A War Story

August 6, 1918
Reims, France
Dear Emily,

I look at your picture fondly knowing that I will soon be home with you. I am astonished that I was not wounded when so many of my regiment were. Thankfully, I wasn’t called to go over the top to no man’s land. The horrible trench I have lived in these many weeks is too far back to throw grenades from. Nor for the shrapnel to hit us. I think about our future, dearest Emily. Being apart from you makes me know that me becoming a doughboy was something I was destined to do. The Allies have won this battle which some say hopefully will be the turning point in the war. My infantry regiment has been pulled back and we are told to prepare our rifles and bayonets in the inopportune case that the Central Powers should attack the city. I do not believe they will, as our artillery is much stronger than theirs. I fear I will always remember the sounds of the machine guns and the screams of the dying, but fear not, my darling, for I shall not be among them. Communication is good among the regiments and it is believed that we will be sent home soon. I cannot wait to hold you in my arms again Emily.

Forever Yours,
William

This was the letter I got from my fiancé near the end of World War I. My name is Emily Louise Carter. He was my first and only love. I saved every letter he sent to me while he was gone just as I know he saved mine. He wrote to me almost every day. He chose to enlist even though his family had told him not to. His family was in the cotton business and he only had one younger brother who didn’t want to take over if something happened to their father. I begged him to stay with me and not enlist but he just kissed me hard and said, “The country needs strong young men to win this war. I love you, but I love my country as well.”

On the day he shipped out he made me promise that if he didn’t come back I would move on and marry someone else. I made the promise knowing that if I did marry someone other than him it would be a long time after. He wrapped me in his arms squeezed me tight and kissed me. A long and sweet kiss to “keep me going for the long time we’re apart” he claimed. I held in my tears until he was on the ship and it was almost out if sight. I wasn’t the only woman who had done this.

Some of those women were month old brides, some were like me a fiancée, and others were only married a few years. We formed a support group of sorts. We met every Saturday at someone’s house. Each week it was a different house. We would bring the letters we got from our men and food, a lot of food. One woman I bonded with most was named Bonnie. She had only been married one year and was pregnant. When her husband had shipped out she hadn’t known yet. She had to tell him by letter. Every month we would measure her waistline and cut a thin strip of material that long to place in the letter she sent. Will told me that they all poked fun at him because each month the strip got longer and he would almost cry because he couldn’t see her. They did it to cheer him up. One said that if it was his wife he would bawl as soon as he saw the letter. Will once wrote, “I’m glad we decided to wait until we were married to make love, for I don’t have Ted’s emotional strength. Each month he gets that material strip and smiles through the tears. Then he ties it around his arm or ankle and checks often to make sure its still there.”

After two years I got that letter. At this time we all did. The letters from our men saying that everyone thought they would be home soon. Bonnie had given birth to a handsome little boy that she named Jeremy after her grandfather. I drew a picture of the two of them for her to send to Ted so that he could see his son. That became the new monthly tradition. That is until Jeremy started crawling on his own he wouldn’t hold still long enough. Ted got mostly sleeping pictures after that.

It was November just two weeks in. I hadn’t got a letter in a few days, but none of us did. I looked at my ring. Remembering the day he had given it to me. It was a beautiful summer afternoon. We were sitting in the shade of an old oak tree next to a small creek. There was a cool breeze blowing. I sat leaning against the tree with his head on my lap. I had been staring aimlessly out over the water. I could feel his eyes on my face. I looked down at him and asked why he was staring at me. He replied, “I see a beauty that made God break the mold because it was too perfect.” He grinned at me and then pulled the ring box out of his pocket. “I have to make sure that no one tries to steal my perfect girl. Marry me?” Tears had filled my eyes and clogged my throat. That’s what he had been doing with my father earlier and why mother thought it was such a good idea for us to be out alone together. I nodded. Tears blurred my view of the ring then as it did now.

