Memories of You

    The woman sighed, running her hand through her tangled hair. It had been a long night. The loneliness had increased, as it was almost the fourth year since he had been taken to war. She would never really get used to the lonely space beside her.

    Memories flashed through her mind, of times long past. The days they had been together. She smiled, remembering the years they had known each other, and how lost she had been without him. He had literally saved her life. He was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

~~⊙~~

    The girl was tired, stumbling down the street. She had nowhere to go. Her head was lowered, her feet dragged. All alone. She could not go on. Crouching, she drew herself up into a small ball next to the wall, trying to keep warm. Crying, she quietly asked again and again for parents, siblings, anyone to help her.

    And her prayer was answered in the form of a boy...

~~⊙~~

    The boy and the girl were the best of friends, always looking after each other's backs on the streets. They were inseparable. Being unseen, in the shadows, made them free; they were not tied down by anything. They made many friends, and everything felt like an adventure. They were all happy. But things couldn't last the way they were.

~~⊙~~

    The war seemed so far away, at first. It was a distant terror; lost over seas and far off lands. But it could only remain far away for so long. The street children knew things were changing. The people hurried around, not speaking much, and heads bowed. Shops started closing, and people started moving away, the trains rarely leaving with space onboard. Silence fell on the streets, but soon that silence grew into an indiscernible rumble that could be heard anywhere in the city. Over the weeks, posters with large print and drab colours were taped to the sides of buildings. Long lines were formed, all men, in front of buildings with soldiers round the entrances. And some men were even being dragged away, taken towards the soldier buildings and never being seen again. Life grew harder for the children.

    Tales of some of the street kids being taken by the soldiers reached their ears. It became more of a reality when one of their close friends was snatched when he was walking down an alleyway. The girl worried about the boy, thinking that he would be taken from her forever. And then one day her nightmare became reality.

~~⊙~~

    It was a cold day, and the clouds were heavy with rain. The girl had been searching for something she and the boy could eat, but, with the wind biting and the promise of rain, no-one was crazy enough to venture outside. Drawing her tattered shawl around her, she hurried back to their shelter, resigning herself to a chunk of rock hard bread. As she turned a corner she halted, staring, as two boys were hauled towards the building with the soldiers out the front. Her heart stopped when she saw the faces of the boys.

    One of the boys was her close friend. But that wasn't what stopped her. The other figure was the boy. She took a few steps forward, hesitating. The movement caught his eye; twisting round, he saw her. A deep sadness filled his eyes; his mouth forming soundless words. A promise, just for her: I will come back for you. Tears filled the girl's eyes; stifling a sob, she spun round and ran, unaware of where she was going.

    She ran until she could run no further, barely making it to a wall before her feet slipped out from underneath her.

    The words still fresh in her mind, she curled up into a ball, and tried to fall asleep. Words that she should have said long ago came to her mind. Words she had been too afraid, too unsure about. Words that she had never said to anyone. But now it was too late.

~~⊙~~

    The men in the trenches cowered as a shell went off nearby, showering them with dirt. One of the men, a youth who looked about 17, hunched lower into his little anclove. His heart ached for the girl back home. The words he had mouthed at her still echoed through his mind; 'I will come back for you'. The man kept the words running through his mind, resolving to do as he promised. He murmured them under his breath, the air clouding in front of his face.

    "I will come back for you".

~~⊙~~

    The girl felt arms encircle her small, skinny body, as one of her remaining friends picked her up and took her home, not caring about the tears that soaked her shoulder. The girl only remembered being placed down onto her bed of rags before she fell into a restless, dreamless sleep.

~~⊙~~

    The woman cried silently, tears dripping into her lap as she reminisced over that day she had lost the only person who had always been there for her. She still had the few friends that had stuck with her for this long, but they would never fully fill the pit that still lingered in her heart. A low drone filled the air, causing the woman to look up in shock. The air raid sirens had just started blaring when the explosions started and the bombs began to fall.

~~⊙~~

    The sergeants had told them the news they had all been waiting for: that they could go home. Shouldering what few belongings he had, the man got off the train at the station. 

And stopped. 

Smoke still rose from ruins of buildings, some people searching for salvageable pieces of their lives from the wreckage. His eyes found one of his friends, standing at the entrance of a hastily erected hospital tent. He jogged over, careful to avoid the piles of rubble pushed to the side of the streets. Shock came to his friend's face, but it quickly changed to a look of sympathy. The man then knew something was terribly wrong. With the words,"I'm so sorry," still echoing in his ears, the man entered the tent. And then he saw her lying there, still, cold, only recognizable by the mane of red hair. The man fell to his knees, the words he'd been preparing to say for a long time dying in his throat.

    "I love you".

~~⊙~~

    The old man sighed, staring out the window at the rain. So many years had passed since she had passed away, each day a personal failure, telling him that in the end, no matter how hard he fought, he had failed to save the only thing that had mattered in his life. And no matter what he did, she was never coming back. Easing himself out of his chair, he shuffled over the worn carpet. The medals he had earned in the war gleamed as he turned the light on, reflecting small patterns of light around the small apartment.

    Framed pictures covered the walls, one containing a pretty smiling girl with bright red hair. This was the one the man had payed for someone to draw. The artist had captured her likeness perfectly with his pencils. The frame was well worn, the man taking it down regularly to clean the glass. Tears leaked out of the corners of the man's eyes, trickling down the creases in his face. He made no move to wipe them away.

    Setting the drawing back down, he moved back to his window seat, the light bulb behind him sending strange shadows along the floor. One of them looked like children dancing.

    God, why was life so unfair?

~~⊙~~

    The girl and the boy ran through the streets, their feet bare, their clothes dirty. Holding hands, they laughed, having fun with the little that they had. Nothing could ever hold them down. They were happy. 

Forever running. 

Forever young. 

Forever free.