The quiet hum of the plane’s engines was the only sound in the back of the plane, as our squad sat in nervous silence. A young soldier next to me, flexed her hands nervously, and immediately looked embarrassed as the squeaking canvas of her gloves turned a few idle heads to look towards her.
‘You know,’ I said loudly, leaning over to talk to her. ‘I’ve been a soldier for over twenty years. Would you like to hear the closest I’ve ever come to dying?’
‘Sir?’ she frowned, confused. A few people around us turned to actively listen, but I kept my attention on her.
‘I was sixteen,’ I said, smiling at the thought. ‘And I’d snuck out to see a concert way past my curfew. Well, something I failed to account for when I slipped on my shiny leather pants that evening—’
A chorus of giggles started amongst my team. The woman in front of me smiled slightly.
‘–was how much noise they’d make climbing back in the window. My mother was at my bedroom door before I’d even gotten it shut!’
The plane laughed properly now, the nervous energy momentarily dispelled.
‘Funny the things you remember,’ I mused. ‘They’re old now, of course, my parents. Last thing I heard, they were debating whether they make any bath modifications or if theirs was good enough as it is.’
‘What sort of bath modifications, sir?’ the young soldier asked.
‘Oh, you wouldn’t know this, with your young knees and young parents,’ I laughed, ‘but baths can get difficult when you’re older.’
‘My parents did that, actually,’ a corporal piped up from behind me. ‘Found a company near Sydney that will modify a bathtub for elderly people. They said it was the best thing they ever did.’
‘I hope you didn’t take that too personally, corporal,’ I said quickly, and the whole plane laughed again.
A red light flicked on in the cabin, and a sharp buzz sounded to get our attention.
‘Steady on then, soldiers,’ I called out, hopping to my feet. ‘We have a mission to complete.’