Your story has a strong arc, @buezor, and good character development. You fill us in smoothly on Colin's personal history so we understand his dilemma. That he should run into an old friend who is also associated with the military is reasonable. You certainly use the prompt well.
essay on writing dialogue. Your technical structure could use refining, although the dialogue itself is convincing. Also, for future reference, Middle East is capitalized. These suggestions are meant to help you. Your story is great.What you might consider doing is reading @jayna's recent
Thank you for sharing this with us. We appreciate that you support other authors in the community with your comments. Nice to see you here again!
Thank you @theinkwell for always giving me tips and tools to be a better writer. I'll surely keep these suggestions at heart.