7th June 2016
When I woke, I knew. There was no mind fog, no dream dawdling into day. Reality hit me before consciousness did. That today was deployment day. That by the time the sun melted into the sea, Kyal would be on a ship, chasing it across the Indian Ocean.
The bed squeaked as we stirred and shuffled closer to each other. I lifted my back. He extended his left arm. Our morning embraces were like clockwork, and while our brains knew our routine would be disrupted, our bodies denied reality.