KafleyP1213

computer, poster, table, chair, fingers, chicken, television, trashcan, mind, brain, nails, bracelet, soccer, football, baseball, idk, cart, agenda, file, short, story, need, want, earrings, rings, anklet, boots, shoes, pants, shirts, technology, supernatural, nature, army, farmers, iPod, children

(poor guy) wants (go to army) because (he wants to earn money), but (his wife doesn't want him to). =The Selection= parmila kafley

I see nothing but drought around me as I walk around looking at our field. I come to our field every single day after breakfast to check on the crops but as usual, I see no sight of green. We have been out of rain for months now and we desperately need rain to prepare for next year. If we do not get rain then we are going to starve. Usually we store the food we produce during the summer and spring when there is sufficient rain for winter but this year we seemed to be out of lock since we have not had rain to produce food. We have food to fill us up for these six months, but I need to figure out how to get food for winter to feed my family.

After looking around the field, I walk to our home, which is located at the top of the mountain. As I walk to our home, I hear everybody murmuring about the drought and the selection for the army. Every year, fifty men are selected to go to the training camp and train to become an official army for a different country named nu muni. I never got the point in being an army for another country. Men only go to the camp to earn money so they could provide their family a “good life”. These men train hard, work hard, and put their body in danger when they are not even serving for their own country but they need money to support their family. Since the selection is, only three months away so everywhere you look you see men are training and the sad faces of women and children whose husband or father is planning on going to the training camp.

As I reach home, I see my wife and two children sitting outside and looking at the barren land. As soon as my wife sees me, she gets me a bread and baked potato so I also sit there eating and looking at the barren land, thinking about what I was going to do to feed them after 6 months if we don’t get any rain for our crops. We still lost a lot when we planted the seeds of wheat without getting any back from the wheat but still it is not as bad as not having anything to eat. As I guessed, we did not have any rain for a month, so I do not think we will have any rain over the summer, which means that my family is going to starve during the winter. Winter is coming closer and closer and we are losing food without storing for the winter. The selection for the training camp is only two months away now and everybody seems to be going since we did not get any rain produce food. I am also thinking about going to the training camp because I cannot bear to think about my family starving. My wife gets mad at me every time I tell her that I am thinking about going to the training camp. I know that in the end that is the only thing I can do to even though I would be putting myself in danger for another country and putting my country in shame just like thousands of other men. My wife everyday says, “Don’t go, we can do something here and earn money, we don’t need lots of money, just a piece of food and a drop of water will be enough” but I know that to be a good father and a husband, I need to provide more than that. I need to give them more food and water so that they can feed themselves sufficiently. I need to give them money so they can wear clothes that are not torn. I start training even though the selection is two and a half months away. As the selection date gets closer and closer, I see my family getting sadder and sadder. I tried to not to bring up anything about the selection to my family but sometimes I would come up and my wife went back to telling me not to go. I do not want my family to get sad but I know what I must do to keep my family from starving and that is to go to the training camp.

One day, as I was running for the training near a forest, I saw a house that looked like it was poor than my house. I got closer to the house and saw an old man sitting outside the house. As he saw me, he waved his hands with a friendly smile. I waved back and kept running. The next day, I came the same way running and waved at him. This kept going on for five days until I finally decided to go talk to him. That day I ran my regular route and went to talk to him. I asked him who lived with him and he replied that he lived with his two children. He asked why I was running single every day and I told him about my situation. He told me story about when he my was my age and had to deal with the same situation. He served as an army official for nu muni. He told me about his training process and his selection. He also told me about his wife and children not wanting him to go to the training camp but he still did. He served as an army official for 30 years, during those years his wife was suffering from breast cancer and he was not there. His children fulfill his job of a husband and give up on their studies because they were taking care of their mother even though the whole reason why he went to become an army official was so that his children could have a good education and lead a happy life. His wife became more and more ill each day but he did not return because he thought that if he returned then all their happiness would go away since they would not have money. However, when he finally returned he had to say goodbye to his loving wife. From then he never left this town. He says he and his children are happy even though they seem have nothing. They look happy. After hearing his story, I returned home with a smile on my face and with a new plan