Ghost Soldiers || Bucky Barnes

Chapter 49: Epilogue

June 15th, 1940.

It was a warm and sunny day in New York City, and summer was just about to begin. There were green and tall trees all over the city, and all the universities and schools were closing that day, so students could enjoy and have the summer of their lives. The streets were crowded, with people chatting and laughing, and they all headed to the different places all over New York, since after all, there were plenty of activities everywhere.

The 30 year old man was watching everyone carefully, and he smiled as he looked around the city. It all looked so familiar to him, since it had been the city where he had lived his entire life. And he found it quite funny, coming home. It looked the same, smelled the same, and even felt the same. And he realized that what had changed was him.

He wasn't the same person he had been when he left, and he knew we would never be the same. He had a different way of seeing things, and he wasn't emotionally stable. He had seen and done things that had traumatized him, and he knew he had to try and put it all behind him, now that he was back home. But not everything could disappear so easily.

He was wearing a light blue jacket, and he was sweating. He was dying to take it off, but he knew he couldn't. If people saw him, and noticed that he was missing something, they would know that he wasn't normal. And he wasn't ready for people to see what had happened to him. And they weren't ready to see him either.

So he started walking slowly, as he headed towards the biggest park in the city. He noticed many couples and groups of friends were heading there, and he hoped it wasn't too crowded, or things might not go the way he expected.

It took him around an hour to get there, and by the time he was there, he was sweating like crazy. So the first thing he did was to take some old coins from his pocket and buy a cold beer from one of the food trucks around the park. He then started walking once more, and took the second exit to the right, and he ended up in a deserted little path that was full of mud. And he smiled once he realized that the place where he was heading was going to be empty, since after all, that was the only path that led to that place.

After walking for about 100 metres, he turned right, and then left. His eyes then widened, and he sighed in admiration as he saw the view. In front of him, there was a small pond with ducks, and there were a few benches around it, all facing the big skyscrapers of the city. He then put his hands in his pockets and headed towards the bench in the center of the place, and he saw down quietly, and stared at the beautiful view in front of him.

He then closed his eyes, raised his head, and felt the sun on his face. There was a slight breeze in the air, which helped him not feeling the heat so intensely, and he could hear the ducks in the water a few meters away from him. And he felt relieved, and safe. But there was only one thing missing in his life. One thing that would make him feel even better, that would make everything perfect. And he had to wait for it to arrive.

But his wish didn't come true that afternoon. He stayed for hours in that place, just thinking about life, and when the sun went down, he sighed and stood up, disappointed. And he knew he was going to go every single day, and he was going to sit in the exact same spot to wait. And he was okay with it, since he had nothing better to do.

So the man went back 3 more days, and he waited. And when he was not there, he was busy, trying to start building his new life there. He had rented a small apartment in Queens, and had tried to find a job. And so far, things seemed to be turning out the way he wanted. He had a plan, and he was going to stick to it.

On the third day, he got there early, and he sat on the same spot to read a book. He was reading "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens for the second time in his life, and he enjoyed it tremendously, since he had forgotten everything about it the first time he had read it.