Life In The World Wind

There was a ringing in my dream, a ringing in my sleep. The phone yelled for me to wake up. I thought the ringing was my head. On some uncountable reverberation of a caterwauling, chalkboard-enhancing echo, I attempted to seize my tormentor. I failed, knocking the phone off its cradle. Sitting nearby, the phone made a sound like a human voice. “Hello.” I had my doubts of it actually being a human since I have a higher opinion of the basic goodness of man than to believe a being would deliver such a foul act as to call at zero dark thirty on a night/day of rest. “Heff?” It was the platoon sergeant echoing through my addled brain like a marble in a demonic pinball machine, all lights, bells, and whistles. I neglected to respond. “We’ve been alerted.” I noted a certain level of anxiety in his voice. “Yeah, I’m here.” I cleared some cobwebs. Crickets . . . a resounding pause, I guess waiting for the drumroll. “It’s official! We’re going to war!”