September: A Love Story That Last Pt 7

    May, 1936. San Diego, California

         The heavy gray clouds rolled in from the shore as Mary sat on the floor of the living area of her home. A group of clear marbles were gathered beside her. A distant roll of thunder caused her to look towards the front door. She picked up a marble that had a hint of blue through the middle of it and placed it on her thumb and flicked it across the floor. It bumped and jumped as it danced along the uneven surface. A small hand stopped it and laughed.

“Almost mommy!” Robert said.

         Robert was William and Mary’s first born. He had all of Williams features and even at three years old already had his mannerisms. Even while William was out working, it was almost as if he had never left the house with Robert around. Robert flicked the marble back towards his mom.

“You getting hungry?” She asked.

         Robert crawled across the floor to gather the marbles into his lap and nodded his head to the question. Mary stood up and walked past the small bassinet. The small baby wrapped in a pink blanket lay with her eyes still closed, breathing in deep. Mary reached down with the back of her hand and stroked her cheek.

Later that evening, after the rain had passed and left a fresh fragrance in the air, Mary walked out onto the small porch.

“They both asleep?” William asked sipping out of a black mug.

“Yes.” Mary said relived as she sat down on the opposite side of him.

William cleared his throat, “Remembering when!” he said in a deep radio show voice.

         Mary laughed every time he did it. She couldn’t remember when it started but she loved it. She loved him. They sat and began reccounting the events in their lives that led them to this point. Every night was a time to remember and she enjoyed every minute of it. She reached and held his hand as he brought a memory to life with words. As he finished she looked to him.

“I never want to see a day in this world without you.” She said. William squeezed her hand and smiled.

    May, 1940. San Diego, California

         William and Mary were living in happiness. With two beautiful children and a nice home with some land, things were as they had always imagined. William, still in construction, had recently taken an offer to work at the nearby Naval Base, helping construct some new buildings. As a civilian contractor for the military he was able to make a little more money which helped as they had planned to extend their family and add onto the home.

William walked in the front door and sat down at the table. His face concerned and excited at the same time. Mary poked her head in from the kitchen and smiled at him.

“Hey! You’re home early.” She wiped off the water from her hands and walked over to kiss him.

“Sit down baby.” William said.

Mary did and scooted the chair closer to him.

“What is it?” She said investigating his expression.

“We want to do a lot with the house, with our family…” He trailed then realized it. “It seems as if I’m going to need to leavefor awhile.” William murmured.

“Leave?”

“The Naval base that I am working at, they are transferring a fleet to Hawaii.” He looked at her as he spoke.

“It’s too much to up and move all of us. I can get even more pay to help push things along by working over there for a while.”

“How long will you be gone?” Mary now holding his hand with both of hers.

“Maybe a year, but I can come back and visit of course.” He said forcing a smile.

“A year?” She didn’t say it out loud but the time frame echoed hard in her mind. William kissed her hand and hugged her.

         “It will be worth it in the long run.” he tried to convince her. She smiled and let him. “Let me change and we can talk more.” He kissed her again and got up. Mary sat at the table staring idly at the small flower that centered it. The Sunflower that William had given her that same morning. She pulled it towards her and smelt it. “Hawaii.” She whispered to the flower and pushed it back to the middle of the table. The phone rang and she got up to answer it.

  December, 1941. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

         William lay asleep in the top part of a bunk bed. The housing for the contractors was nice but it was not home. Most nights he spent tossing and turning, attempting to get comfortable, usually failing. This night was no different. As the early morning sun began to push her way into the room he opened his eyes and starred out the window. He missed Mary so deeply. Every time he went back home, which wasn’t nearly as much as he had hoped, he hated the goodbye all over again. It had been three months since he had been home.

         He reached up onto the wall and pulled the small tact out that held a small square picture. The sides torn and peeled, he rubbed at the surface with his hands. Mary stood wearing one of his favorite outfits, his daughter cradled in one arm and his son holding her hand, standing tall beside her. He wasn’t in the picture. The metaphor caused him to wipe away at his eyes.

         A distant sound of thunder echoed into the small room. He felt the bunk shift as a co-worker moved around in the bed below him. With his eyes back on the picture, he kissed it and whispered, “I love you all. I miss you all.” The thunder rolled again, closer and louder. William looked back out the window. The sun still high in the clear sky. He sat up and pushed the tact back into the picture. He climbed off the bed and walked towards the window. Another boom of thunder hit and he felt the room shake. His heart beat raced.

         He pulled himself up to see where the storm was coming from. His eyes focused on the scene in front of him. His throat grew dry and his hands shook. Billows of large black smoke and fire were lifting from everywhere he looked. He tried to put the pieces together in his mind but his mind did not know where to put them. Another loud boom hit closer and the explosion caused him to flinch and duck back into the room. He grabbed the boots and pullover outfit and tried to put them.

         His roommate, now doing the same asked, “What is happening?” William looked at him while getting his second boot on. He didn’t answer. He looked into his face and saw the fear. His eyes then looked up to the wall, the picture pinned to it. He thought about trying to get to it but decided not too. “What’s happening?” the man yelled louder. William started to answer when another explosion hit and the room went black.