The next morning, Bonnie was the first to arrive at my house. She was very excited. When I asked why she said that the ship had arrived in the bay just minutes ago and that everyone was there. All our men had survived this war. Not all of them whole. Some were still recovering from their wounds but they were only minor. No lost limbs, or horrible grotesque facial scars. Bonnie held Jeremy on her lap in my car as I drove us to the dock. We parked a few blocks away and found the rest of the group there waiting for their men. When the first man got off the ship we all rushed forward. As did, apparently, the men. There were hugs, kisses, whoops, and shouts of joy. I stood on the sidelines and watched Ted finally meet his son, who promptly shouted “UP!” and was placed in his father’s shoulders. I was starting to worry that Will had passed me when I felt two strong hands bracket my hips and pull me into a hard male body. “Sir, I am waiting for my fiancé please take your hands off me!” I joked. I knew that it was Will. He then turned me around and kissed me breathless. “I missed you. I must have read your letters a hundred times each in the past two weeks.” His arms rested on my hips and my own were on his shoulders. “I missed you too. I was getting worried that something had happened when I didn’t get a letter from you.” He kissed me again softer this time. He didn’t let go of me as we made introductions to the other men and women that had been a part of our lives for the past two years.

Eight months later we were married. I officially became Emily Louise Carter-Hawkson. The ceremony took place under the very oak he proposed under. Everyone that was at the dock that day had been invited, as well as our families. I couldn’t have been happier. Our life together wasn’t easy. No one’s life is or ever will be. We had 4 children two sons, William Jr. and David, and two daughters, Alice and Michelle. We taught our children that loyalty and strength were important traits to have. Our children instilled our values in their children and hopefully that generation will as well.


