He furrowed his brow and inquired, “What happened to your eye?”
“Why is it swollen?” The Second in Command, Gen. Kay Hill, asked anxiously. Tim smiled shyly and answered, “I am not proud to say that I allowed a woman to hit me. Pardon my weakness.” “Hit you? Why is she playing the victim?” Gen. Hill asked. Tim smiled calmly and the Head of State continued, “We believe you. From now on, you are General Tim Williams, and all your information is classified. Your work starts now.”Tim was overjoyed but concealed it.
“Thank you, General, for the honor,” he appreciated him and stood up for decoration.To pacify the house, Gen. McDonald walked briskly to the shelf and got a military uniform with the General's insignia on the collar. They watched the Head of State decorate him, and everyone saluted him joyously.
Afterward, he faced Gen. McDonald and looked intently at him. Everyone was calm and waited for his verdict while the culprit expected nothing but death. The Broadcast (It serves him right. Yes. Our daughter gave him the privilege to live but he abused it. I love the Head of State for this action.) Mr. Dickson's remark concerning Tim's death and the Head of State's action took the center page of the news. The death of his lazy son-in-law gave him instant popularity and he loved it. “This is good, Hubby. The Head of State may invite you for an award concerning this,” his wife joyously pointed out. “Yes. Mom is right, Dad. I will speak to my boss about you tomorrow and you will be rewarded for speaking good about the Head of State,” Laura promised. “Wow! This is the best to happen to us. Good riddance to bad rubbish," Pa. Dickson said.He was a poor teacher in a public school. Apart from Laura, he had two boys, Gerald and Samuel who loved Tim so much. He lost his job during the war and lived from hand to mouth with his family and son-in-law until Laura got her present job.
Meanwhile, she was not a soldier but scaled through their rigorous Military Aptitude Test which made her President conclude that there must be a military man behind her and tolerated her domineering manners.
The broadcast also captured Laura's calm demeanor and could be interpreted as nonchalance over her ex-husband's death. However, the captions gave her concern: (She is happy with her new status as a divorcee.) (A beautiful young widow.) (She recovered so fast after the miscarriage.) She overlooked it and cheered up all the time.The news of her family was making rounds on the airwaves and social media until the Head of State's broadcast quashed it.
At The Military Headquarters After looking at Gen. McDonald for a while Tim passed his judgment. “Gen. McDonald, you deserved to be killed just as you intended to do to me. Your actions allowed our enemies to kill a few of us which was against my wish.” “You are right, Gen. Williams. I deserve to be killed," Gen. McDonald admitted. Without answering him, he continued, “The families of those soldiers wept when their loved ones did not return. Their wives and children were widowed and orphaned.” At that point, he paused, looked at the Head of State, his Second in Command, and the other members of the council and they were moody.After a few seconds, he pleaded, “I am aware that you have done this in the past but permit me to request. Shall we rise for a minute's silence to honor and remember the deceased?”
At once, everyone stood up with heavy hearts and bent their heads. After a minute, he prayed, “May their souls find eternal rest.” “Amen,” they chorused, sat down, and waited for his verdict on Gen. McDonald. He looked into the Head of State's eyes, smiled bitterly, and pleaded again, “May I request that we erect a cenotaph of those who have died in the heart of Canterbury.” “Your wish is granted forthwith,” the Head of State responded. “I appreciate it, Your Excellency.” Now, the culprit twitched his eyes and waited for the worst while Tim faced him and continued, "Imagine how your wife and children will feel if you don't return home to them today. Their hopes of getting a hug from their father and a peck from a husband would be dashed forever.” At that point, everyone was sorrowful, including the Head of State.Thank you for continuing.
