{"id":20498,"date":"2025-11-24T02:04:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T02:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=20498"},"modified":"2025-11-24T02:04:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T02:04:43","slug":"20498","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=20498","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

A few laughs burst out immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cDude, he ate it!\u201d
\u201cDidn\u2019t even try to catch himself!\u201d
\u201cOld fossil shouldn\u2019t be out walking around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raymond didn\u2019t respond. He couldn\u2019t \u2014 the fall had knocked the wind from his lungs. The mud embraced him, cold and slick, seeping through the worn threads of his jacket.<\/p>\n

For one long moment, he stayed on the ground, eyelids fluttering.<\/p>\n

Then he planted both palms in the muck and pushed.<\/p>\n

Slow.
Painfully slow.<\/p>\n

His body trembled with the effort. His bad knee screamed with the familiar ghost of the injury that had ended his final deployment. Dozens of medals later, nothing hurt him quite like that moment.<\/p>\n

He made it halfway upright.<\/p>\n

\"Honoring<\/p>\n

Then a sneaker slammed into his hip.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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A few laughs burst out immediately. \u201cDude, he ate it!\u201d\u201cDidn\u2019t even try to catch himself!\u201d\u201cOld fossil shouldn\u2019t be out walking around.\u201d Raymond didn\u2019t respond. He couldn\u2019t \u2014 the fall had knocked the wind from his lungs. The mud embraced him, cold and slick, seeping through the worn threads of his jacket. For one long moment,…<\/p>\n

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