The Cat's Short Stories - A Collection of Contest Entries

Train Station Goodbyes (gii382's Short Story Contest Winner)

This is based off of a picture, which unfortunately isn't showing up on the sidebar for some reason. Um, basically it shows a man and a woman in wedding clothes about to kiss. The man is on the steps of a train, and it's black and white.

I'm setting this is the 1940's, right after the start of WWII.

Well, I guess we'll see what happens:

     March 17th, 1942

     "And do you, William Parker, take Rose Winter to be your wife? To love, to honor, to cherish . . . . "

     Will tried to listen to the pastor's words, but for some reason he just couldn't focus on them. With a girl as beautiful as Rose standing only inches in front of him, how could he? Her pale blue eyes sparkled in the soft lighting of the church, making them almost impossible to look away from. The love he felt for her, the unconditional, passionate love, was enough to make him forget everything else.

     Almost everything.

     "I do," he declared once he realized the pastor had stopped talking. His face broke out into a smile, and it took all his strength not to wrap his arms around Rose and kiss her right then.

     The pastor turned to Rose and repeated what he said to Will, switching the names so it would make sense. Will watched as Rose's already huge smile grew bigger, and bigger, until it streched from ear to ear. "I do," she whispered, her voice choked with emotion. A perfectly formed brown ringlet slipped from her updo and came to rest on her forehead, and Will reached up to push it back in its place.

     "Then by the power vested in me by the almighty Lord," the pastor announced, his voice echoing throughout the room, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride!"

     This was the moment Will had been waiting for ever since he had proposed to Rose. To kiss her, and to make her forever his with that simple little action. He had tried to imagine it a countless number of times before, wondering what it would be like, but none of his fantasies even remotely compared to reality.

     Reality was so much better.

     At last, Will gathered Rose in his arms, slightly dipping her backwards for dramatic effect. She giggled, and before she could do anything else Will laid his lips on hers, his louch lighter than a feather. Rose placed her hands on the back of Will's neck, and he wished she would never let go.

     They had to pull away at some point, though. Rose, being the more sensible half of the couple, gently straightened herself up and removed her lips from Will's. Despite himself, Will started to make a protesting noise, but he swallowed it when the small amount of guests began to cheer for the two of them.

     Will reluctantly scanned the crowed, immediately finding his father's face. That was about the last thing he wanted to do. One glace at his father told him the happy moment wasn't going to last for much longer.

     It was time for Will to go to war.

     He had been drafted into the U.S. army months ago, right after his twentieth birthday. By then, the proposal was already final, and he didn't have it in his heart to call off the wedding. He loved Rose too much to do that. However, he didn't really have as choice as far as the army. With his youth, strength, and cunning abilities, Will was an obvious choice for fighting, and it wasn't like he could say no.

     There was a train station right across from the church. Will had planned to flee to it right after the wedding, after the kiss. His father had told him that his bags would be waiting for him there, and all he had to do was hop on the train and leave. It would take him directly to the army's base where he would begin his training.