Prologue - Watching the War
The television flickered in the background - silent, forgotten - but neither of us was watching anymore.
She moved around me in quiet circles - my wife, only four months into forever. Folding a shirt here. Adjusting a strap there. Her silence said everything her lips did not.
I sat cross-legged on the floor, a worn checklist beside me, my C-bag half-packed. Boots. Uniform. Socks. Shaving kit. Canteen. Every item double-checked, triple-checked - as if certainty itself could be packed like gear.
She moved around me in quiet circles - my wife, only four months into forever. Folding a shirt here. Adjusting a strap there. Her silence said everything her lips did not.
I kept talking, more for her than for me. "It's going to be all right." They were not lies. They were the kind of gentle fictions people use when the truth has no shape yet.
You’ve felt this before
The weight. The pressure. The expectation to keep moving, even when everything says stop.
This story doesn’t just describe it. It understands it.
Listen to the Preview
Hear the opening atmosphere of The Weight of Hurdles.
Use the player below to listen to the audiobook preview. The audio file is served from the site downloads folder and is not bundled inside the theme upload.
Preview excerpt from The Weight of Hurdles. Full audio options are available from the purchase page.