Wednesday, January 06, 2010

It's pre-dawn & I'm a soldier driving a military vehicle (Humvee the size of a fire truck) when I realize there's a problem. I can't seem to go very fast & as I turn a corner I see that one of the tires is completely blown. "Great," I thought to myself, "Time for 'Mad Olympics (what we call changing a tire or making a repair in a combat zone).'"

I get out to walk escort while the vehicle looks for a safe place to park. It keeps driving along the city streets and I try to keep up at a trot. It goes down a hill and I start falling behind. I suspiciously eye every person we pass.

As I run downhill to catch up, I see a truckload of fresh recruits/cadets pull up by my vehicle. I feel a huge sense of relief as the recruits unload to help my vehicle. Maggie Grace is among them (dressed in jogging shorts & an Army t-shirt). She smiles when she sees me and says she got my "press release" (I must've contacted her). I introduce myself to one of her classmates and Maggie tells me I need to walk back to base while they repair the vehicle.