AMA-Con: The Compilation

Battle: Chapter 3

Celestine stands up and excuses herself, she goes inside the house to get two glasses of water.

She walks back out to the back porch and hands her grandmother one of the glasses. Celestine says, "Here you go mamita, take a break. I can see how much this is affecting you. Are you sure you want to continue?"

Maine nods her head to say yes and gives her grand-daughter a tight hug.

Maine begins her story once again, "It was a rainy, December night when I got the most devastating news that I have heard in my life."

-Flashback begins-

It is around nine pm on a Thursday night. It is raining hard outside, thunders are heard throughout the town. What Maine did not now is that she is about to get hit by the largest thunderstorm of her life.

A loud knock is heard throughout the house and Maine hurries to get it. She is surprised with the unfamiliar figure standing behind the door. The man is around 6'4, with brown buzzed cut hair and is dressed in an army camouflage outfit. She starts to feel knots inside her stomach and feel that something bad is about to occur. Maine disregards it and opens the door wider.

Maine: Hi. Good evening Sir! How may I help you?

Unknown Man: Good evening Ma'am. My name is Jake Reyes, I am one of Richard's closest buddy in the army. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I wanted to let you know that Richard passed away a week ago.

A loud thunder suddenly erupts and Maine falls on the ground, tears started falling off her eyes uncontrollably. Jake catches her on time. He sits her down on the couch and gets a glass of water for her.

Jake: Before the first battle of the war, he gave me a letter and told me that if anything ever happens to him, I must give this to you. If you were wondering what happened, he was shot accidentally by one of our fellow soldiers. Please know that till his last breath, you were in his thoughts. He took out a white and yellow daisy from his pocket, clung to it tightly and said "Maine. My daisy. My beautiful daisy. I love you." Those were his last words.

Maine: Jake, thank you for sharing this with me. I do not mean to be impolite, but right now I just need to be alone. Please close the door when you leave.

Jake nods, understanding the situation. He stands up and leaves Maine alone as she requested. Maine takes the letter that Jake just gave her and walks towards her bedroom. She sits at the edge of her bed and starts to read the letter from Richard:

September 30th 1939

To My Ever Dearest Maine,

By the time you read this letter, I will already be gone. Please know that I never intended to leave you. I fought hard to try and get home to you, but evidently, I did not succeed. I never got the chance to tell you, but I want to let you know that I loved you from the very beginning. More than just a best-friend. I fell in love with your luscious lips, beautiful brown eyes, and witty personality the first time I met you. I was too scared to tell you because I was not sure if you felt the same way. I did not want to lose you so I decided that I'd have you any way that I can, even just as your best friend.

All I wanted is for you to be happy, seeing you smile energizes me. The day that you got married, I was there. Behind everyone else, watching you. I saw you smiling and I thought to myself, if he makes you happy then that is more than enough for me. I distanced myself because although I wanted you to be happy, I could not stand to see you in the arms of another man. Every time you were holding his hand, how I wish it was mine that you were holding. When I see the way he kisses you, I close my eyes and wish that I could take back time. Time when I could have swept you off your feet. But before I knew it, it was already too late. I distanced myself from you because, I knew it was wrong. You were married and I did not want to get in the way of your marriage. It was wrong to feel the way I did, but I did not know how to unlove you. I was hoping that if I did not see you, I would learn to forget, but I did not. I never did. I don't think I ever will.

I apologize if I was a coward. If I did not have the guts to tell you how I truly feel for you. I wish I did, but considering that you are reading this letter, it must mean that I truly lost the chance to tell you. Do you ever wonder why I called you 'my daisy' and why it was so significant for me? The white and yellow daisy symbolizes true love. That is who you are to me. My One True Love. The only girl I ever loved. Maybe in the next life, I'd be given the chance to show you how much I love you. When that time comes, I will be there waiting for you, welcoming you with open arms. I will no longer be scared. But till then, take care of yourself my love. Be happy. Find your happiness.

Always Loving You,

In this life or the next,

Richard

-End of flashback-

At this point, Maine is hugging her grand-daughter tighter than earlier and they are both in tears.

Maine tells Celestine, "Please do me a favor sweetie, do not make the same mistake that I did. I never got the chance to tell him how much I truly loved him. Tell AJ how you feel about him before it is too late. Forget about all the what ifs. The maybes. All your hypothetical questions. Go for it. If you don't, you will end up like me. A person who regrets not taking advantage of time. If he says no, then at least you know in your heart that you tried. At least you won't have regrets like I do."

Celestine kisses her grandmother and says, "I will go ahead and do that mamita! I have to tell AJ everything before I run out of time. Thank you so much! I love you."

Celestine rushes out of the house and leaves.

Maine laughs and turns her eyes towards the daisies, remembering her lost love. She thinks, "It really is important to tell the people you love how you feel about them before it is too late. You never know when would be the last time you would see them. Tomorrow is not for certain. Do it today, before you run out of time. Richard was in a war but for every battle that he fought, the worst of it all was the battle he was fighting in his heart. I was home safe but every day without him felt like a battle for me as well. The battle between our hearts and minds was the toughest of them all. And because of our cowardice – we both lost."

THE END.