In The Canteen The supervisor was expectant and had rehearsed his love lines. Ella arrived afterwards and her colleagues were happy to see her. They welcomed her one after the other and she responded with glee.Abigail was so delightful. She saw her arrival as an answered prayer. After welcoming her, she walked straight to the supervisor's office and informed him."At last, Supervisor. She is back.""Who is back?""Miss Patrick. She is back."He was excited with the information and got up from his seat at once. Abigail led the way and he followed her happily. They got to the kitchen and met her talking with her colleagues. The supervisor stood aside and waited to get her attention."Ha? Marriage looks good on you, Ella," one of them complimented her."Thank you for the compliment.""I like your wedding ring," another person said."What about the pictures?""Your husband must be very rich and handsome.""When can we meet him.""Why did you not invite us?"She only smiled at the endles
"In my house of course," she said proudly.The clerk wondered how Samuel got to her house and who took the shots. He remembered his gossip with Tim a few minutes ago and concluded that he must have taken him there. To get the full gist, he looked at the picture again and said, "Your camera is nice.""It's not my camera. It is His Excellency's camera," she said and looked at Tim who was smiling from ear to ear.The clerk was elated to know that she had found love at last. In his euphoria, he faced her and said, "Congratulations.""Huh! Over what?" She asked him anxiously."What is the compliment about? The pictures?" Tim asked him hastily.The clerk recalled himself and said, "Pardon my slip of the tongue."At The Lobby Vincent was in a dilemma. He was uncomfortable each time he saw Barbara's face. He could not attribute it to either fear or love. Nevertheless, the two of them had past experiences and were out to mitigate them. He had vowed never to love again but he never expected t
At The Complex - The Next Day After taking the boys back to school, Tim and Richard got to the complex."I wish we would not use the clunker again," Richard stated when he parked Valentine's car to pick up the clunker."I wanted us to use it today but we will visit the mining field. The supervisor may be despondent if he sees his car. Or what do you think?""You are right but he would see it someday after all.""You have a point. We will take it gradually. Okay?""I got it," he said and they got into the clunker.Tim got to the vestibule and stopped, "Wait for me at the lobby. will join you later," he said."It's okay," Richard said and got out of the vehicle.The Corporal at the entrance was already tired of their confusing relationship. They ignored them and allowed them to wait in the vestibule for as long as they wanted. He saluted Richard and watched him walk into the lobby while Tim drove off.Jerry and the other soldiers saluted him accordingly, and he returned the salute and
In Tim's Room He connected to Stephanie and saw her sitting on the couch and staring at the television. She dried the tears that dropped on her cheeks several times and continued to stare."She promised me that she would be fine," he lamented.He had tried to avoid calling her because he would not want to stalk her. Now, he could not keep to that. Instantly, he shared the pictures and watched her reactions. She picked up her phone that was beside her and grimaced her face."Who is Gerald?" She asked herself and tapped the message.Her face brightened up when she saw the pictures and began to watch them. "Is this his contact?" She asked herself and dialed the number.Tim was over the moon when she called him. He picked up the call at once and greeted her, "Hello, Your Majesty."She smiled dryly and answered him, "Hello, Your Excellency. Is this your contact?""Yes.""Ha! Is your name Gerald?""What do you think is my name?" He asked and put her in a precarious situation.She just rea
He breathed in and wiped his tears. Tim observed that the two looked alike and attributed it to the cry. Now, she had stopped crying and looked at Samuel.She felt bad for making him cry instead of making his first visit to her house a happy one. "I'm sorry to ruin your Sunday, Samuel," she apologized with a faint smile.Samuel smiled dryly and answered her, "Think nothing about it. Everything will be fine."She nodded again and appreciated him, "Thank you for your concern."Now, Tim could not guarantee his emotions. Being too close to the woman he loved could spark off his sexual urge and he tried to pull away from her. He did not envisage that she would not let him move. She glued her head to his shoulder and made it difficult for him to change position.Just like he told the old man, he was certain that she loved him. He smiled in satisfaction but must get up immediately. He rubbed her back and said, "Excuse me," and tried to pull away from her."It's okay," she said and adjuste
"Good evening, Miss Benjamin," he greeted her She spread her hands apart and requested, "Come and give me a hug, Samuel."Samuel complied and hugged her. She tapped his back and released him."I'm so happy to see you. Kindly take your seats," she said and gestured them to seats."Thank you for the offer," they said and sat down."You are welcome. I am so surprised to see you," she explained and sat down."He wished to see you and I decided to bring him.""Thank you, Samuel,, for the surprise visit.""Thank you for having me. I promised to visit you one day and I am here.""Wow! I'm happy to see you. How are your Big Brothers?""My Big Brothers are fine. This is for you," he said and handed the gift to her."Wow! What are we celebrating?" She asked him."Their Dad just remarried after he lost his wife," Tim answered on his behalf to avoid numerous questions."That's good. Thank you for this, Samuel," she appreciated him."You are welcome. He apologized for not inviting you," he answer