The Sniper

Crouching near the parapet, he waits in anticipation. A bead of sweat rolls down his temple and he presses his lips together.  His hands are steady as he takes aim. His fingers curl around the trigger of the AS50 that he keeps close to him, even in his sleep.

Sleep.  When was the last time he slept? His mind was always alert and his body would tense up even at the sound of rustling leaves.  His eyes would fleet in all possible directions, trying to detect a faint movement. There was no time to sleep in this game.  The game of survival, which had only one motto- “Shoot or get shot at. Kill or get killed. “

He rolls his shoulder and curses softly.  A stray bullet had just grazed by his right shoulder, the previous night. It still stings, every time he moves his shoulder. He remembers how he had almost shrieked in pain as he dabbed a bandage soaked in iodine over his wound. Remembering that, he feels better almost immediately. This sting seems like nothing in comparison to that! How he wished he was away from this place, away from the game of life and death and busy playing houses with his little angel.  She was two years old now, and had never seen her father. She had never felt his arms around her, never had him whisper into her ears that he loved her with all his heart.  Of course, she never missed him. She didn't even have the faintest idea of his existence.  Her mother was smart enough to marry a decent man as soon as she conceived her. He doesn’t know much about the husband except that he has a stable job at a bank. He knows that the only things that keep him up at night are unpaid electricity bills and a cheating wife.  Maybe he is still unaware of the latter though, he chuckles.  He feels a pang of jealousy, sometimes, wishing that he had a normal life like that fool.  However, he knows that he would soon grow tired of it, normalcy bored him. He needed some thrill in his life.  And yet…

He snaps out of it. There was no time to get distracted.  Every second counts when you’re stuck in the crossfires.  He narrows his eyes and takes aim again. His target was lurking near the bushes. He’s a fool if he thinks his camouflage would actually work, he thought. It was clever, no doubt, but not clever enough. Though he was covered from head to toe in a dirty green uniform that blended into the background, he forgot to take into account that the gun had to be well hidden as well. It was almost undetectable amidst the long blades of grass, but a shaft of sunlight had streamed in through the leaves of the tree he was hiding beneath. The light had caught the metallic barrel of the rifle and shone brightly like a diamond for a second before it was moved away in haste. But, it was too late. His position was revealed and the monotony was broken. The game had suddenly turned exciting.  The blood lusty eyes of the sniper were focussed on his prey. His steady hands never shook once as he pulled the trigger. A wheezing sound was heard and after a split second, the head slumped to the ground. The semi-automatic rifle rolled away from him and the body grew still. Blood pooled around the head and the lifeless eyes stared at the dust on the ground. Meanwhile, the foolish soldier was still lying on the ground, below the tree; waiting for a faint movement to break the monotony.