A novel by : Douglas Grant
Art work by: Daniel Aronson
The American’s eyes popped open. He was groggy and didn’t know what had awoken him. He stuck his head out of the sleeping bag, and tried to adjust his eyes. His vision was blurry and light was scarce by the diminished fire, but he could see enough to know that Benazar was standing over him. He groped for his backpack and pulled his glasses out of one the compartments.
He put on his glasses—and found himself staring at the shiny silver barrel of a Desert Eagle pistol. He struggled to rise and found himself half jumping, half crawling backwards, his movements made clumsy within the confines of his sleeping bag.
“What—what are you doing?” the American asked in Dari.
Benazar took two quick steps towards him, closing whatever meager distance he’d managed to put between them.
“Please—please don’t!” His terror grew with each passing second as he took in the flames flickering off of the whites of the Benazar’s eyes. There was a detachment in those eyes that he had not seen earlier.
In a low tone that was barely audible, the soldier said, “I want you to listen to me very carefully.”
…..Just a taste of the novel and of Doug Grant’s prose. Doug is a contributor for Across the Margin.
