the past

first combat exercise,we had been slogging all over the red water training area all day then were told to dig in.so we spend a couple hours digging these nice trenches,we were a communications unit so speed was not our priority and then went down to sleep for a couple of hours.at dusk we were ordered into our trenches and told to hold the perimeter.now when we were setting up defences,me and my trench partner had this bright idea to set up a smoke grenade in the trees that were about 50 yards in front of our trench.we set a trip wire and then forgot about the thing.they left us in the trenches for about an hour,a bunch of nervous and very green recruits looking at dark trees in an even darker night,no sounds but our shuffles and whispers.it was a very long hour.then,then you say,yes then there was a loud pop and a streak heavenwards and blam,let there be light.paraflare.you have to experience one to know how sureal everything is under the light of a paraflare.they are exceedingly bright but vey pin-point,all the shadows are long,everything is erie,we are all staring up,gape mouthed,effectively destroying our night vision.what come out of the night you ask,the end by the doors.weird light,you are in a trench in the middle of the night and the doors are playing in the distance,very disturbing.all of a sudden random small arms fire behind us,yelling,shit happening and all we could do is try and make out shapes in the shadows and stay in our trench.pop,someone tripped the smoke grenade we nailed to the tree out in the grove in front of us.out of the trees comes this bank of smoke,weirdly effective in the night just adding to the sum total of bizzarness of the evening.it was a way to spend a saturday night.