Story-by-photo contest #13 - "Astral body" by @sandimal

Nick is a brave soldier of brigade-23 who has a service of 21 years in his army. Everyone calls him "The Hero of the Front". Because he fought fearlessly in all the conflicts he faced. Nick only has 2 more years to serve. After that, the only goal is to live in retirement with his two school-age children and his wife. He has dedicated his whole youth for his country and is counting the days for this. Whenever he gets a break, he never forgets to call his son and daughter on the phone.

On the day which I am going to tell you, early in the morning he tried to call his home. But for some reason he failed on connection. He reported to duty with anxiety. After the morning parade, he learned that he and his team had been used to spy on enemy territory. Remembering his wife and children again for a moment, he prepared his mind for his duty.

His main duty was to give commands to his team. As a senior soldier he had more experiences on war. Because of that he may be nominated to this mission as the team leader. He left with his team with the instructions received and the necessary weapons and equipment. They traveled in a vehicle to an area close to the enemy's territory and from there they traveled on foot through a forest. As the team leader Nick travelled from the front.

According to the map, they should have gone further, but something unexpected happened. He felt something enter his shoulder area. For a moment he tossed and fell. His other members soon learned that he had been shot by a sniper hiding in the middle of the jungle. Thinking that further exposure was a danger to all of them, the others picked Nick up and moved away for cover. Nick didn't even have time to think about what had happened. He felt the whole environment go dark. He felt that the voices of his soldiers were also distant. Little by little he began to feel himself being drawn back to his old memories. He started remembering his friends, relatives and everyone including his wife and children. After a while, he could feel his soul leaving his body and pulling away. He had felt that his soul was being drawn along the paths of an unknown region. He saw his two children going to school as his soul was drawn along that road. He also saw his pet dog walking on the same road.

_{Picture from @bambuka}

He did not remember anything that happened after that and when he regained consciousness he was being treated in his camp hospital. He later painted his dog, which he remembered from his near-death experiences, as follows.

_{picture from @bambuka}

So guys I hope you will enjoy my story a lot. God bless you all until we meet again in a contest like this🙏