render

The commander returned his gaze toward the evening sky. Each time somebody messed up, the enemy was surely watching, he thought. He would not be able to talk to his wife about nights like this. Every mistake invited a catastrophic outcome. When his soldiers were blown apart by IEDs or hit by enemy snipers, he had a feeling of being alone, grasping at the aftermath. As the smoke drifted away, it left him in a miserable state of mind. Nothing left but to fill out paperwork, feeling dead tired and empty.