A Year of Kara Marie


She watched as her mother popped pills like they were pez candies. Her mother then washed down the half a bottle of Valium with half a bottle of Jack’s. The other halves came next, but much more slowly. Her mother laid down on the bed, slowly she died. Kara knew he would come for her now. Her step-father, a heinous wife-beating, pedophile bastard. Kara wanted to die with her mother, but couldn’t. She knew she was stronger than that. She had to be. For the sake of the baby just starting to grow in her belly. Not her step-father’s baby. Kara had looked up his criminal record on a friend’s computer. He was fresh out of jail for raping a 13 year old when he met her mother. Kara was 17 and in a few months she would be 18...and a mother. He wasn’t home yet. It was payday. That meant he would be home at 2 am totally drunk. He would beat and rape her mother and then pass out. Kara’s mother only married him because of Baby Ricky. Kara closed her mother’s eyes with gentle fingertips and prayed that God would forgive her mother for her lack of strength.
A few hours later, she had packed the essentials and took the money from her mother’s purse, what little there was. A backpack held some of her and Baby Ricky’s clothes and his diaper bag. He was a year and a half old. He hadn’t known anything but the dingy apartment in a bad neighborhood. Kara made sure to pack her mother’s journals before leaving as well. She wrote in it every morning after breakfast. Kara’s father used to say that it was her way of expressing her emotions. Her step-father said it was a dumb waste of money. Kara left the apartment and got on a bus with Baby Ricky. They got off at a stop and found a payphone. Kara called the police and told them what had happened to her mother. They then made their way to their grandparents. Her mother’s parents. Kara’s step-father was banned from the premises. They had security guards. The head of security was a 50ish man named Steve. He was a really nice guy. He had been on his high school and college football teams, and was a big bear of a man. But kindhearted, a teddy bear. He had a son a few years older than Kara. David was the father of Kara’s baby. During the summer he worked at her grandparents house on the security team. He was the one in the security box at the gate. David knew he was going to be a daddy. He even bought a ring for her. They were going to get married after her 18th birthday. When he saw her he smiled, but faded when he saw the bulging backpack and Baby Ricky. He opened the gates and escorted them to the house. Kara’s grandfather owned a huge corporation. He hadn’t approved of his daughter’s choices, but loved his grandchildren none the less. As soon as he saw her face he picked up the phone and ordered extra security immediately. He didn’t want there to be any possibility of Kara’s step-father getting in. David started to leave to go back to his post, but was stopped by Grandmother Willows with a hand on his arm.
“She is going to need you now, David,” she said.
He returned to Kara’s side. She passed Baby Ricky over to her grandmother and fell into David’s arms. “I draw my strength from you,” she said her lips pressed against his neck.
“It’s ok. You’re safe now. I’ve got you, and I’m never letting go.” He stroked her hair and pressed a light kiss on her temple. “You have to tell us what happened.” He straitened and gripped her arms. “Did he try to touch you?” They all knew who he was. When she shook her head, David wrapped her in his arms again and whispered in her ear, “Is it the baby?” Her grandparents didn’t know about the baby yet. She was nearly six months along and showed only a little. She shook her head again. “Please babe, tell me what happened.”
She took a deep breath and let it out. She explained everything. From how she found out about James’s criminal record to the depressing facts of earlier that day. “I knew that this would be the safest place for us to be. I told her to come with us but she just wouldn’t.”
Ricky started fussing screaming, “Mama! Mama!” at the top of his lungs. Her grandmother couldn’t calm him. When her grandfather took him he almost immediately quieted. “Mama?” Ricky asked with tears filling his big blue eyes, eyes that exactly matched his mother’s and grandfather’s.
“I’m sorry Ricky. No more Mama. You’ll live with Pappy and Nana now.” Kara could feel the pain radiating in waves off them.
Then the phone rang. There was a detective at the gates. When he finally came into the library where they all had congregated, he let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God,” he said. “We knew that she had children, and were afraid of what happened to them. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you but -”
“We know,” Pappy said roughly. “My daughter killed herself right in front of her children.”
“Ah…” The officer’s forehead wrinkled. “Miss Burmaré can I speak to you for a moment?”
“It’s O’Rielly not Burmaré, but sure.” They left the room and Kara led him into a sitting room. “What did you want to speak to me about?”
“Miss O’Rielly, where was your mother the last time you saw her?”
“She was laying on her bed. There was an empty whisky bottle on the bed next to her. She looked like she had just passed out after a binge. But I saw her down the pills first.”
“Miss O’Rielly, I really hate to be the one to tell you this, but…” He took a deep breath to seemingly settle himself. “Your mother was found tied spread eagle to the bed nude. The pills must have put her in a coma like state. It appears as though she was raped and then her wrists and throat were sliced with a kitchen knife. We believe that your stepfather had something to do with this. The apartment had been ripped to shreds as though someone was looking for something and couldn’t find it. And your stepfather had a history of violence…”
She stood staring for a moment. Then she gave herself a mental shake and said, “I know about his record and what he was looking for. My mother kept a journal since she could write. She wrote in it everyday. I brought them with me. There are memories of good times and evidence of the bad.” She gave him the journals that talked about the violent tendencies of her stepfather.

A few months later, Kara gave birth to a daughter who she named after her mother. Kara was supposed to testify at James’s trial but wasn’t needed in the end. Alanna Charlotte Mitchells was born with a promise that her family would always love and protect her. For at the same time as she took her first breath, James Earl Burmaré was sentenced to 25 years in prison followed by death by lethal injection.
Kara may not have lived a wonderful life, but now at least it would be happy forevermore.


Just Friends?


