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This writing was accepted for publication in the 84 page perfect-bound issue... cc&d magazine (v207) (the April 2010 Issue) This is also available from our printer as a a $7.47 paperback book (5.5" x 8.5") perfect-bound w/ b&w pages

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They Left Because

Maya Gurarie

    #60 No one knew her name. The medics found out she was pregnant.
    #59 She started screaming during PT. She didn’t stop.
    #58 She talked back to the staff and didn’t like singing Christian songs on Sunday.
    #57 She wanted to get rejected only by the best. She was.
    #56 She showed off her mediocrity at the leadership course during Officer Candidate School for the United States Marine Corp in Quantico, Virginia.
    #55 After a stay at the local hospital everyone knew she wouldn’t graduate.
    #54 The staff wanted her to stay since she came up through enlisted ranks, but she got out anyway.
    #53 She went back to teaching.
    #52 She broke her foot. She wore boots for three days as she walked to chow while the paperwork went through.
    #51 She got red streaks up her legs from infected wounds. It’s called cellulitis.
    #50 She said there was a boy waiting for her back home.
    #49 Too quiet.
    #48 Too dumb to pass the academic tests. She tried again the next year.
    #47 She was squatting in a dress on her suitcase before going on liberty. The sergeant instructor reported she wasn’t wearing any underwear.
    #46 She mystified everyone by praying in Chinese. She wasn’t fluent.
    #45 She went AWOL, came back and dropped out of a ten-mile hump.
    #44 She never grew up.
    #43 She talked like a baby and couldn’t do a pull-up.
    #42 She lost every round of pugilstick fighting.
    #41 She didn’t want it bad enough.
    #40 Acute pain caused by damage to the spinal chord.
    #39 She contracted a cold that turned into bronchitis after opening her mouth during the swamp obstacle course.
    #38 Just tired.
    #37 She looked the platoon sergeant in the eye.
    #36 Scholarship athlete. Sprained ankle.
    #35 to #27 couldn’t hump a 45-pound pack. The rest got hairline fractures in their legs or sprained their ankles.
    #26 She graduated boot camp with 25 other candidates in her platoon. Later she dropped out of the Marine Corp, wrote poems and had gay thoughts.

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