In the middle of the Amazon jungle, south of the equator, what seems like the normal rumblings of nature veil a silent conflict. A battle and currently a stalemate that will be no more with the efforts of one anxious soldier. But, for all the hostility in the jungle, they could never dispose of their true enemy, the sun. Directly overhead at all times the sun knew of its effect and shined harder in their anguish. Whether it was the hellish temperatures or the effects of a stalemate, tensions rose and one soldier was fed up.

Private Ryan had enough, enough of oven-like heat, enough of his yellow-belly commander, and most importantly, enough of the enemy hiding like a bunch of cowards. When he joined the Army he imagined warzones with dogfights overhead or battles in half-destroyed cities like his video games but not this, anything but this waste of time, resources, and Ryan’s youth.

Though Ryan was alone in this sentiment he wasn’t alone in this stalemate. He was joined by his commander officer(c.o.) Captain AJ and Private First Class Kay. The antithesis of Ryan, Captain AJ is a cold and calculating individual who would wait for his enemies to make a mistake then capitalize on it rather than running about like a headless chicken. Due to his careful nature Captain AJ was called many things throughout his career, always criticized for his passive ways but, he was used to it. He stayed consistent and had one of the highest success rates among commanding officers. As long as he kept his unit under control everything would pan out.

Also unlike Ryan, Private First Class Kay was a woman of few words. Direct and result-oriented like her c.o. Kay was the sniper who kept radio silent, hid her position, and watched her squad’s backs. Being a sniper Kay was used to long non-active periods in battles and had no issue with the passiveness of their Captain making Ryan the odd one out.

Yet, amid the rising temperature and tensions, the catalyst wasn’t a surprise attack or the local fauna, it was Ryan’s commander, Captain AJ, seeing the discontent on his face. Being the cautious individual he was, he knew he had to stop Ryan before he did something brash. So AJ told Ryan to relax and like the flash of the pan, it heated up quickly.

Ryan didn’t take kindly to cowardly old men telling him what to do especially if they had never seen any action themselves and told him so surprising AJ. He was tired of the heat, tired of the wait, and most of all, tired of the overly cautious attitude by their so-called commander. Ryan, feeling justified, complained getting louder and louder causing Kay to get on the radio and tell him to “SHUT IT !”. However Ryan didn’t care, he kept going, gathering momentum and confidence he knew it was his time to strike. With the sun behind him and his c.o. taken aback by his lack of control on his unit he grabbed his equipment and dashed into the jungle.

The first few steps were freedom, after emptying his rage Ryan was bird soaring free. But it was duck season and the hunters found their prey. Less than 30 feet away, Ryan was shot down by the enemy sniper. The commotion he caused had let them know of his location, Kay was too distracted to see the scopes glare and the sun had tricked him. It wasn’t a justification to leave, it was a blinder. Blinding himself in a fury of emotion and blinding him from what really mattered, getting home alive. Ryan wished for a miracle to save his life. But nothing happened, the jungle stayed still as ever, the shot even stopping the swaying leaves. Yet in his final moments, something good did happen, for the first time that month, Ryan began to cool down.