Planet of Extinct

Mona got ready for the unit visit. She wore her formal cadet uniform, neatly pressed, perfectly fitted, looking as dashing as an army officer. Taking her beret, she walked down the hallway.

She smiled to herself when she remembered the text she got early in the morning "Take care" from him.

Her mom was already waiting for her holding the car keys. "Two minutes, mamma", Mona said and took her boots to shine them. She polished them for a good 4 minutes, two each, leaving no spots. ✨

She put them on, sitting on the sofa. Her father came to the hall and started giving her a lengthy lecture about safety, "Don't run, don't get hurt. If you're uncomfortable about anything, call me. Eat well", etc, etc, etc.

"Papa" the instructions didn't stop. "Dad!"

"Huh?"

"I will. Bye, we are getting late."

Saying this she ran towards the main door. Swala followed her, asking whether she would like to drive the car, for which Mona shook her head, saying, "I don't want to get late. I will drive on our way back."

Swala chortled seeing how confident she was about her own skills.

As soon as the journey started Mona drifted to sleep. Taking support of the car's door she entered a zone of unreachability. Her unit was one and a half hours away from their home. More than adequate to doze off.

After reaching, Swala woke her up. Wiping her drool she squinted her eyes open. She threw a smile at her mum. 😁

Mona looked out of the window to find her batch mates in the crowd. When she spotted them she hopped out of the car and bounced towards them.

"Bye mamma" Evidently elated. There was this one senior she always admired and loved, she directly went to her and stood next to her.

"Long time, how are you?" that senior asked.

"Amazing sis. What about you?" Mona replied.

"Good" the senior smiled ever so warmly, "So, this will be our last meet?"

"I don't think so. Not leaving you this easily. I am gonna follow you everywhere"🤭

Ava chuckled. "Sure," she said.

Breaking their reconciliation there came a command to 'Fall in'. They hustled and formed their flawlessly aligned files in a flash. That joky atmosphere was long gone. Now, covered with seriousness. They stood there in attention, waiting for their next command.

They were informed that the commander would be here in a while. The officer in charge asked them to set themselves.

"I want tight belts, clean boots and a perfect uniform. No flaws will be spared. No strand of hair will be out of your beret. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir" they shouted out in synchrony.

"Is that clear?"

"Yes sir"

"Louder"

"Yes sir" they screamed their lungs out.

"Disperse"

They moved to their assigned corners and checked head to toe. From the collar fold to the tied laces, everything. Mona tightened her belt to an extent where even a finger could not enter the belt. She had a bad experience with belts last time in the camp. While doing the parade, her belt loosened up, the commander noticed it and asked her to run 10 rounds around the ground. She didn't want the history to repeat itself.😅

Swala was sitting in the area given to the parents. She kept taking glances at her daughter and clicked a few pictures of her. "Woo, her duality is no joke. Who can believe she is the same one I see at home" she beamed, like a proud mom.