All's Fair in War

It growls like a train in the night. Thundering through frequently and without bounds of time of day. Each passage marked by more and more amplification to the point of making the walls shake a bit.

It spews forth a soot that becomes denser and denser and covers the clean white snow. The fearful tiny dog patters across it. Staining his paws.

The train goes nowhere however. There are no platforms or tickets or kindly conductors. Its pure evil and must grin its tan/yellow jagged teeth and mock from its confinement. Normally this beast need not be seen nor heard.

This is no ordinary Beast though. I demands to be seen. To be heard. To be known. To be respected. And it takes that which is valuable. It demeans one into saying things they'd rather not say aloud. Especially in front of children. Lessening the man. Drawing him into its own corruption.

It wakes from its dormancy to growl once again and abruptly stop. Only to start again moments before spewing forth amid an alarm. What was that? What's happening? Smoke clouds the area before a hand stifles its advance with the lowering of a red switch marked "emergency".

The Beast. It hates me. And I hate it. Fight or fugue? What to do? I can't run. I can't hide. Immediately I seek counsel in a counter-offensive. The caveman in me immediately seeks to tame the beast. I will fight. I must fight. I am lessened but I am strong. The Beast underestimates the power of the cornered.

Yes, its cold in this world. It can only get colder. But a true warrior doesn't feel discomfort nor pain. He fights. For family. For himself. For honor.

I take charge of my men. Commanded from afar they arrive quickly and with a sense of purpose. Together we plot. We plan. And then we counter-attack the Beast with everything we have at our disposal.

There can be no failure. We must persevere. We will persevere. And we do persevere. But we can never kill the Beast. We can only contain her for a time. Until she rejuvenates or devises a new evil plan. Until her anger and hatred swell up in a great fury and attack once again.

Will I be ready to do battle once again? Can I continue along this front? I'm not sure. But I have to. A warrior isn't allowed choices. He merely has obligations which he fulfills without question and without hesitation. And he will meet them whenever challenged.

So its settled. Its done. For now. My furnace is once again fixed. $502 later. They say I still need a cleaning. Dammit!