In Continuum.

Swamp Things

Yet another week is over,sitting at home before the monitor with a giant-sized mosquito bite on my right wrist.That was from the outfield this week that lasted from Monday till the evening of Thursday.With the mosquitos aside,this outfield was rather different from the usual ones.I mean,it still sucked sure.But the fact that it rained like it never did before sort of added a rather strange and awful favour to the taste of it all.

I dont remember storms being this intense in Singapore.I mean,the way they come down like bullets falling from the sky was literally painful on the sky.We were out in the middle of the field a little beyond the chicken farm when it started to happen.Initially the sky gave off thunders,like warning shots in the distance.We took no heed of it,considering the fact that the sky has been overcasted for the past few days anyway.

The air was still,and the wind was broken and infrequent.Sweat poured down our backs from the hours of continuous bashing through the forest,the rifle slings pulling down,succumbing to gravity's inevitable pull digging into our shoulders like needles.The smell of piss and shit filled our nostrils,as we skirted the circumference of the chicken farm,and within it those poor chickens stared out at us like aliens from a distant planet.They were locked in cages,joined together in rows after rows,like prisoners in cells.The chickens,for some reason,sounded as if they were screaming in their cages,above piles of shit now like small hills of foul smelling garbage.I thought to myself then,as i skirted the broken fences,how does it feel to have your offsprings taken away for food,not actually knowing that for a fact,the simple right of a parent.But then again,perhaps they do know that their children never return once they are removed from under their cages,perhaps that is why they cry so loud and so long even into the night.

We made bends,and more bashings afterwards,cutting across and around fields,and right across a industrial area infested by stray dogs which terrorised Shi Wei by the way.After the rows of factories we stopped in a field with long grasses all around.The head of the line stopped,and we were ordered to squat just amongst the grass,some taller than myself.Just as we were taking a breather,taking sips of water from our water bags,big fat droplets of rain came sailing down from the darkened sky above and all around.At first it felt refreshing,especially after the long walk through the forest.The bunch of us in the file staring making funny noises,and discussed about the best ways to keep our socks and underwear free from water.Then it got worse,and the wind picked up its strength.Soon all around the grasses were bent like green waves upon water,and chilling as it made its way across our drenched uniforms and skin.

We took shelter in the woods nearby,and the rain kept coming down for more than half an hour or so.Miraculously the smokers managed to lid their cigarettes while waiting for the rain to stop,and for me i merely held out my palm to the rain,as they gathered into a small puddle in the centre of it,and the rest of them rolling off my skin through my finger gaps.

Time passed,and finally the rain reduced to a drizzle.The sun was still far away,but at least the wind died down to a gentle breeze.We pushed on,and in front of us was a vast expanse of farmland.Im not really sure what they were farming,but to me it was a rather messed up piece of land with disorganised plots and irrigation systems.Here and there were small temporarily built huts by the farmers,who were in singlet and shorts wandering around the ranks of the men like ghosts in a crowd.

That piece of land,initally just a simple land with crops growing in a random order,was then flooded by rainwater.Our route through the farm was then cut off.It was a long way round to our objectives,and since we were already wet from head to toe(The discussion as to how we should squat in order to keep our feets dry was of course,of no use at all),we decided to cut straight across.

It was unbearable at first,but we got used to the discomfort.Our socks were soaked,and our feet were rubbing against the sides of our boots as we made our way across muddy and disgusting water.There were bugs everywhere,floating on top of the water and crawling up our pants like a scene from Temple of Doom,only wetter.There were spiders skipping across the surfaces,slugs and snails clinging desperately to the edges of leaves and bushes.The water was halfway up our thighs,and PC who was in front of me was complaining that because he has short legs,the water was reaching his...well,you know.The sight of a coconut floating down the stream sent roaring laughters throughout the file as we all pointed at Ah Soon,who is frequently compared to a coconut,due to the shape of his head.

We heard somebody saw a water snake somewhere,but most of the time people we just too busy watching others falling into holes,getting themselves all soaked up with dirty swamp water,or balancing themselves over the edge of hidden holes under their boots.I had a few close calls,but it was hilarious when Shi Wei went into one of those holes and pulled Henry in after him for kicks.A wooden bridge was actually built across a river,but because the flooding was so bad the bridge was covered and we had to feel our way across.That was rather traumatizing,really.

We came through the swamp finally,and before we proceeded on to the objective we sort of did checks on each other before actually going on.All of us had ants,strange beetles and cockroach like insects crawling all over us.Some of the boys freaked when a spider the size of their palms appeared under their SBOSs,then goes missing somewhere on their body.We were busy swapping insects off our bodies when Sergeant Parry said that he saw a centipede crawling up into See Hwee's SBO.We did a check at first,but we didnt see anything strange.I asked if it really was a centipede he saw.He said if it wasnt a centipede,then it mustve been a really scary looking worm.

We dug deep,and See Hwee just stood there as we opened covers and looked under.We found a strange newt that scrambled out of his pocket,and bunch of ants,and just as he was about to raise his arm i saw it,the centipede.It wasnt exactly a centipede,but sure it was a scary ass looking worm.It was about 15cm long,and legs longer than its own body.I pointed,and everybody gathered around in awe.Thankfully See Hwee didnt see it himself,or he wouldve screamed his ass off like a girl.

One more thing added to swamps,aside from the fact that they smell like crap and make our boots wet.The insects,the way they crawl all over your body after a walk through swamps.Sometimes,walking through those at night can be quite a good idea,it seems.