Enlistment Day – A New Beginning

The air is thick with anticipation as recruits step onto the base, their civilian lives left at the gate. Boots shuffle against the pavement, the distant sound of drill sergeants barking orders echoing through the crisp morning air.

Sergeant Carter: (arms crossed, surveying the newcomers) “Look at this fine group of future soldiers. By ‘fine,’ I mean—let’s hope you survive the first week.”

Reed: (whispering to the guy next to him) “I think my breakfast just turned to stone.”

Private Johnson: (grinning): “Better get used to it. They say the food’s the easiest thing to swallow around here.”

Before another word can be exchanged, a voice booms from the front.

Drill Sergeant Rivera: “You are no longer civilians! You are recruits, and in the coming weeks, you will be broken down and rebuilt into warriors. Some of you will rise. Some of you will fail. But today, you all start as equals—just another name on my list.”

A brief silence. Then, the clatter of duffle bags and the hurried shuffle of feet as the recruits scramble to formation.

Reed: (under his breath) “Yep. Definitely should’ve gone to college.”

The sun climbs higher over the training grounds as another generation of soldiers takes their first step into the unknown.