She sat there, in the dark. Looking out that dusty window for a long time. She sat and watching the dust swirl, disturbed by her occasional movement. She wasn't the only one here. Others sat, still and silent. Simply gathering dust like the box's they rested on. She didn't look at them anymore. She didn't like too. Through the dusty window she looked out of, she saw stars. Their tiny light fighting through the dust and grime. She watched the moon go past, spinning among the field of stars.
She watched the days turn into nights, morphing back into days again. She could see a tree out there. Not like tree's she dreamed of, those had been tall and green even when the snow blanketed the ground. These ones swayed, as the sun got lower in the sky they mottled. Their leaves turned from green to orange and yellow, eventually shedding leaving the thing bare, naked. 
She shivered, watching the trees sway. Slowly the world turned white outside her dusty window, as it had done many times before. She watched the world as it span. The field of stars struggling through the window. The moon waltzing across the night sky and she thought, she remembered.

She remembered the thunder of guns and the howl of the wind. Nothing but the flurry of a blizzard and the biting cold. She remembered the warmth of the fire. The fury and the fire. She was there to protect someone. It had been so long she'd lost count of how many times the world had turned white again and yet she could remember perfectly. It had been her duty.

She curled up as she had done many times, resting her head on the dusty box she lent against, watching the stars cross again in-front of the window. She tried to count. She tried to give them names. She tried to forget, for it was so long ago yet every point of light was a muzzle flash. The sun the flash of fire and the rain the thud of impacts. 

There she sat, looking out at the world. Alone and forgotten. Another tear rolled down her cheek, dripping to the floor.

She remembered when she'd first come here. She was sat right where she was now, staring out of this window. The others never moved, seemingly consigned to their fate. She didn't know, they never talked. Wiping her eyes she stood, tearing her gaze from her window. Looking around she saw what she always saw. Dust.

There was a trap door in the floor, so covered in dust she long ago stopped being able to see it. She knew where it was because of the box sitting on the corner. If she hadn't spent so long in those days staring, waiting for it to open she wouldn't remember. 

A loud sniff, deadened by the dust. She wiped her eyes again and pinched the bridge of her nose. Sitting on the box, she tried to compose herself. It was pointless, she told herself, no reason to get caught up on herself like this. No one to see. No one too care. 

It had been so long, yet she remembered so well. She couldn't remember the sound of her own voice, nor what she looked like but she could still remember what she had to do. What she had done. She was never sure if she'd manage to complete her duty or not. She stared at the box. Lost into the depths of her own mind, so lost she nearly missed the box shifting ever so slightly.

The box shifted. Breaking her reverie as the dust swirled into hurricanes. Her ears perked, the soft light spilling out of the crack glinted off of her wet eyes. The box fell with a crash, making her flinch. No one else up here moved, even the dust seemed to hang in anticipation. Her ears twitched, mouth slightly agape. Her breaths sent tiny swirls of dust spinning through the space. 

The door pushed open. Great clouds of dust swam through the still air. The warm light framed the figure as they hauled themselves up into the space. They stepped over towards the tiny, dust and grime filled window. Smiling the figure turned, now silhouetted by the dirty light flowing through the window. They hummed, humming as they moved. Seemingly dancing through the cluttered space. Picking up a dusty old rifle sitting in the corner, tutting and placing it back down carefully. Turning again, the dust spinning around their hair gracefully. 

She saw that it was a woman. The woman moved again, crouching down by the tear tracks in the dust. She saw her, her smile as she stood. She flinched as the woman placed her hand on her. The woman just smiled again, humming away as she lifted her up. Carrying her down out of the trap door.

She'd shut her eyes. It had just been so bright. She heard the thump of the ladder and the hum of the woman. She dared a breath, the air was just so clean she did all she could to stop from coughing. Despite having her eyes shut, everything seemed so bright. It made her eyes water. Stairs. She remembered stairs, they always seemed to creak. Whether you were creeping along or bounding down them. This woman took careful measured steps. Every step echoed a creak. It made her ears twitch. 

She was placed down on a table, gently. She could feel the cloth on her back yet she did not open her eyes. She could still hear the woman humming. Opening cupboards with a squeak. Setting down objects with a thump. She flinched again at her touch. The woman's hand withdrew again. "Alright." She said into the dead air. "What's your name?"

"L1A1. No. 2247." An automatic response. Something she'd uttered a thousand times without thought. She kept her eyes squeezed shut. Knowing now that she was being seen properly. Not like the others who'd stayed up there. She heard the woman shake her head. "No silly. Your name. Will it help if I tell you mine?" Her voice was quiet. Lilting as she spoke. Musical almost. She nodded, hearing the woman shift slightly in her chair. She imagined her smiling. "Katie. So, what's yours?"

