The rest of the day went smoothly, with only minor setbacks and hitches. Macintosh was right not to have eaten too much too quickly at breakfast, but others hadn't been so wise. By the time they had arrived at their first PT class after breakfast, at least a quarter of the squad had thrown up on the way, and others were dry heaving just from having to run. Macintosh couldn't help but smile a little when he saw Topnotch's hulk of a friend doubled over next to the road because he had eaten too much. It wasn't that Macintosh hated him, he just liked to see a little bit of Karma in the world.

The rest of the week went about the same as the first day, but by the end of it, all of the cadets were getting into shape, and used to the structure of military life. They managed to run in a properly formed squad and keep their dressing. Biggs had shed more than a few pounds, in fact they all had. Macintosh had kept his new friends close, and Topnotch still occasionally ridiculed them. Whenever he did though, Reelin always had a sharp comeback ready.

It was Sunday, their day of leave and relaxation. Macintosh decided that, since it was his first chance to, he would grab a payphone and call home. He threw in a few bits, picked up the phone and dialled the number. He took off his beret and stood quietly as the phone began to ring. It rang only once. Obviously they were waiting, Mac thought.

He heard someone fumbling with the phone, and then a tiny voice said, “Hello?”

Macintosh identified the voice immediately as his little sister, Applejack. “Hey there, short-stack.” Macintosh said, unable to keep himself from chuckling. It wasn't that the joke was any funnier than the other one hundred times he had used it, it was more of a relaxed laugh because he was finally talking to a member of his family again. “How's life back home?”

“Oh, same-ol, same-ol.” The young Applejack replied. “Me 'n Granny've been hard at work keeping everything together here without you. When're you coming home?”

Macintosh had a mixed emotion of sadness and happiness as he replied. “I've only been gone a week. Hopefully, though, I'll be done training in about six more weeks and be stationed somewhere close to home, so I can help out on occasion.” He didn't know for sure whether they would station him near his home, but he held out hope.

“I miss you tons, Big Mac.” Applejack said. “I can't wait til you come home.”

“Neither can I.” Macintosh leaned against the wall of the phone box. “Can I talk to Granny?”

“Lemme check.” Applejack quickly responded, practically dropping the phone on the desk and causing Macintosh to recoil from the phone. He could hear Applejack excitedly calling for Granny. Eventually, Applejack came back to the phone. “Sorry, big brother. Granny's a little bit busy at the moment. She's getting some things together, but she says if you call a little later, she'll be free to talk.”

“Alright. I will.” Macintosh said. Not wanting to say goodbye, he just stood there in silence with his little sister on the phone. Neither of them wanted to be the first to say goodbye. Eventually, though, a voice came over the speaker saying “one minute remaining, please deposit two bits.” Mac would need the money for later, so he broke the silence with the first goodbye, and him and his sister hung up the phones. Mac stood there with his hoof still on the box as he could almost feel his connection to the outside world breaking. He solemnly replace his beret on his head and took a deep breath. He then looked up to see Marktime and Splintstitch walking by on the road, and ran to catch up with them.

“Hey, Mac, I didn't see you there. Where were you at?” Marktime asked.

“Just on the phone with my little sister.” Mac replied.

“She cute?” Marktime joked.

Playfully slapping Marktime on the back of the head, Mac replied, “She's almost half your age.” They all laughed.

“What did you talk about?” Splintstitch inquired.

“Oh, y'know, stuff.” Mac shrugged. “They really miss me.”

“Oh, man I'm sorry.” Splintstitch said.

“Why?” Macintosh asked, wondering why talking to his family would be a bad thing.”

“Well,” Splintstitch began, “It's always hard hearing that your family misses you. That was the hardest part about college. Did you guys talk about how long it'll be before you come home?”

“Yeah.”

“Bad idea, Mac.” Splintstich shook his head. “It's never a good idea to talk about time, because it can always seem longer than it really is. Some people start counting the days, and it gets to be like water torture.”

“Water torture?” Mac raised an eyebrow.

Marktime began tapping Mac on the forehead. “You get water dropped on your head at specific time intervals, and your left in a quiet room. Eventually you have nothing better to do, so you start counting the time between drops. It can drive you insane.” Marktime stopped tapping.

“If you start counting the days before you go home, either you'll be depressed because it's taking too long, or you might not end up going home when you expected to, and that can be... Well, it can be rough.”

“I see.” Mac nodded. “So, next time I'm on the phone, I'll try to stay away from talking about time.”

“That's a good soldier!” Marktime said in his best impression of Sergeant Fallout, lightening the mood a little bit.

When they got back to the barracks, Reelin was playing solitaire on his bunk. Splintstitch convinced him to deal a hand of Euchre, and they played a few teaching games until everyone knew what they were doing. They got so into the game that they didn't notice it start to get dark outside as they played the hours away. Eventually, a voice came over the loudspeaker, confining everyone to barracks for the night, because it was getting late. Reelin put his cards away and they all got ready for bed.

When lights-out was called, Mac settled into bed for a minute or two before sitting up and hammering his head against the bunk above him, which held Marktime. As he recovered from his impact, his head was reeling. He had completely forgotten to call home again, and might not have another chance to call until next Sunday. There was nothing he could do about it now, he though. So he lay back down, and tried to calm his nerves. He didn't sleep well that night, nor any night all the next week.

Author's Note

I know this one was a little short, but next chapter should be longer and more interesting. Thank you for reading.