Time ust keeps rolling along and no, I am NOT adjusted to the new time so don’t even ask. It’s Wednesday. That means words. Today, it means new words. This is a rough draft. Like I just wrote it yesterday and it hasn’t truly been edited. It will be. What’s it about? Well, the #1lineWed prompt is **SPANGLED**. I won’t mention that when I first saw it, I though it was “spaniel.” Again, don’t ask. Spangled is not exactly a word that pops up in my writing, hence the need for news words–and any nudge that gets me those is a good thing. Basically, the Hard Target team is somewhere with a large TV screen. I’ll leave it there.
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Kin watched the news feed. There was no mistaking the missile explostions or the crumbled buildings. Fires flared and an over-matched civilian fire department did what they could to help extract people. He focused on the ticker scrolling across the bottom of the screen. The name of the place was Mariupol. And the bloody Russians were doing they’re feckin’ best to level the city.

The rest of the team had gathered around the the big screen, all eyes as intent on the images as his own.

“Are the assholes just gonna sit back and let this happen?” Dalton’s voice did a good job of mimicking a Wolf in full growl.

“And what can they be doin’?” Loch asked in reply. “It’s not like they can invade Russia. “

“And a no fly zone is unenforceable on NATO’s part,” Duke added. “It sucks donkey balls—” He glanced down at the woman who’d punched him in the biceps. He smiled indulgently at his wife. “Well, it does, Cory.”

Draping an arm around her shoulders he tucked her in next to his side and pretended he didn’t see the tears in her eyes as pregnant women and children were evacuated from a maternity hospital the Russians had just bombed. A pediatrician, Cory had been in Africa doing charity work when she was kidnapped by a warlord. Duke and SEAL Team Atlantis had been sent in to rescue her. Too bad the whole thing had been a double cross. Still, here he was, married to the love of his life. That said, he and Mother would be having a conversation about involving her in this mission.

“And no, darlin’, we can’t go to Mariupol. That’s not our mission.”

“Aye,” Kin muttered. “No matter how much we’d like it to be.”

The picture on the TV changed and now the night sky was lit up like any city in the USA on the 4th of July. While he held no particular allegiance to anyone but his teammates, Kin called to mind the words to the American national anthem. The man who wrote the poem likely watched something similar to the scene on the screen. As the video changed again, Kin noticed something else. A blue and yellow Ukrainian flag rippled in the wind as bombs exploded behind it. Words of the song came to him. There, under the rocket’s red glare with all those bombs bursting in air, was the proof. It might not be the Star-Spangled Banner, but that blue and yellow flag was still there waving over a different land fighting for freedom in the home of the brave.

He glanced around at the Hard Target team and saw resolve and agreement when he said, “Let’s do this.”
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Since I’m pretty sure **spangled** isn’t a word used in most of the WIPs of the writers who drop by here, I’ll offer the alternative of **shiny**. Or glitter. Sparkly. Take your pick and share some words. Readers, what’s your favorite patriotic song? From whatever country.