He watches her lay her head down on the pillow of his spare room. She looks so sweet and innocent. Darron had loved Emily forever. Ever since they met in third grade when she fell off the monkey bars and onto him. He still had the scar on his elbow from that.
“Night Em,” he whispered as he shut the door. Emily was staying with Darron until she found her own place.
“Night Dare Bear.” Her nickname that was created in high school. Darron had gone to hockey camp over the summer after freshman year. He had left a little short and scrawny and came back tall and lean. When she saw him on the first day of school the next year she joked, “You are big ad a bear now Darron, but still as cuddly as a care bear.” She laughed. “Dare Bear.” They were friends, good friends. He watched as Emily went out with other guys. She always tried to hold on to them, but it never lasted. He went to his own bed knowing he would toss and turn over dreams of her.
Emily finally comprehended what was wrong with all of her relationships over the years. None of those guys were Darron. None of them had his caring blue eyes or his spiky black hair with that bad boy curl over his eye. She had dated plenty of men. She knew how beautiful she was. Looking into the mirror the next morning, she wondered what about her Darron was turned off by. She knew he liked her curly auburn hair. It was long and silky and she could never change it. She loved her hair. Was it her eyes? They were a deep emerald with little flecks of gold near the pupils. Was it her body? She wasn’t as skinny as the supermodels, but then who was without surgery or a food disorder. She was curvy, but not fat.
Maybe I should just let him know that I want him, she thought. Yeah, but subtle. I can’t just throw myself at him. She smiled at that image. She could imagine his response to that. Emily brushed her hair and teeth and went out to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. When she passed Darron’s room she heard a noise. She opened the door just a little to peek in and see if he was alright. When she looked he was laying on his back and he was sweaty. Emily felt a jolt of excitement, but she squashed it. He could be sick. She tiptoed into the room and touched his forehead gently. The next thing she knew she was on her back under Darron. A wide awake and slightly angry looking Darron.
He let out a breath and asked, “What are you doing in my bed?”
“You threw me in here. I heard a groan and thought you might be sick so I came in here to check and then when I felt your forehead you threw me here.” She was babbling she knew. She just couldn’t stop. It took all of her control to keep her hands on the bed instead of spreading them on his chest.
He was staring at her. She just realized that the spaghetti strap shirt that she had put on earlier had shifted down. She wasn’t wearing a bra underneath. Her nipples were practically showing. The more he looked the harder they became. “Are you sure Em?” His eyes slowly drifted up to her own. “Is that all you came to my room for?”
She gulped. “Y-yes. I wanted to make sure you were all right.” She shifted and felt his arousal. Her eyes widened.
He grinned. “I want you. Hell, I’ve been dreaming about you since high school.” He licked his suddenly dry lips and swallowed. “Say no now because I don’t know how much longer my control will last.”
“I’ve completely lost mine.” One hand slid up into his hair while the other tugged at the sheet separating them. “There will be no ‘no’s…’” She gave him a sexy grin. “Well unless it’s ‘no don’t stop!’” She pulled him down to kiss her. Their tongues twisted and slid together.
“Off,” Darron growled tugging at Emily’s top. When it was off he growled again and took her nipple in his mouth suckling like a starving babe. Then he moved to the other one as he reached down to her jeans to remove them.
Emily didn’t lay impassive. She slid her hands down his back and around to his stomach. She stroked gently the line on hair just underneath his navel. Then reached down further to his manhood. She stroked and squeezed it gently. He stopped her and shook his head. They kissed again. His fingers drifting lightly down her flat stomach to her mons. He stroked her neither lips with feather light circles.
“Enough! I want you in me now! Darron please!”
He reached over to the nightstand but stopped. He changed his mind. He thrust inside her with one smooth stroke. They let out twin groans. “You’re mine, Em. Say it,” he demanded thrusting and grinding in circles.
“Your’s! I’m your’s and only yours!” she gasped out. “It’s always been you.” Her hips lifted in time with his. She came with a scream that Darron smothered with a kiss. He came shortly after growling against her throat. He collapsed on top of her. When he went to roll off she stopped him. “Don’t. Stay.”
“I’m crushing you.”
“No.” She paused hearing the grumble of her stomach. “On second thought, get off. What do you want for breakfast? Eggs and bacon? Or maybe pancakes? I think I saw some mix in there.”