"L-" She hung up on the sound of her own voice. Something she hadn't used for a time so long she'd forgotten since she last used it. It sounded dry. Rusty. "L-Laura."
"Laura huh? That's a nice name."

"You can open your eyes you know, Laura." Laura heard the warmth in Katie's voice. Opening her eyes a crack she shut them back up immediately. Brighter than the whitest snows she'd seen. A tear tracked down her cheek, dripping onto the cloth which prompted a tut from Katie. "Just how long have you been up there?"

"I can't remember." Laura muttered. Her voice sounded so alien to her, something from a dream, or a nightmare. "I can't remember..." A broken whisper. Spilling out of her lips slower than the dust that swirled. 

Katie touched her arm. Gentle, warm. It made her flinch none the less. "Do you know what happened to the others up there?" She shook her head. "Like that when you got there?" A nod. "I see. You've been up there a long time, do you remember what you did before?" Again. The tiniest of nods, another tear welling on her eyelashes. Katie gently took her hand, she didn't flinch this time. "You don't have to worry about that anymore. Alright? I'm going to give you a nice clean okay? It's probably been a while since you've done much but sit in that dusty old attic." Katie smiled, even if the rifle couldn't see it. "We're gonna head out tomorrow, shoot the shit. Talk. That okay?" She nodded. A small puff of dust falling out of her short hair.

The last price slotted back together with a quiet click. It made Katie think, what was a rifle like this doing up there? For so long? She didn't have answers for this and neither, apparently, did Laura. All of the others she'd seen up there were way too far gone. They'd probably been up there longer than she had judging by the dust. She certainly hadn't come out of it intact, at least not emotionally. Physically she was just fine after a good clean yet there was something off about the girl. It made her concerned.

"Laura?" She asked tentatively and there, the girl was back. The dust gone from her hair. Cheeks clean. She looked much better yet she still kept her eyes clamped shut. "Laura. You can open your eyes you know." The girl shook her head. "Too bright?" A nod. Just how long had she been up there? From the way the dust had been disturbed it looked like she'd sat and stared out that tiny grimy window for days on end. She barely talked, when she did she scrunched up her own face. She could barely remember what it sounded like. It turned her face to a decisive frown. Just what had quite happened to this girl?

She leaned back and flicked the light switch. Not that it made much difference, the shadows just changed and deepened slightly. Still, the natural light replaced the soft artificial light and diffused the colours of the room. Gently, squinting. Katie saw Laura slowly begin to open her eyes. A tear spilling yet again across her cheek.
The world was white, whiter than she'd ever seen the snow or the sky. A stark blinding light it was all she could do to keep them barely open. Slowly, ever so slowly and painfully a picture began to coalesce into a whole. A roof, ceiling, painted in a gentle white. The shadow of the lampshade cast an oblong shape towards the corner. Another drip squeezed from her eye as they watered, even squinting as she was it was somewhat painful.

Katie smiled, watching the girl sit up slowly. Rubbing her eyes like a child she smiled back oh so softly. Had you not payed attention you would have not noticed the smile at all. Cute and Innocent were words that rushed to Katie's mind, although she kept the frown off her face it didn't feel like it made much sense. Fragile, the word surfaced among the sea of thoughts. Yes that was it. Sitting there with her short hair, wet eyes. Skirt and shirt, she didn't look at all like she'd imagine a rifle to look like. She understood that this varied from weapon to weapon. Yet here was something, someone seemingly so unsuited to the role she'd been built for. Her eyes were green and looked so far away. It switched, her smile, from one of happiness to one of concern. Laura didn't see it, on account of her still squinting however it made Katie worried. The question of what happened remained present at the forefront of her mind and she wondered. Where had she been? What had she done?

The night had passed without incident. The girl had slept while Katie had amused herself. A bleary awakening with a beaming smile and blurry eyes. Laura was now sitting in the passenger seat of Katie's care, driving out far into the middle of nowhere. She could see mountains in the distance. Katie smiled at her wide eyed expression, watching the trees and fields crawl past out of the windows. She certainly seemed much happier, enough that Katie decided to try broaching the subject.

"Laura?"

"Hmm?"

