Before you read! *Optional* If you want, please listen to this song while reading!
These months without you, my love632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRln6ZGoCps
Have felt like years of being alone632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XiyoYjxOh
How I miss the presence of your warmth632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYVW8ycAw1
And the things that can't be seen through the telephone
"I've been doing well," she breathes steadily into the receiver, careful to not wake the children.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2PJgQO7Yy
"That's good!" Her husband replies, his voice sending a sad smile across her face. "How are they?"632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0b23v9K4GD
She sighs, unable to shake the wavering in her voice. "They both miss you with all . . . Their . . . Hearts." She begins to cry softly.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInRGh5wbDP
"Why are you crying?" He asks gently. How she wished she could just feel him again, see his face again.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjyS5Jm6WJ
"I don't know how much longer I can do this . . . " She answers honestly. "I just miss you so much."632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDmeSyHLVo
He pauses for a moment, the dull tone of feedback accompanying her silent tears. "Don't worry, beautiful,"--his voice grows soft--"I'll be home before you know it." He promises.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBqTuTOjRg
"Okay." She smiles again. "I'll see you before you know it!"632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxpYpTTIEC
After saying goodbye for the thousandth time, she once again goes to sleep on a bed that feels too large.
I miss the way you looked into the sky632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDIWDj6aYx
Before they were filled with ash and gray632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡev8cSYDIU3
And I miss how we would dance through the night632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjO9A9pyRt
Casting all our cares away
She runs to work after walking her two young children to school. Today she gave her children her breakfast. As soon as she clocks in she slips on her rubber gloves and mask, then begins to build war tanks and airplanes. The sparks burn small holes on her clothing, but she continues, knowing that they'll help her husband fight.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BAQmP2S6I
Lunch is a cheese sandwich on the end pieces of bread.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIPbJb5Rpbw
She goes back to welding.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfj83e85r6d
And leaves to walk her children home.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM0aiYaHYvw
She gives them watery, tasteless vegetable soup for dinner. And prays that she'll be able to live a life again in which she can feed her children until they can't eat another bite.
Yellow slips of paper632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDur0VtEK0
Are what terrify me the most632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZaoshlj05
And I sometimes have sleepless nights wondering632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMdzXxNsXn
Are my wife and children going to receive one of those?
It's late, but she tunes the radio until the voice speaking through it clears a bit. She can barely make out what it says, and she closes her eyes to try and sort through the static.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkuRA3W3xx
Another defeat is revealed. She sits on the couch through the entire night, worrying about the safety of her husband even more. And as the sun rises, she goes to wake her children to start her day again.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3q2o1opRwo
At work two weeks later a messenger arrives carrying a handful of telegrams, delivering them somberly to several women. Four women received two.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6SrP7ZcVc
A very young, small woman with a growing stomach falls on her knees as she reads her telegram. And her sobs echo throughout the warehouse. No one can comfort the young woman. The messenger leaves without giving her one, yet she doesn't want to get her hopes up.
I was able to scavenge a slip of paper,632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkTr76I9Wd
A stamp and a stub of pencil632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65UViCCyjv
All that's left is to write a single letter632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQooiTKd1v
Just to make sure that my family isn't living in tensile
Another year has passed, followed by another letter sent. Another reminder that he's still alive, still waiting until the day he returns to them. She returns it to the worn envelope in which it came from, atop a stack of past letters. Then, she waves her children goodbye as they walk to school, leaving for work in the other direction soon afterwards.
Our enemy has been defeated632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDqSia09SC
They wave their white flag632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJ4bTvTwK1
And after a night of celebration632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0GntRrGwI
They tell us to pack our bags632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxI4PCviNv
We're going home
It seems like all of America cheers as listeners tune in to the broadcast. The surrendering of Germany means that America's warriors are finally returning. Her small family begins to dance around the living room, already dreaming of the day they get to see their father, her husband, in the same room once again.
The plane begins to land632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0IT8bKDmVY
I'm finally going home632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL23jgHGxF9
And I can't wait to see632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIp4YYW6g1
How much my children have grown
She daintily applies a layer of powder on her and her daughter's face. And for her son she smooths down his wind-blown hair. For six years they've grown without a father. Her daughter is now sixteen; her son is fourteen.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPs9zaJ23R
For six years she's prayed for her husband's safety, prayed for him to return to her and their children. She's worked countless hours for the first time in her life, had years of sleepless nights, received 104 letters, and still knew that he would one day return.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZgHPdcAp9
In the dark of the night the three leave. Many houses along the way are abuzz after the return of fathers, brothers, and sons. She feels a silent tension and excitement buzzing in the air, yet she can't help but feel nervous and nauseous.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6biMUgqmKU
They pass one soldier. Two. Seven. None of them are the one they're looking for. She sees a crowd gathering near an area, and she leads her family in that direction. "Over here," she tells them quietly.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdobmsfnevf
As they walk a large plane comes into view beyond the crowd. They begin to witness families being reunited as men step off the plane. She looks around for her husband.
I can always notice her face first632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSWkX9x2Wx
Even from miles away632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JLKq6lWC6
Whether it's the darkest night632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQjfJlDyC7
Or the brightest day
Her son gasps and runs ahead. Soon after, his sister follows. She pokes her head above the crowd, looking for her children. And then it seems like time stops and the world pauses as she sees him. He's embracing his children, seemingly squeezing them as hard as he could. She walks through the crowd and that's when their eyes meet. His children release them and they look towards their mother. Tears well in her eyes as she looks at the face that she's missed every single day for the last six years. The two walk towards each other and unconsciously, she wraps her arms tightly around him, as if she'd lost control of her body. Maybe it was the shock that accompanied his return.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykge5uMR72
"You have no idea how much I've missed all of you." He whispers into her ear.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1RxJ2AGD9
"I love you so much," she replies, the sound of his voice bringing her back from her astonishment.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjcHZfrKGp
"And I'll never stop loving you." He replies, smoothing down her hair in order to kiss her forehead. "I've missed six years of my family's lives, but I'm here now. I'm back. And I'm here to stay."632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcq0uiANLf
They pull back, and after looking into each other's eyes for the first time in six years, they kiss warmly and she pulls him against her tighter.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwsY01U2gkz
"We have so much to tell you," she leans against him as their family walks home to celebrate his return.
I know I crossed the 700-word approximation by a lot, and I know that you may or may not have finished reading before the song ended. I just really liked the story and where it was going. I'm sorry I played the pronoun game the whole time, but I just thought that it would be better to be vague in order to show off how the war could affect any family, not just singling out one. Thank you for reading and making it through!
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