Goodbyes

So….this is goodbye?

Yeah, basically.

Do you think we’ll ever see each other again?

I dunno. I’d love to say “yes”, but I’d be lying to you if I did.

So we might never see each other again?

Maybe. Anything can happen.

Do you really have to go?

Yeah, I do. It’s not something I want to do, but I have to do it.  I don’t have a choice.

No, you don’t. That’s where you’re wrong. Technically, no one “has” to do anything. We all have choice.

Yeah. Okay. Good luck telling that to my family. My grandpa served, my dad served, and both my uncles served. Telling them that I don’t plan on serving would be about as much fun as getting a root canal. Actually, now that I think about it, a root canal would probably be easier to deal with than whatever the hell kinda reaction I’d end up getting. I could very well get kicked out, and honestly, man, I don’t want that.

So what if they kick you out? You’re a resourceful dude. You can make it out on your own. Plus, it’s not like it’s just you facing the rest of the world. You have friends, dude. We’re willing to help ya out.

Nah. I don’t want to inconvenience ya guys. I’m grateful for the offer, but I can’t take it. I just can’t.

But man, I really don’t want to see you go. You could die out there, and then, what’s gonna be of ya? A dead body that’s gonna rot in a field like all the other guys that went ahead and did the same thing? No. I REFUSE to allow you to be little more than a memory.

You do realize that I can come back, right? Lots of soldiers come back at the end of their deployments, after all.

Yeah, sure. And how many millions of soldiers NEVER come back and instead just rot on a field? Even if ya don’t become one of ‘em, the idea that you could possibly become another one scares the crap outta me.

Look, man, it’s not your choice to make. I head out tomorrow. All the plans have been made and everything’s set. Unless you have some great and glorious plan to get me out of being enlisted, I’m gonna head out, and you can’t really stop it.

But come on, man. Don’t you like me?

I do like you, man. I like you a lot. Believe me when I say that I wish things would have gone a different way. But life doesn’t always go the way we want it to, and sometimes, we have to do things we utterly hate in order to move on, and this is just one of those times, unfortunately.

Well, I’ve made my viewpoint pretty clear. I don’t want you heading off. At all. But I sense that I don’t have a shit-ton of importance either. You have to head out. I don’t want it, but I get it.

Thanks, man.

Promise that you’ll write me though?

Yeah, definitely.

Well, I’m guessing you’re gonna have to hit the hay pretty soon if you’re gonna head off, so I should probably get going right about now.

That’d probably be best, yeah.

Alright then. So…this is goodbye?

Yeah, man. Yeah. Goodbye.

Goodbye man. Stay safe out there.

You too.

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