The Journey

It all started on a bright day in June.  I was headed to the Air National Guard Base in Charlotte to beging outprocessing with my unit.  Feelings on confidence and happiness ran over me when I learned what time my plane would be taking of.  I gave my final hugs and told my family and friends goodbye.  Walked with my dad out to the car and we drove to Charlotte Douglas International Airport.  We said goodbye and he wished me luck, and I got out of the car and headed inside.  The bustle of what seemed like a never ending amount of people had me overwhelmed.  I checked my bags, grabbed my ticket and headed for my terminal.  I recognized three people at my terminal.  Two were girls and one was tall indian man that I knew by the name of Sakya, Sakya Sengupta.  An odd looking man with gunmetal glasses, a white t-shirt tucked in behind his leather belt.  We greeted each other, shook hands and began our walked down the long tunnel headed to our plane. We said hello to the Pilot as we walked on and took our seats only moments later.  At this point I'm not quite certain I was prepared for what might be the most important thing that has ever happened to me.  We chated for a while and finally heard a soft muffled voice come over the speakers telling us to fasten our seat belts and turn off all electrical devices.  We cooperated and before too long we were on our way to a place that only a select few of the countries population had ever been.  When we landed we stood up grabbed our bags and headed for the exit.  All four of us knew exactly where to go, I could practically taste my heart beating in my throat.  We were very anxious, scared even.  I could feel my toes beginning to go numb as I headed for my destination.  As I looked at the other three, I could sence that they too were feeling as though this was their last chance to turn back.  We took the last echoing corridor that led to a desk.  At the desk sat a small woman and a stalky man with a circular hat and uniform.  He glared at us, and told us to take a seat at what looked like pews from a church.  We sat for almost two hours on the hard and uncomfortable pew.  Then suddenly he motioned for us to grab our bags and follow him.  We walked out a door that lead to a bus, boarded, and sat down.  The bus cranked up and started to roll.  We drove for almost thirty miles, I fell asleep against the warm vibrating window.  When I woke up we had stopped.  It was dark outside now, roughly midnight and I could only see one thing outside the bus.  A man walking hurridly towards the bus.  The driver opened the door and the man stepped on.  He began to yell, every word that came out of his mouth seemed like it was earshattering and then I knew, I had just begun eight and a half weeks of hell, Air Force Basic Training, San Antonio, TX.