Memories
By Trick Steven
The RED Sniper was sitting in his usual spot in his sniper's nest, leaning back on his chair and drinking his decaf coffee with his sniper rifle across his lap. From his vantage point, he could see the BLU's base clearly; however the opposing team hadn't been out much. The only person that was cocky enough to come to the RED base was the BLU Scout and the Sniper easily put a stop to him with a single bullet to the head. But Sniper didn't mind the wait; after all it was what he was good at.
The Sniper was so intent on keeping watch that he didn't notice the scorpion making its way towards his boot on the dusty floor. It wasn't until it crawled on to his shoe that he noticed it. Behind his sunglasses, Sniper narrowed his eyes. He then crushed the scorpion into the dirt, leaving a dark smudge on the floor. Sniper had something personal against scorpions.
His deep-seated hatred for the eight legged creatures went far back. Back when he lived at his family's cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia.
There wasn't much to do then; when he was a young boy he would help his father with the branding and would hunt after rabbits with the shotgun that he got from his grandfather as a birthday present. His mother always worried after him; she was from Sydney and never really understood the outback as much as his father did. As a result, she would fret over her son's exploration of the bushland but the Sniper's father always reassured her.
"That boy is tough." He would say. "He knows this land better then the back of his hand."
And Sniper remembered fondly the time he killed a six foot crocodile from a nearby billabong and brought it home; his mother nearly fainted at the sight.
There were other stations nearby, but there was always enough shrubbery and grasses to go around without much competition. Sniper really didn't care too much for the other stations; however when one of the local graziers brought his daughter to the area one day, that caught the young Sniper's interest. At sixteen, there weren't many people his age especially in the outback. Some of the stockmen were close to his age and sometimes after working the cattle they would talk over a few beers. However this girl was different.
The first time he met the new girl she was covered in head to toe in dirt. She said she was caught in a dust storm but she was smiling like she didn't mind at all. The fact that a girl actually liked getting dirty was a foreign concept to him. He met her again about a week later when he found her near an outcrop of rocks that he liked to visit. It was then when he found out that she liked the outback nearly as much as he did. So he promised her that he would take her out on an outing.
That one outing soon turned to many more. As much as Sniper didn't want to admit it, he was starting to become fond of the girl. They often went exploring and hunting together so much so that his family and even the stockmen began to tease him about it.
However he just ignored them. The fact was he doubted that she felt the same way he did about her. She never said or did anything to suggest even the slightest hint of liking him in that sense. They were merely friends.
One day Sniper decided to camp near Ayers Rock. So he and his friend drove out to the sacred sandstone and hiked in and around the area. After a full day of climbing and exploring, they were exhausted. They settled in a rock cave and set up camp for the night.
As he was putting down his sleeping bag, Sniper couldn't help but look up. His friend was at the cave entrance, looking at the landscape as it was illuminated by the setting sun. Sniper sighed; he should just forget about her, really. When she turned around, he quickly found something else to do.
As he was trying to tear off the loose fibers of his sleeping bag, a hand touched his arm. Surprised, he looked up. It was his friend, but the look she gave him wasn't her usual confident smile or devil-may-care-attitude. It was vulnerable and it took Sniper aback.
She sat next to him and began to apologize; that she truly did like him but that she didn't know how to admit it until now.
He shushed her and kissed her before she could say another word. Admittedly, he was a bit self-conscious because at that age he hadn't kissed many girls. But when she gave out a little sigh and began to kiss him back, well…he guessed he did well enough.
In the course of that evening, one thing quickly lead to another. But it didn't really hit the teenage Sniper until he woke up in the early morning and saw his girl sleeping in the same sleeping bag as him. When he eyed the discarded clothes in the corner, he then remembered the events of last night.
Normally he would've been up and running at that hour but an arm then wrapped around his chest and Sniper smiled; it wouldn't hurt to sleep in just this once.
A few hours later Sniper and the girl were up and getting dressed. She already made some oatmeal in a tin pot and both ate it even though it tasted a little bitter. She still needed to get her boots on and was reaching for them when Sniper reached behind her and pulled her closer to him, kissing her neck. She giggled and pulled away, reminding him that they still had a long drive ahead of them.
Sniper reluctantly pulled away and packed their gear, carrying it away and loading it into the car outside. When he came back to the cave; he noticed that his girlfriend was rubbing her foot and grimacing. When he asked what was wrong she said that a scorpion was in her boot and stung her, but that she was fine. Believing her, Sniper helped her up and handed her backpack to her. But once they walked out of the cave, he knew something was wrong. The girl was starting to become pale and out of breath. She leaned on the rock wall for support as she tried to catch her breath but Sniper had her lean on him as they made their way down the sandy path to the car. He helped her up into his Jeep and quickly turned on the ignition, driving as fast as he could down the road. He checked periodically at her to see if she was still breathing; she was, but it was becoming shallow and shaky. Sniper reassured her that he was going to find help as soon as he could; he knew that there was a Flying Doctors clinic a couple of miles away.
It seemed like an eternity before he found the air strip with a small clinic beside it. They took her on a stretcher and he was left in the tiny lobby, waiting. He told the receptionist the phone number of the girl's parents and they arrived in about an hour, along with Sniper's parents. He explained to them on what had happened and then the doctor came into the lobby.
She was fine, he told them, but she was very lucky to be alive. If she arrived any later, she would've surely died from anaphylactic shock.
The doctor let the girl's parents in to see her while Sniper's dad congratulated him on his quick thinking. The young Sniper didn't say anything.
When she came out with her parents, her father approached Sniper and said, "Don't you ever see or speak to my daughter again."
Sniper's father was confused; when he asked what the matter was, her father simply told him, "Ask your son about it."
Sniper looked at his girlfriend and she bowed her head in shame; so her parents knew.
That was the last time he ever saw her again.
After that year, things at home didn't do too good. He continued to do less on the station and wandered more into the wilderness. His relationship with his parents became strained; they were already unhappy that he decided not to take over the family business and the scorpion incident simply frayed it even more. The arguing with his father became so intense that one day he got up and left, taking food, water, and his hunting rifle into the Never Never.
Needless to say, Sniper did contact his parents later on in his life and on occasion visits them back home, even if they don't approve with his line of work. As for the girl, he never tried to contact her again; if it wasn't hard enough to reconcile with his parents, he couldn't imagine what it would be like with her.
Maybe it was unfair to blame the scorpion for his trouble; but then again Sniper wasn't really the forgiving type.
Author's Note: Since this story is mostly told through memory, I didn't put much dialog for this reason. It's also the reason why I didn't put any names in the story either. Memories can be vague and since this took place when Sniper was a teenager, it could be plausible that he forgot the girl's name or chose to forget about it.