Until we meet again (A war romance) (#Wattys2015)

End

The boy gathered around the fire, and warmed his hands. He watched the flames dance with each other in reds and oranges and yellows. Usually, he would have been fascinated with this glorious sight, but now his mind was on something else: The story. His parents had always promised they would tell him of how they had fallen in love, but tonight was the night they had always promised they would tell him- his thirteenth birthday.

His mum looked after his grandma’s animals down on the farm, as grandma was far too old to do anything like that anymore. Mum always liked to ride Truffle, the horse that Dad had given her as a wedding present. This was one of the very few details he knew of their lives before him. His Dad was an engineer and fixed cars for people. He knew he had been in the army before he had been born, but otherwise, he had never talked about it. He would alwayseither leave the room or go awfully quiet when the subject was even briefly mentioned. Mum was never too eager to talk about it either. All Dad had ever said was, “I hate the things I did, so I just want to help people,” and that’s all he had done since. The boy smiled, he was proud to call him his Dad.

Just then, he heard the door close- quietly, but loud enough for him to hear. In an instant, he ran out towards his father, who enveloped him in a hug.

“Missed you dad,” Will smiled, and his Dad squeezed him, “Missed you too.”

His Mum appeared from behind her dad, grinning. Her long hair was tied back in a rough ponytail, and she wore dirty overalls.

“Come on, It’s freezing out here, let’s get warmed up!”

They sat by the fire together, Will in his Mum’s arms, and his Father kneeling beside them, an arm around his Mum’s shoulders. After a few minutes, Will lifted his head up,

“Tell me the story now,”

His Mum frowned, “story?”

“Of how you fell in love, you always say you’ll tell me!”

His Dad smiled sadly, “Maybe another time son…”

“Please, dad,” Will urged and his Dad looked down. When he lifted his head again, Will saw he was smiling, as if remembering a happy distant memory,

“Very well then,”

“Can I get Pete and Pamela?” Will asked, and his Dad nodded slowly.

Will grinned, and ran up the stairs, where his younger brother and sister were playing. They were twins, but they looked nothing alike. Pete had sandy hair like Dad, and chocolate brown eyes like his mother, whereas Pam had cute blonde ringlets and innocent grey eyes. They were both ten years old, but were the same height as Will, and often teased him about it. Will was definitely more like his Dad, with his floppy, sandy hair and slate-grey eyes, as calm as the lake on an early spring morning.

They eagerly came downstairs; they always loved a story. Dolls and toy soldiers were discarded as they rushed down the stairs, knocking Will out the way. Will grumbled, and went to join them. All three of the children gathered around their Dad, who had his Mother sitting on his lap. He brushed his Mum’s cheek with his little finger, and his Mum blushed,

“You want to know how we fell in love?” Will nodded excitedly, kneeling forward.

Matthew sighed, glanced at his wife Diana, and began,

“She sat slumped under the shade of the tree in the heat of the afternoon, her eyes were closed as if she was in deep thought, but in truth, she was dreaming peacefully…”

“So poetic,” Diana mumbled happily, snuggling up to his chest and he grinned, “Anyway… her long blonde hair fell over her shoulders in golden ringlets, onto her pea-green chequered dress…”

The children listened intently, being swept away with every detail. It was long after dark when the story finished, and his Father’s eyes looked distant, but Will saw his Mum squeeze his hand. Dad blinked, and then he was back with them again.

“Wow,” Said Pete, “So I’m named after…”

“Uncle Pete,”

He shrugged, “That’s pretty amazing,”

“It is,”

Will bowed his head, “So I’m…”

“Will,” Dad said, and knelt down beside Will, and put a hand on his shoulder, “He was a great man, he really was,”

“So you named me after him because…”

“You’re going to be a great man too,”

“But he was shot,”

Dad stared solemnly at Will, his eyes dark and deadly serious, “I promise that won’t ever happen to you. I’m just glad all of this is behind us.”

“I feel sorry for Annie,” Pam chirped, “Why didn’t you kiss her when you said goodbye?”

Mum glared at Dad, “She kissed you?”

“...because I loved your Mother more,” he said brightly,

“More?”

“I loved your Mother instead,” Dad gulped and his Mother continued to glare. After a moment though, her eyes softened, and they leaned in and kissed.

“Yuk!” Pete cried, shielding his eyes while Pam laughed. Will just watched; he just wanted to feel love like that someday.

Diana and Matthew broke apart, and suddenly, they were back at that moment when they had heard the good news of the war being finally over. Diana held newly-born Will in her arms, who slept peacefully. Matthew relaxed, his eyes which had once been filled with pain and hurt, were now at peace.

“It’s all over now,” Diana said softly. They paused for several moments.

“Yes,” Matthew said, “It is.”

 ***

Author's note:

So, this is it: The end. I can't really believe it's been a month, and I have over 500 views, that's amazing! Thanks to everyone who made this possible, and who has read, voted, and commented, you have no idea how much I appreciate it! Lets go out with a bang, and get 600 views!

I'm planning of writing an epilogue for this story, so sit tight!

Read, vote, comment!