He laughed as he rolled off her. “Alright, I have a better idea. Put your clothes back on. We’re going to breakfast.” She finished dressing shortly after he did. He looked at her and a grin slid across his face. “Put this on too,” he said tossing her one of his button down shirts.
“Why?” She looked down at herself. Just above her top were little red marks, soon to be hickies. “Oh! Right!” She pulled on the shirt and buttoned it up most of the way and rolled up the sleeves. “So where are we going?”
“There’s a little diner a few blocks away that has a great eggs, bacon, and pancakes breakfast platter.” And it goes right past a jewelry store, he thought.
“Great!” Emily said.
Darron gabbed his keys and wallet and they walked to the diner. On the way, Emily noticed the jewelry store.
“Oh! Look at that! It’s gorgeous! Do you see that pendent there, it’s beautiful!”
“We can stop and look on the way back if you want. I took the whole day off for the apartment search.”
“That won’t be necessary…will it?”
“Not if you don’t want it to be. Em I would love for you to live with me. And not just because you’re a great cook. I like having you around. You give me honest opinions and aren’t afraid to argue with me.” And the sex with you was the most amazing experience of my life, he thought, but you don’t want to hear that.
And the sex, Emily thought, what about that?
They got to the diner and ate breakfast talking about nothing. Darron paid the check over Emily’s protests and they left. On the way back, Darron stopped Emily at the entrance to the jewelry store.
“Come on Em. Let’s just look.” Or buy an engagement ring, whatever, he thought.
“Ok, sure.” They went in and were quickly noticed by the clerk.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“No, thanks,” Emily said. “We’re just browsing.” She walked away.
“Actually, I do. You see I want to buy her an engagement ring but not the wrong one.”
“I understand. Many men feel the same way. I’m going to ask you a few questions and then I’ll show you some rings that seem to fit her personality. Ok. Is she traditional or free spirited?”
“I would say free spirited.”
“Ok. What color does she usually wear?”
“She wears a lot of blues and greens.”
“Alright. What color are her eyes?”
“Green,” he said, “and gold. it’s a dark green though unless she’s excited or really happy…never mind.” He blushed a little.
The clerk smiled a little. “Very good. Do you happen to know her ring size?”
“No…should I?’
“It’s not particularly important. It would just tell me what size to pick first. She has fairly slender fingers. I’ll try a six.” She pulled out a black velvet pad and set it on the glass counter. Then she moved about the ring area and picked out some rings. “Here we are.”
Darron looked over the rings. Then his eyes landed on one that would be perfect. It had a small heart shaped emerald set in yellow gold with even smaller heart shaped sapphires around it. “This one. It’s perfect.”
“A very good choice. This particular piece is $150 and is one of a kind. Do you want to ring it up?”
“Yes,” he said to the clerk. She took the tag and his credit card an went over to the register. Another clerk put the rings and pad away. “Hey Em? Come over here for a moment.”
“What is it?” She looked at the ring in his hand. “Oh! That ring is gorgeous. Why are you holding it?”
“I just bought it.”
“For…who?” she asked hesitantly.
“You,” he said, “Emily…I love you. No one else can compare to you.” He dropped down to one knee. “Emily, I have loved you since you fell on me in the third grade. I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?”
“Darron,” she said taking a deep breath. She ran her fingers through her hair. “Yes. I may not have loved you for that long, but I always compared my boyfriends to you and they all fell short.”
He slid the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit. The clerk came back with Darron’s card and a slip for him to sign. She then handed over a ring box. Emily put the ring box in her purse while he signed and they left the store. On the way back Darron remembered what had happened that morning. “Hey Em…um, do you want kids?”
“Yes,” she wrinkled her brow. “Why?”
“Well…I…I um, I didn’t use a condom this morning and I was planning on getting you to love me anyway so…”
“I would beat you up for that, but I’m glad. I would love to have your baby Darron.”
“Whew. I thought you would kill me.”
“I want your baby Darron, but I don’t want to be fat at my wedding.”
“I guess that means that we will be planning a wedding for Christmas?”
“Of course. I always wanted to be a Christmas bride.”
Darron laughed. “I just thought of something funny.”
“What?”
“Our parents, they think we’re just friends.” They laughed.

At Christmas they were married and six months later a beautiful baby boy was born. Jason Andrew had his mother’s green gold eyes, and his father’s dark hair. No baby could have been more loved.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 12.10.2010

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