In the silence of the night:
0100hrs:
I took the spot in the white box, taking over the equipment from the personnel before me. Armed with a massive sleep deprivation, I told myself: “It’s the last additional duty (on top of the usual 9 day work week)… Hang in there…”I stood and stared ahead… the sound of the crickets acting as my partner and feeling the weight of the equipment and vest. Battling the heavy eyelids, I kept my mind on the duty and an eye on the grass for the snakes that we were forewarned.
Oh! What was that sound? ! Is that a car? I looked around, only to find that I must have been imagining it. I looked at my watch.. “huh? only 4 minutes have passed?”. Time seems to slow to a standstill when you are not occupied with something to do.
29 times I looked at my watch. Each time finding that only 4 minutes or less have passed.
0300hrs:
I saw a guy, wearing the same outfit, walking towards me. Oh good. Time for shift change. I looked at my watch for the 30th time in that 2 hours, heaving a sigh as I returned to the holding area waiting for dawn to break.
A few hours past dawn, I walked away from there, a zombie on my feet, glad that it is finally over.
