All the people around me are strangers, and they are laughing. All of them are American soldiers.
Most of them are playing cards, while the rest hold pictures of loved ones, or survey the world outside the barrocks.
I seem to stand and walk out of the tent, I look around me. Vast desert, sand and stone. I feel something in my hand, and when I look it is a photograph. The face was familiar and soft, my mother. I turn the photo over to find a message on the back.

"For my love in Iraq, you will always be mine..."

And then I understood, I was in my father's shoes across seas. Fighting in a battle that has been raging 5 years. My hand went to my chest, firmly pressing the picture to my heart.
I open my eyes, and I can see. My throat loosens, I am able to speak. Back at home, where I know my father's heart is. I lean up, the voices gone, and a warm feeling over my body. I am me again.
I go to the window and look outside. For the first time in 5 years, my father and I connected. No matter where he is, I know now where he wants to be.