"You said you remembered what you did before ending up in that attic," Katie glanced her way, she was stiffer than before. Her gaze harder. She nodded. "Do you..." She paused in the awkward silence. "Do you think you can tell me? You were quite upset when I took you down..." Laura continued staring out the window, when she spoke Katie could barely hear her voice over the noise of the car. "I did what I had to do, what I was told to do." Her stare found its way to Laura's face, she didn't quite focus on it, seemingly looking straight through her skull. "Sometimes bad things happen whether you can help it or not." The girl sighed, sagging, seemingly drained of all energy. her gaze suddenly laconic found its way back out of the window. Simply leaving Katie more bewildered than she was before as the car continued down the dirt track.

Katie pondered for a moment, questions flew through her mind. Then it all stopped, she cracked a grin and snorted. "Gosh! So melodramatic!" She giggled, ignoring the rifles death stare. "Lighten up a little! Not so much doom and gloom please." She shook her head, smile slipping a little. "Look, I get it. You've been dealt a pretty shitty hand in life. I don't know what happened, I'm sure you wont tell me but." She smiled at the girl, who was staring at her knees. "Don't dwell in the past. You can't change it no matter how much you try. Trust me, not worth it at all." Laura continued staring down, porcelain skin practically glowing in the sunlight. "Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, or some shit like that. I'm not a philosopher so sue me. Be happy that you're out now, not stuck in that attic with all those..." Katie's eyes flashed in anger for a moment, before returning to their happy gaze. "Others. You're out, you're clean. Just don't worry about something you can't do anything about. We're going plinking, have a nice time. Get you used to doing something again huh? How's that sound?" She reached over a ruffled the girls hair, who sagged her shoulders in defeat. "Yeah... yeah. Alright just, don't do that." Katie just laughed. giving Laura a pat on her head before the hand returned to the wheel. "That's the spirit!" They both began to laugh at the awful joke, Laura's smile was one of the most rewarding things she'd seen for a long time.

She certainly seemed happier, a spring in her step and a smile on her face. Being outside was certain doing her a measure of good. The shoot had gone fine, not a single jam and not a miss. Out of breath and red in the face by the third magazine however. Katie called it there, letting the girl rest on the old wooden bench, supported by a tree. The area was nice, Laura had said, so very different from the trees she'd known before. The mountains providing an excellent backdrop for the cerulean sky devoid of clouds. She stared at the sky, eyes shut and her short hair ruffled slightly by the breeze. She looked serene, peaceful and quiet. Barely moving a muscle.

Rain, she remembered rain on a windswept island. Somewhere, sometime. The steel grey of the locker flung open showing the blinding light of an exposed bulb. Grabbed she was doing, bumped and jarred out of the locker, the room and into the rain. She'd stayed quiet, a lot of yelling and confusion as her carrier began to march off into the rain soaked night. Hours had passed, it had felt like days. Soaked through they'd made it to whatever destination they'd been told. The trees his them from unwanted sight, the small encampment began to grow. Watches were stationed and the men began tending to their rifles. She smiled tentatively, not quite able to see the face of the soldier she now has to protect. She knew someday she'd be called to do what she'd been made for. The fact had been drilled into every aspect of her being ever since she'd been made. You are a military rifle, a servant to the crown bound to protect those who you serve. He asked her name, she replied, "L1A1. No. 2247" She had said with pride. He'd made a thoughtful noise and smiled, she could barely make it out in the darkness. "That's no name, mines Jack, I think I'm going to call you Laura."

Laura opened her eyes, no darkness now, just the eternal blue expanse above her head. She sat up, looking around and saw Katie, asleep under the tree.

"What's it like?" Katie asked, in the car on the way back. Sun low in the sky blazing orange across the cloudless sky. "Being a service rife. I'm gonna introduce you to the couple others I have, a Lovely SKS I call Vira and Lucy, my AR. Vira sat in a surplus bin for a few years before I picked her up and I built Lucy. This" She gestured out across the fields, blabbering on even if Laura was barely listening. "This is all they've ever really known, even if Vira was built with the same purpose as you." Katie saw Laura's vague acknowledgement and took it as a cue to keep going. "Yeah, like I said. What's it like?" She looked up, speaking quietly, barely audible over the engine. "I was a military rifle, a servant of the crown bound to protect those whom I serve. It's what I was made for. To serve, I don't really know what to do with myself now." Katie patted her on the head, "Don't worry about that. I'm su-" Laura cut across Katie's spiel, green eyes flashing briefly in the sunset. "What am I supposed to do now? I'm obsolete, no purpose! No one to serve anymore! I did my duty, served my purpose and got cast aside when I failed! I sat in that damned place for years! I persisted where the others consigned to their fate! I'm worse then them! Persisting when I'm useless! Smash my bolt! Burn my furnishings!"