‘Happily Ever After’ Left With Daddy
Debra Gundy
Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest 2010 (view all the winners)
Most Highly Commended
It is raining again; spring is always like that, so much rain. Feeling a slight chill Laura wraps the oversized sweater closer about her small frame. The sweater belonged to her late husband Frank. Wearing it gives her comfort and a feeling of nearness to him. Alone now, she sits in her chair by the window, watching as droplets of rain slowly make their way down the panes of glass; triggering a flood of memories from so very long ago...
She was just seven years old that day; the day her daddy left. Tears streaming down her cheeks, nose running and little face pressed up against the window pane; she watched him leave. Bag in hand; he walked along the dusty path to the road beyond. At the end of the lane he turned for a moment; looking back, hoping to get one last glimpse of his wife and little girl. Hand up, waving goodbye, he turned and walked from sight. That was the last image she had of him; that and the first time she saw daddy in his uniform. She remembered thinking how handsome her daddy looked; how sad, as he told her and mama that he was going off to war. She had no idea what "war" was, but she knew it would take her daddy away and that made them all sad.
Images from long ago; brought about by droplets of rain upon the window pane.
Mama cried too and held her real close. Things were different after that. They had to go live with Granny and Grandpa; mama had to find a job. Without daddy they couldn't run the farm and needed money for food and clothing. The only home she had ever known now stood empty; overgrown with weeds, windows dark, lifeless, looking much like black soulless eyes...
Back to the present again; her cheeks are wet with tears. So many years have come and gone, but the memories remain vivid in her mind; so many years. Frank, her husband, had died a year ago, she is alone now. They'd never had any children; wanted them, but just never happened, so she was alone in life, in her thoughts. Once again her mind wanders back through time; always to that same moment, the day her daddy left...
They called it World War II, but that really meant nothing to her. She just knew how different things were now. Her and mama; cramped, sharing one bedroom. Mama went off to work seven days a week while Granny cared for her. "Times are hard" she remembered her mama say as they thanked God for the food they were about to eat. Soup mostly; watered down to make it last longer. Once in a while they would receive word from daddy, a letter. Oh how happy she was when mama would read the letters to her. She had mama read them to her each evening before tucking her into bed; hoping daddy would soon be home. Then they could go back to the farm and live happily ever after; that's what happened in the fairy tales her mama would read to her. Happily ever after! How odd, those three little words were what kept her going throughout the years daddy was gone...
The rain has stopped. Slowly, she rises and goes about the task of making a cup of tea. Times have changed and there are more efficient ways of making one's tea; but she prefers her old tea kettle. Much like a lifelong friend, a little lopsided, with a few small dents, it was old and as much a part of her life as the home surrounding her. Soon steam poured out and a shrill whistle announced that the water was now hot. Once again sitting in her chair she quietly sips the soothing hot liquid. She is using her favorite cup and saucer; the last of a set given by her mother as a wedding gift. There is a dark line down one side of the cup and a small chip in the rim; it is cracked, but still holds the tea without so much as a drop spilling out. Delicate blue flowers, hand painted on the sides of the cup and the saucer. The handle is "S" shaped with an intricate design. Much too fancy; she guessed that was why she was so fond of the cup; it was pretty, like her mama was. Watching the birds come and go at the feeder outside her window, her mind wanders back once again...
Granny, Grandpa and mama were sitting at the small wooden table in the kitchen, talking in hushed voices. The radio was on, but the voice was low and she could not make out what was being said. She was thought to be in bed, but had come back down for a drink of water. Not knowing why, she hid and listened to their conversation.
Two years had come and gone and Laura was now nine. Her little brother, Nathanial, named after her daddy, had just recently turned one. He was a surprise to mama as she had no idea at the time daddy left that she was expecting. Laura understood more about the war now as news of battles were forever blaring away on the small radio in the kitchen. The teacher talked a lot about it in school as well. She knew from his letters that daddy was in the Navy and stationed someplace far away called Pearl Harbor. He was on a battleship, the USS Arizona...
Her tea finished, cup and saucer sitting on the table she is now asleep in her chair by the window. Her sleep is not restful, for her mind continues on its journey of the past...
News of the attack by Japan on the U.S. Navy Base at Pearl Harbor was everywhere. Live reports from journalists stationed in the area were graphic and devastating. The sounds of war rang loud in the ears of those who anxiously listened for news. The account of the attack was unforgettable. It was December 7, 1941; of the eight American battleships and more than 90 naval vessels in the harbor at the time, twenty one of these were destroyed or damaged, as were three hundred American planes.
As had become her habit, after she and Nathan had been put to bed, when the adults would sit listening to the radio and talking; she would sneak from her room, down the stairs to listen as well. That night, that awful night, mama, Granny and Grandpa were crying. This is the night that haunts Laura forever in her dreams. She can remember all of the details; the smell of the kitchen, shadowed faces of her family, lit only by the small candle in the center of the table, the flicker of candle flame dancing upon the walls. She was afraid that night, she wanted to run back to bed, but she just stood there as her heart began to break. News of the attack had been ongoing and one piece of information alone drastically changed the future of her little family. The biggest single loss of the day was the sinking of the battleship USS Arizona. Daddy was never coming home. Crying in fear and devastation she ran to the comfort of mama's arms.
Thousands died over the following years; families torn apart, lives forever changed. There would be no "Happily Ever After" like in the fairy tales...
Restless, Laura awakes; standing in front of her are her family, long since gone. Mama and daddy are there, as well as little Nathanial who had died of polio when only three; Granny and Grandpa too stood waiting. Standing at her side is Frank, just as he had been for so many years. She was home at last. As she runs for her daddy's arms Laura realizes that her "Happily Ever After" has come after all.
Written in honor of my Father Melvin G. Weesner and all who served in the Armed forces in WWII
