there's this one memory from fallujah that keeps looping in my head at 3am. not the explosions or the gunfire. just this kid's eyes, maybe twelve years old, staring at me from a doorway. i gave him my MRE. he didn't smile. didn't say a word. just kept staring. i still see it clear as day. some things don't leave you, bro. they just become part of who you are.