Flash Fiction: Oh dark thirty

It would come, it always came. The time when he had to rise before the sun. He shaved and started the morning brew. He dressed and  laced up his boots, stopping to kiss his slumbering bride before he left. There was no calling out sick in his profession. His job was a passion, he was willing to stand in the breech to keep others safe.

Today might be training, but as they always say train how you fight.

It was dark as he felt the helmet on his head, and cold steel of the rifle in his hand. Today was a day at the range. It was time to hone his craft, so that he could keep his country safe from enemies foreign and domestic. He is an American Soldier, always ready to heed the call.