LE PORTRAIT MAGAZINE MARCH-SEPTEMBER ISSUE | Page 26

“Okay, you will each jump into the water and swim across. Are we
clear?” He said with a menace that tore the air like a lightning bolt.
“Yes sir!”
“If any of you do otherwise, I will surely give you a double punishment.
Are we clear?”
“Yes sir!” They yelled. No one would dare to cross him. Alana feared
for her life. She felt she would soon die of nausea. The look of that water
could have drowned a pig! She couldn’t believe a human would survive
in such water for even a second.
Each recruit splattered and spat through the filthy water while the
commander whipped a few slow ones with his magic stick that he never
ceased to carry.
The sound of a roaring truck surprised everyone. They all looked on
curiously. Alana shuddered to think what was next. The air was tense
and every bone cracked in agony. It was the fire brigade, she guessed.
One man stood on top of the truck with a long enormous pipe that
gushed out torrents of water. The man who was standing on top hit the
recruits with a furious gush of the water as the truck moved closer to get
a better hit of the dirty bodies of recruits. It was a bath they all deserved
after the swim through mud, frogs and maggots.
The shocked groans of recruits painfully reached her ears as they winced
at the cold rush of running water on their bodies. They were deep groans
of forbearance only a fellow recruit understood.
Alana had talked to Commander Ahmed. She was going to get her pass
after all. She would leave immediately because she couldn’t see herself
surviving through this course. She knew she would refuse if asked to do
any of those so called exercises.
She calmed her running emotions for a moment as she drifted through
the swimming pool. She had ended cold sleepless nights too.
She finally got a glimpse of Steve coming in.
“Where have you been?”
“I was looking for the wine.”
“Won’t you swim with me?
“I will, of course my dear.” He removed his shirt and jumped into the
water with a splash. Alana watched the ripples form around his chest and
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